EXCELerate

EXCELerate is a bespoke course designed in house by Durham’s road safety team. The Driving Standards Agency attended the pilot coaching and described the programme as ‘excellent’.

EXCELerate ‘trains the trainer’. It works on the basis that training driving instructors to a higher level enables them to better prepare young motorists for driving in the real world, beyond the driving test. 



EXCELerate helps at five key stages of a young person’s driving career – before they start learning to drive, while they are learning to drive now and if they have recently passed the driving test. Whichever stage they are at, EXCELerate is designed to improve their driving and make them a safer driver.

The programme website lists the instructors in County Durham who have received the additional training required to deliver EXCELerate.

When choosing a “before the test” instructor, learner drivers pay the normal driving lesson fees to that instructor but there are no additional charges.

“After the test” training is provided free of charge for three hours.

There are also group sessions on driver development, usually held at an educational establishment.