1st Driving School Reviews 

Julian is great. He was extremely helpful throughout my time driving. He was thorough and understood my objectives at every stage of my learning process. There is no doubt I would not have passed without Julian - I cannot rate him highly enough. Thank you Julian

Julian is a fabulous driving instructor! He made me feel really at ease, and answered all of my questions or concerns. Julian is thorough and makes sure you are safe and confident in all areas of driving, and has good knowledge of test routes etc. Julian was always flexible with my lessons and on time. I’m a nervous driver and wear hearing aids, Julian is very understanding and accommodating so brilliant for people who may be nervous about driving lessons for whatever reason. I have failed 3 driving tests (with other instructors) but passed first time with Julian! 1000% reccomend Julian to anyone looking for automatic driving lessons.

Can honestly say Julian Barker was an amazing driving instructor!! He was patient and kind and made me feel much more confident while i was in the drivers seat! Just passed my test earlier today and all I can say is thank you to him as he is hands down a great driving instructor and i owe it to him as the reason i passed today!

I’ve already recommended him to a few of my friends as i know they’d be in great hands with Julian!

Julian Barker- an amazing instructor, no wonder why my friends recommended him as a driving instructor. It's my first time driving in UK and I had 0 confidence driving here since it's way too different comparing driving back home where it was right hand traffic.

He made points for every lesson that needs to be tackled and provides feedback at the end that would build your confidence and improve your driving skills gradually until you are ready to take the exam. Always on time, and he focuses what needs to be done.

Thank you so much Julian for time and patience you've given me, wouldn't accomplish this without you. I will surely remember all the tips and points you taught me :)

After previously trying to learn manual I decided to learn automatic as I was an extremely nervous driver with zero confidence. Whilst before I had struggled to sleep at the thought of a lesson, Julian made the lessons as easy as possible. He never pushed me too hard out of my comfort zone and was always building up my confidence.
He really went out of his way for me and was always reliable. I will miss our lessons but so grateful to him for helping me pass FIRST TIME.

My daughter had an absolutely awful experience. We paid upfront for 10 hours of lessons she was assigned an instructor called Tony Singh who clearly didn't have a clue. He picked her up drove her to a carpark and made her drive around it for the entire lesson. When she asked where they were going on the next lesson he said ‘we’ll go to the car park again’. He didn’t bring her home, he dropped her off around the corner on a completely different street (5 minutes walk away). He also informed her he has 3 weeks of holiday booked over the next four weeks so she wouldn’t be having many lessons over the next month.
I phoned the company straight away, they said they couldn’t do anything and would get back to me which they did the following day. I have never been spoken to so rudely in all my life. The horrible woman on the phone tried to tell me my daughter is lying and blamed her rather than being sorry for the terrible experience of my daughter’s first driving lesson. I got my money back for the remaining hours paid and my daughter now has an amazing instructor with a different driving school.
Stay away from this awful driving school! There is so much better out there,

For anyone who is looking for driving instruction, I truly recommend Mr. Julian Barker.

Julian is a very professional instruction and never late to the lesson. Always giving constructive feedback and I would say he not only helped me to pass the test but also teach me how to become a safer driver which could benefit me for my whole life.

I am so glad to have Julian as my driving instructor and I would like to take this chance to thank you again for helping me to get through the driving test!

If you're on the journey to becoming a confident and competent driver, it is crucial to choose an instructor who not only understands your learning pace but also respects your financial and time investments. Unfortunately, my experience with Julian Barker was far from this ideal. His teaching methods are designed not to foster learning and growth but to perpetuate a cycle of dependency and doubt.

After losing a lot of money with him, I switched to another driving instructor and took the test in 15 days. I just passed with 3 minors. Whereas just 15 days ago Julian told me, I am far from a driving test and will minimum take 2 or more months of lessons.

From the outset, it became clear that Julian's primary motive was not my success but rather how many lessons he could convince me to book. Every session would end with him pointing out minor, sometimes nonexistent, errors. These "mistakes" were then used as justifications to book additional lessons, with little to no progress in between.

The structure of the lessons seemed intentionally vague and unproductive, focusing on repetitive tasks without advancing to new challenges or reinforcing my existing skills. This approach not only drained my wallet but also my confidence. I began to question every decision on the road, a direct result of the anxiety-inducing narrative fed to me by Julian.

The educational environment he creates is one of constant doubt rather than encouragement and growth. His feedback, often exaggerated or unfounded, left me feeling incapable and anxious, far from the empowered and safe driver that any reputable instructor aims to develop.

For those looking for a driving instructor who will value your time, money, and aspirations, I urge you to look elsewhere. There are many instructors who are passionate about teaching and would be more than willing to support you on your journey to becoming a skilled driver. Avoid Julian at all costs, lest you fall into the same expensive and demoralizing trap that I did.

Kamal was a great instructor. Friendly, patient, knowledgeable and flexible to my lesson needs. He helped me pass 1st time! Would highly recommend!!

Crystal is friendly, professional and reliable. Appreciative of all her work in helping me pass my test.

Mr Steve Sanghera a brilliant teacher who got my son through his test, he was honest and provided my boy with the tools he needed to pass his test

Amazing driving instructor Sam. Highly recommend as he is proffessional, calm and very patient with his students. As Sam said: 'Learn and you will definetaly will pass your exam. Very happy with the service provided. Thank you so so much for your support and believe!

Kev is an amazing instructor, i would recommended him highly to everyone wanting to learn to drive. He is patient, understanding and makes you feel extremely comfortable and at ease throughout every lesson. He will do his utmost best to support you in everything in order to pass and not to mention provides a lot of laughs. Thanks a lot kev for all your support, i’ll definitely miss our lessons!

After only having a week to find a new driving instructor after being let down by the one I had I found Kev Hopps at 1st Driving school. He is the most lovely man ever, he puts you at ease and is very knowledgeable. Thanks to him I passed my driving test first time. I’d recommend him to everyone! Thank you so much!!

My instructor Stuart was very professional and thorough. He put a lot of effort on me to get through my test. For a person like me who had never driven a car before and a slow learner he has really helped me to achieve this in my first attempt . Thank you so much.

My instructor Dan was very good he was able to break some bad habits I picked up with a previous instructor and put me at ease when driving. He’s a very knowledgeable instructor and he’s able to explain things very easily. He was very quick at getting me through my lesson and making sure I was test ready. I passed my test first time and am very grateful to Dan and would recommend him to anyone.

Had a wonderful instructor that believed in my abilities and taught me better ways of completing the manoeuvres. They helped me refresh my driving when I had a test within 2 weeks.

Had a great experience learning with Adiel, he is extremely knowledgeable about his craft and holds you to a very high standard.
I went into my test feeling very relaxed and prepared, passed first time with 5 minors. I would highly recommend Adiel as an instructor!

Booking was very easy, would recommend.

There's absolutely no words to describe how amazing Stuart is from 1st driving school. I suffered severe anxiety around driving and getting into cars prior to learning with stu due to bad experiences in the past and poor health but stu made me feel so relaxed and at ease. He's calm, patient and understanding just like driving with a pal!! I couldn't of asked for a better instructor. Highly highly recommend!!

Andy was great supportive and lessons we’re flexible around my work