Learn to drive in Crawley and East Grinstead
Join the thousands of people that have learnt to drive with our automatic and manual instructors in Crawley and East Grinstead, West Sussex.
ELITE Driving School has a well established team of driving instructors covering Crawley, including covering Ifield, Pease Pottage, Copthorne, Maiden Bower, Pound Hill, Three Bridges. We have instructors providing both manual and automatic driving lessons across the Crawley area.
Crawley is great place to learn to drive, as it has many varied driving environments to become familiar and competent with. It has everything from residential suburban streets, to urban city driving, to rural country roads. Plus of course the biggest, and sometimes most daunting element of learning to drive in Crawley is the sheer number of roundabouts and faster moving dual carriageways.
However, these are not to be feared, and with the right support from your instructor to help you understand and tackle these challenges in a controlled manner they can actually facilitate the development of driving anticipation and control, the main skilled needed for driving. This not just helps you to pass your driving test, but also promotes development of good driving practices and skills to be a safe and confident driver beyond the driving test.
The Crawley driving test centre is located at Pease Pottage, just next to the M23 services. A common place where faults are committed on test is on the Pease Pottage roundabout.
Driving lessons with ELITE are normally 2 hours long. Taking 2 hours at a time is proven to be most productive for pupils, as this allows for repetition of manoeuvres, the ability to experience multiple driving environments, especially in congested areas like Croydon, and normally this accelerate learning, and results in fewer hours needed overall. However, if after the first lesson you have an issue with 2 hours then you can discuss it with the instructor and they can normally shorten future lessons to 1.5 hours.
We provide our free Theory Test Pro App to all of our pupils to help with preparation for the theory test, plus you’ll get our free Total Drive App to help track your bookings and monitor your progress, as well other useful learning resources and tips to help you pass your practical driving test.
Crawley and East Grinstead Driving Instructors
Crawley & East Grinstead Driving Lessons Testimonials
PH. C, Crawley, Automatic
PH. C, Crawley, Automatic
“I honestly recommend Elite driving school. My instructor was Asad and i passed first time this week with 1 minor fault. Asad is such a great instructor he was so patient with me, week after week so efficient and professional gave me the boost of confidence I needed.”
It’s a pass today for Zoe at Crawley test centre after taking manual driving lessons with ELITE instructor Brian
It’s a pass today for Zoe at Crawley test centre after taking manual driving lessons with ELITE instructor Brian
“I highly recommend Brian from Elite! I was anxious about learning to drive but he put me at ease and helped my confidence grow. He was patient and took the time to teach me how to be a safe driver as well as take care of the car whilst driving. I am so pleased to have passed my test and couldn’t have done it without him!”
Many congratulations Stefani on a well deserved test pass. We’re so pleased for you! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review about your learning experience with Asad. He’s a real asset to our team of instructors, and I’m sure your testimony will help others looking for automatic driving lessons in Crawley to find his support in the future. Safe driving!
Many congratulations Stefani on a well deserved test pass. We’re so pleased for you! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review about your learning experience with Asad. He’s a real asset to our team of instructors, and I’m sure your testimony will help others looking for automatic driving lessons in Crawley to find his support in the future. Safe driving!
“Exceptional Driving Instructor – Highly Recommended!
I had the absolute pleasure of learning to drive with Asad Khan, and I couldn’t have asked for a better instructor! From the very first lesson, Asad was patient, calm, and incredibly understanding of my nerves. He created a supportive learning environment that helped me build confidence behind the wheel, making each lesson enjoyable and productive. His clear explanations and reassuring approach made all the difference, ensuring I grasped every aspect of driving safely and efficiently. Thanks to Asad’s expert guidance, I was able to overcome my initial nervousness—and I’m thrilled to say that I passed my driving test! If you’re looking for a professional, knowledgeable, and encouraging driving instructor, I highly recommend Asad Khan. He truly cares about his students’ success and goes above and beyond to make learning to drive a positive experience.”
Andreja Zorkovic, East Grinstead, Automatic
“I passed my test today on the first try! I had a great instructor Haris from Elite Driving School who was very professional, friendly and does everything with a calm approach! Haris was really quick in spotting what I was struggling with and helping me overcome it with his instructions. I would recommend him and the Elite Driving School to anyone! (Which I already did to my friend Jenny and she passed her test quite fast after that- with Haris)”
Dinusha Janakantha, Crawley, Automatic
“”I can’t thank my driving instructor, Harris, enough for his incredible support and patience throughout my learning journey. I was not an easy learner—I made plenty of mistakes along the way—but Harris always remained calm, encouraging, and truly dedicated to helping me succeed. His teaching style is exceptional, and he continuously motivated me to keep going, even when I doubted myself. Thanks to his guidance, I passed my driving test with only 4 minor faults! If you’re looking for an instructor who genuinely cares and helps you build confidence, I highly recommend Harris.”
Ethan Bartlett, East Grinstead, Manual
“I passed my test today with help from my instructor Gary! He was so helpful throughout every lesson, he was very detailed with his feedback and made everything understandable! Overall, one of the best instructors you could ask for!”
Tarek, Crawley, Automatic
Tarek, Crawley, Automatic
“I would recommend Elite driving school
Asad was my driving instructor, he is such an amazing instructor, friendly and efficient. He made it easy for me to pass the test from first time by practicing and learned me the maneuvers.
Really was an amazing experience”
Want to become a driving instructor?
If you’re looking to train as an Approved Driving Instructor then make sure you do plenty of research first. You’ll find everything you need to know here.
Before you start training, read reviews from instructors that have trained and qualified with ELITE. Our trainers have over 20 years experience of training, are DVSA ORDIT approved, and we have a qualification rate far exceeding the national average.
What to expect from your driving lessons
Number of driving lessons
We’re often asked how many driving lessons will be needed before passing the driving test. The DVSA state the average learner takes around 50 hours of professional lessons, plus 20 hours of private practice. In reality most pupils that learn with ELITE take far fewer hours than this. However, it is impossible to answer accurately how many hours are needed, as it varies hugely due to many influencing factors. Firstly, everyone learns at a different rate. Some individuals are naturally gifted with coordination and car controls, and others need more practice to perfect the required skills.
Learning in a manual or automatic
Then there is the consideration of whether you are learning to drive a manual or automatic car. More lessons may be needed in a manual, it all depends how quickly you develop clutch control. Although once you have mastered the basic controls to operate either vehicle type, the majority of learning hours are spent developing the skills needed to read the road, plan, anticipate the actions of other road users, and manage risks on the road. So whether to learn in a manual or automatic car is a personal choice, and at the moment it’s around a 50/50 split which one people are choosing.
Learning in different areas
The area in which you are learning to drive and taking your driving test could also affect the number of lessons you need. Learning to drive in more densely populated towns like Croydon and Morden will have different challenges compared to somewhere more rural like Redhill. It’s different again in somewhere like Crawley, due to the volume of large roundabouts and high speed dual carriageways. The simple fact is that you should take as many lessons as you need to become a safe and competent driver.
What’s involved
All ELITE instructors will discuss your learning style, objectives, and time frames, and between you work out the best structure for your lessons leading up to a test. You will then be test ready, and confident to drive anywhere after you’ve passed the driving test. We provide a free Theory Test Pro App to help you prepare for your theory test. Plus we provide a free Total Drive App to make it simple to track your driving lesson bookings, get reminder notifications, track learning progress, and payments. There is even a free parent App too.
