Driving Lessons in Sittingbourne
ME POSTCODES COVERED
- DVSA-licensed
- DBS-checked
- Paid after your lesson
“If you are not happy with your first lesson, tell us within 24 hours. We will refund up to 1 hour (60 minutes) of that first lesson and help you find another Instructor.” Read the full promise

Gillingham test centre
pass rate
Sittingbourne learners test at Gillingham, 7.2 mi W along the A2. These are its official DVSA figures.
DVSA 2025/26 · 14,886 tests · Unit 1, Astra Park, Courteney Road, ME8 0RZ · 7.2 mi W from Sittingbourne
Source: DVSA driving test statistics, 2025/26 reporting period. Figures refresh when DVSA publishes; every value on this page is pinned to that release.
Take a test date
you would actually pick.
You will test at Gillingham, seven miles west, and it is a busy centre. Most learners take whatever date they are given and assume that is that. It is not, and putting it right costs nothing.
Nothing about your booking changes unless you both say yes. DVSA makes the swap on the call, not us.
The date you were given
Tue 17 Feb
Gillingham · 11:41
A date you would rather have
Sat 6 Dec
Gillingham · 09:07
earlier
- 1Add your testYour centre, date and time, and the dates that would suit you better. About two minutes.
- 2We find the matchChecked against the rules DVSA publishes, so you only see swaps that can actually happen.
- 3One of you calls DVSAOnly then is a booking reference released, to whoever makes the call. Either of you can still say no.
What has to be true for a swap
- You both need a car practical already booked
- At least 10 full working days before the earlier test Monday to Saturday count as working days. Sundays and public holidays do not.
- You both need one of your two DVSA changes left Nobody outside DVSA can check how many you have left, so we ask.
- Same test type and fee band A weekday test can only swap with another weekday test.
Free, no payment details, and neither learner ever sees the other's name. It is new, so the more learners who list a date, the faster it finds you one.
What lessons
actually cost
Real rates for ME9 and ME10, not a national average. Longer blocks bring the hourly rate down.
MOST FLEXIBLE
GREAT VALUE
BIGGER SAVING
BEST VALUE
Choose how
you learn
However you want to learn, it is one booking, matched to independent DVSA-licensed instructors covering ME9 and ME10.
Manual lessons
Clutch control learned on the A2's lights and the lanes past Tunstall stays learned. A manual licence lets you drive both types of car, and most Sittingbourne learners still choose it.
Book manual lessonsAutomatic lessons
No clutch means nothing to stall at the Key Street roundabout, which is exactly why some Sittingbourne learners choose automatic. An automatic licence covers automatic cars only.
Book automatic lessonsChoose your instructor
Tell us what matters when you book: a female instructor, patience for a nervous start, or someone who drives the A249 and the Gillingham test ground every week. Every instructor is DVSA-licensed and DBS-checked before they take learners.
Tell us your preferenceIntensive course
A test booked at Gillingham and only weeks to get ready? An intensive course puts those hours into consecutive days instead of scattered evenings. Test-date swaps between learners are free, and you never share your name.
See intensive coursesLearning to drive
in Sittingbourne
Town traffic, a fast dual carriageway and orchard lanes, all within ten minutes.

A2 · A249 · the orchard lanes
Sittingbourne lessons run the A2 through the town's lights and crossings, pick up the A249 dual carriageway at Bobbing, and reach single-track orchard lanes past Tunstall inside ten minutes. Few towns hand an instructor that much variety this close together.
Theory up the A2 in Chatham
The nearest theory test centre is in Chatham, a short drive or one train stop up the line, so the written half of your licence is an errand rather than an expedition.
Sittingbourne station and the town buses
Sittingbourne station runs mainline and high-speed services, and the town buses link Milton Regis, Kemsley and the retail park, so meeting your instructor is easy wherever in ME10 you start.
The paper town
Kemsley ran one of Europe's biggest paper mills for a century, and the mill traffic built Sittingbourne's wide junctions. Learners here inherit roads designed for lorries, which makes them forgiving places to learn car control.
What learners said

