DRIVING LESSONS IN GILLINGHAM

Gillingham lessons cost £38.00 per hour whether the car is manual or automatic, across ME7 and ME8. Two hours to begin with is £76. A 40 hour package totals £1,436, or £35.90 an hour, saving £84, and there are 10, 20 and 30 hour packages in the table. Each booking includes a £1.99 admin fee.

Gillingham has its own centre: Gillingham Driving Test Centre, Unit 2, Courtney Road, ME8 0RZ. In the DVSA 2025/26 release it carried out 14,886 practical tests and 56.4% passed. Manual candidates scored 59.4%, automatic 51.9% and first-time candidates 57.8%, against a Great Britain average of 51.2%.

The closest theory centre to Gillingham is Chatham Theory Test Centre at 14-16 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4EP. It is 1.9 miles west along the A231 Brompton Road, about 5 minutes on a Southeastern train to Chatham, or reachable on the Arriva 101 and 176 buses. The test is £23.00 on GOV.UK and our theory app is free.

On DVSA numbers, learners average 45 hours of lessons and 22 hours of private practice. Gillingham courses typically move from Watling and Grange side roads to the Jeffrey Street one-way system, then Hoath Way (A278), before mock tests at ME8 0RZ.

Gillingham charges the same for both, £38/hr or £35.90/hr on 40 prepaid hours. In 2025/26 the Courtney Road centre passed 59.4% of manual and 51.9% of automatic tests. Automatic avoids clutch work on the Darland Avenue gradients, while a manual pass lets you drive either type.

Your instructor meets you at home, college or work anywhere in Gillingham, ME7 or ME8. They check the provisional licence and ask you to read a car number plate at 20 metres. The opening drive tends to stay on quiet Watling or Grange streets, covering moving off, steering and stopping.

Yes. Gillingham learners are taught by independent DVSA-licensed instructors: green badge ADIs or pink badge trainees who are licensed to teach, all with enhanced DBS checks. Lessons across ME7 and ME8 are in dual-control cars and follow the 27 skills the examiner marks.

Pickup covers all of ME7 and ME8: Lower Gillingham, Brompton, Medway City, Hempstead, Darland, Capstone, Watling, Grange, Twydall and the Bredhurst edge. The 5 Gillingham sectors and their roads are in the table above; a postcode check shows who can take you.

Yes. If a Gillingham learner already holds a practical date at ME8 0RZ, an intensive of 6 to 12 hours a week is possible, and with the centre in town the mock routes start from Courtney Road itself. See the intensive course page for lengths and prices.

At Gillingham Driving Test Centre (ME8 0RZ) the GOV.UK car test fee is £62.00 on weekdays and £75.00 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Gillingham candidates drive their instructor's dual-control car on the day, and we add £1.99 admin to bookings.