Published 29 October 2025, updated 3 August 2026

Travel agents spend their working day booking things for other people, flights, transfers, excursions, itineraries with a dozen moving parts, so it can feel strange that from 12 May 2026 you are the only one who can book your own DVSA practical driving test. A car licence, the standard category B licence, is worth sorting out properly rather than around the edges of a busy desk shift, and understanding what an intensive course actually costs before you book saves any awkward surprises later.

What an intensive course actually costs

LPOD Academy runs nine course lengths, from 10 hours up to 50 hours. Booking one requires a deposit that scales with the hours you choose, from £180 for the shortest course up to £900 for the longest. That deposit is not the full price. The balance is your instructor’s tuition fee, arranged with them directly once you have booked, due before training starts, and it varies by your area and by whether you choose manual or automatic. There is no single fixed total price, because the balance depends on local instructor rates. See the full breakdown of deposits and balances before choosing a course length.

It is worth budgeting for the balance separately from the deposit rather than treating the deposit as the whole cost, in the same way you would separate a supplier deposit from the final invoice when booking a client’s holiday.

DVSA fees and booking your own test from 12 May 2026

On top of your course, the DVSA charges its own statutory fees directly: £23 for the theory test and £62 for a weekday practical test. These go to the DVSA, not to LPOD Academy. Since 12 May 2026, only you can book and manage your own practical test slot through your DVSA account. Your instructor cannot do this for you, but can advise on test centre choice and let you know when earlier slots tend to open up.

It is a genuine change of habit if you are used to managing every booking on a client’s behalf. Treat your own DVSA account the way you would want a client to treat theirs: check it regularly, and act quickly if an earlier slot appears. Set a reminder to check rather than relying on memory during a busy week, in the same way you would chase a supplier deadline for a client.

Fitting lessons around desk hours and peak booking season

Travel agents tend to be busiest exactly when everyone else wants to travel: school holidays, the January sales rush, peak wedding and honeymoon season, which is also when annual leave gets harder to take. An intensive course works around this by compressing tuition into a short run of consecutive days rather than a weekly evening slot that keeps clashing with your rota. Booking your course against a genuinely quiet stretch, rather than squeezing it between late openings, tends to work better than trying to fit it around a normal working week. Work out the right course length for you based on how much driving experience you already have.

If your branch or agency has a predictable quiet month, that is usually a better target than trying to book leave during a peak booking window, when time off is hardest to secure and your desk is busiest without you. Late-opening evenings and weekend cover both eat into the kind of consecutive free days an intensive course needs, so it is worth checking the rota a month or two ahead rather than booking on short notice and hoping.

Two questions before you book

Can I choose a shorter course if I’ve driven before?

Yes. Course lengths run from 10 to 50 hours, and the right one depends on your prior experience rather than a fixed rule. See every course length before you decide.

Does the deposit cover my test fees too?

No. The deposit and balance cover your tuition and the three hours of car hire included on test day. Theory and practical test fees are paid separately, directly to the DVSA. It is worth keeping a rough note of both totals, deposit plus balance, and the two separate DVSA fees, so nothing catches you out later once training is under way.