“Best driving instructor in an around Sittingbourne highly recommend to anyone”
“Passed first time, thanks to my excellent instructor! Highly recommend Abi, very cool guy.”
“Can not recommend Lolly enough. I came back to driving lessons after many years and I passed first time.”
Sittingbourne lesson questions
Straight answers on prices, test centres and booking in Sittingbourne.
Manual lessons across ME9 and ME10 are £39 an hour and automatic is £40. Blocks bring that down: ten manual hours are £379 and twenty are £745, which is £37.25 an hour; automatic blocks are £389 and £764. Every figure comes from the booking system's own ME rates, so the price on this page is the price in the flow.
Gillingham, on Courteney Road, 7.2 mi W away. Its current DVSA figures are at the top of this page: 56.4% overall, manual 59.4%, automatic 51.9%. Maidstone (10 mi SW) is the usual alternative, with a higher pass rate.
Yes. The usual reason here is the A2 through town: stop-start traffic and the Key Street roundabout mean a lot of clutch work in a manual, and an automatic takes that away so more of the lesson goes on observation and lane choice. Say automatic when you book.
No, Rated Driving is an agent rather than a school. We match you with independent DVSA-licensed instructors covering ME9 and ME10, and we hold your payment until after each lesson before passing it on. Say what you need when you book, a female instructor included, and every instructor is DBS-checked before taking learners.
ME9 and ME10 including Milton Regis, Kemsley, Bapchild, Borden, Bobbing, Tunstall and Frinsted. Enter your postcode and the match checks who covers your exact street.
Yes. Say nervous when you book and we match you with an instructor known for teaching at your pace. The quiet estate roads around Borden and Tunstall make a calm first hour, and the A2 and the A249 stay off the plan until you want them.
Yes. Book with your postcode and say refresher. It suits licence holders who have not driven in years and people who have moved into ME9 or ME10 and now face a daily A249 run they never learned on. The hours go on your gaps, not the syllabus.
Yes. Pass Plus is the DVSA's six-module course for new licence holders, covering motorway, dual carriageway, rural and night driving, and some insurers reduce premiums for it. Instructors covering Sittingbourne deliver it, and the A249 and M2 make the dual carriageway and motorway modules straightforward to fit in.
They can, before your test if you want. Learners are allowed on motorways in a dual-control car with a fully qualified instructor. The M2 is a short run down the A249 from Sittingbourne, so motorway time fits inside a normal lesson rather than needing a special trip.
DVSA research puts the average around 45 hours of lessons plus private practice, though it is personal. Sittingbourne learners get an unusually complete mix early on, because town stop-start, a fast dual carriageway and orchard lanes all sit within a few minutes of each other. Your instructor will give you an honest number after assessing you.
Waits move week by week and GOV.UK is the only live source, so check it on the day you book. Two things do not change: you can book up to 24 weeks ahead, and there is no official waiting list or cancellation list, whatever other sites advertise. Gillingham is your nearest centre at 7.2 miles and Maidstone is a realistic second if its diary is fuller. If you already hold a date and want an earlier one, our free Driving Test Swap matches you with another learner who wants yours, and neither of you shares a name.
Driving lessons in nearby towns
The same postcode matching, prices and payment protection run in every town we cover. If your lessons start outside Sittingbourne, pick your town.
Start driving lessons in Sittingbourne
Put your postcode in and we will match you with an instructor who teaches Sittingbourne's roads every week, from the A2 through town to the orchard lanes. We hold your payment until after each lesson, then pass it on to your instructor.
- DVSA-licensed
- DBS-checked
- Paid after your lesson
“If you are not happy with your first lesson, tell us within 24 hours. We will refund up to 1 hour (60 minutes) of that first lesson and help you find another Instructor.” Read the full promise
Sittingbourne · ME9 / ME10
Your pickup postcode
We match instructors by postcode. Tell us where lessons start and we pair you with a DVSA-licensed instructor who covers your part of the ME9 and ME10 postcodes.

