Learning to drive involves a number of skills; firstly mastering the controls; ie being able to operate the pedals, indicators and steering smoothly, without thinking and without looking down at your feet. This bit is like learning to ride a bike.
It is ok to make a mistake! Mistakes are good. Mistakes help you to learn! Every time you make a mistake, the brain alters its programming little by little until it delivers the success you want. That's how it works. The speed at which you learn is determined by the effort you put in.
As a rough guide, in the first 2 hours you should be able to move away safely from the kerb, steer a reasonably straight line, and pull up near the kerb operating the pedals and steering.
At around 3-5 hours you will be reasonably competent at using the push-pull method of steering and will be able to steer fairly accurately round a left-hand corner.
By 6-9 hrs you can expect to be quite comfortable with taking the car accurately round both left and right hand turns, rouundabouts and using the Mirror-Signal-Manoeuvre procedure consistently. A few errors and mistakes along the way, but never-the-less reasonable.
OK, I hear you say, so why does it take 30 - 40 hours? Well, there is a second skill to master and it takes as long as it takes you to gain confidence!
This skill is "information processing." You need to learn to see all that is happening around you, identify all the hazards, decide what action to take and then do so safely. In the early stages you might see danger but won't decide what the correct action is - the tendency for learners is to do nothing and hope the danger goes away.
This is the most difficult part. You will find there is so much information to process that while you are thinking about what you should do, your hands and feet stop working; you will start making errors. However, as before, motivation and determination will help you enormously. A good rule of thumb is check mirrors and reduce speed - this gives you more time to assess the hazard.
You are going to task your brain with learning to process information, make the best decision, then act on it. To help you, we teach you a system of car control called Mirror-Signal-Manoeuvre. You will eat, drink and sleep MSM. You will have been introduced to it when moving away, stopping and turning left & right. You will use this system of control before acting on all the many hazards you encounter such as pedestrian crossings, parked cars, town driving, country driving, bends, roundabouts, etc. etc. It is not difficult to master. In fact, pupils can master the steps quite quickly, religiously checking their mirrors, giving a signal etc. What takes the time to learn is the ability to see all the hazards ahead, decide whether to slow down or change direction, then use MSM, to do so smoothly and safely before you get to the hazard. Often a situation ahead will look so complex that you might not know what to do first, you might forget your MSM routine and your hands and feet stop coordinating. Learning to deal with all the hazards you see up ahead safely is what takes so much time.
By around 25 hrs of training you will have had a chance to practice most of the hazards you can encounter, driven in towns and rural; we will also have done the manoeuvres and your skill at these depends on your aptitude for them.
Some people are confident at around 25hrs and can demonstrate a high level of independent driving but it is not common. 30 - 40hrs is more common.
To pass your test you have to be competent and safe on your own. All the driving decisions are yours; the examiner needs to be sure you can drive safely on your own.
A strong motivation to learn speeds up the rate at which you learn. It improves your chances of passing first time.
Learning to drive safely is within the grasp of everyone. How quickly you learn is all a matter of how much you want it and how much you believe you can do it.