Taking lessons with a driving instructor is not compulsory in Switzerland. But it is strongly recommended. As a beginner in particular you quickly develop habits that your instructor then has to correct, because they do not conform to the rules. You can spare yourself that. Everything about lessons with a driving instructor is here:
On the cost side, driving lessons are by far the largest item. So the wish to keep the number of lessons as low as possible is a strong one. Two thoughts matter here. No instructor keeps a herd of cash cows. Instructors too want to get their pupils up to test standard as quickly as possible, because they do not want to put their good reputation at risk. And it varies a great deal from person to person how long it takes before a learner can actually sit the driving test. How much someone enjoys learning to drive plays a part, how much talent they bring, how often they can make private practice drives (more on that in the article «Private practice drives»). That is what decides how many lessons you need.
You will certainly have a few questions:
01
How much does a driving lesson cost?
The cost of a driving lesson varies between 80 and 120 francs depending on the instructor, the driving school and the canton.
More expensive does not always mean better – what to look out for when choosing an instructor is explained in the article «How to find the right driving instructor»
02
Why are driving lessons so expensive?
A driving instructor in Switzerland is a self-employed business owner. Their outgoings are correspondingly extensive: running costs of the vehicle, insurance, rent, administration, advertising, association memberships, further training, salaries, pension provision and so on. All these outgoings have to be financed through your lessons.
An instructor is a trained and certified professional. Of course 90 francs for a driving lesson is a lot of money, no question. But anyone who has ever had to call out an electrician or a painter knows that their hourly rate and travel costs can quickly be higher. It is just that, as a young person, you generally have less to do with those trades. So when we look at those 90 francs, let us remember that driving instructors are training the road users of tomorrow, and that it is in our own personal interest that they can do that as well as possible.
We have put together a detailed cost overview of the whole road to a driving licence in the article «Driving licence cost overview».
Watch the video by SRF Virus to hear what driving instructor Tommy has to say about costs and other topics on the road to your licence.
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How many driving lessons does the average person need?
In Switzerland a learner driver needs around 30 lessons on average. There are learners who are ready for the test with fewer than 15 lessons. But that is the exception.
How many lessons a learner driver needs depends on various factors. Are you learning to drive in a vehicle with a manual gearbox or an automatic? The latter is of course easier to drive, because you can concentrate entirely on the steering and on the traffic. Incidentally, because of a change in the law the automatic-only entry in the licence has been dropped, but more on that below.
Do not let it unsettle you if your friends or your parents needed fewer lessons than you. Your parents may well have spent half the time and money, because traffic back then was nowhere near as dense and as complex as it is today. And among friends, people like to play down the numbers and stretch the truth when it comes to how many lessons they had.
A survey of 570 learner drivers shows what the average number of lessons in Switzerland is:
04
How much time does it take me to reach the practical test?
A learner driver takes 1-2 lessons a week on average. With 30 lessons that means around 7 months before they are ready for the test. Holidays or other breaks are of course not included in that period.
05
How long does a driving lesson last?
In Switzerland a «driving lesson» is often assumed to last 60 minutes. That is not always the case. The length of a lesson differs from instructor to instructor. There are offers from 45 to 75 minutes for a «lesson». It is worth comparing prices, because a good many instructors combine their offers.
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Learning to drive in an automatic or a manual?
Even if you sit your driving test in a vehicle with an automatic gearbox, you may drive a manual car. The legislator laid that down on 1 February 2019. Since then there has been no corresponding entry in the licence.
Learning to drive in an automatic vehicle is certainly easier for a beginner, because the coordination of hands and feet falls away. No more clutch, gears and accelerator. Instead your full attention can go to the other routines and to the traffic. That can also mean fewer driving lessons and a cheaper licence overall. But let us weigh up the pros and cons of the two systems carefully first:
Arguments for an automatic and against a manual
- Fewer driving lessons needed, and therefore lower costs.
- Suitable for beginners. Driving is easier and less complicated.
- More comfortable and more convenient overall.
- Modern cars are less and less often manual (electric cars and so on).
- Tends to use less fuel.
Arguments against an automatic and for a manual
- More enjoyment behind the wheel. It is often argued that an automatic dampens the fun of driving, because you are much more passive and have to engage less with the car and the road.
- The «old gentleman’s» image: automatics are for older men.
- Many older cars are manual.
- Hire cars, abroad as well, are often manual.
- True, an automatic driving test allows you to drive manual cars – but can you actually do it? This argument speaks most strongly for taking the practical test in a manual. If you learn to drive in a manual vehicle, you build up the routine of working the clutch and accelerator under the professional guidance of an instructor. That makes sure you master it before long. After that, switching to an automatic will be easy, guaranteed.
You can of course also switch from manual to automatic in the course of your lessons. And the other way round too. So keep both options open; you only have to decide before you register for the practical driving test.
In the article «Learning to drive automatic or manual» we go into this subject in more detail.
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How to find the right driving instructor for you
Finding the perfect driving instructor is not at all easy. The choice in Switzerland is enormous, and you have to rely either on your gut feeling or on the recommendations and stories of your friends. Of course you can fish for another one in the sea of offers at any time, but in order to save cost, time and effort it is worth planning the search carefully and deliberately.
In the Swiss driving school comparison at todrive.ch you can find the right instructor for you easily and quickly. A wide selection is available here, which you can sort and compare by your own criteria.
These are the considerations you have to weigh up when choosing:
- -Price (careful: cheaper does not always mean better!)
- -Ratings and experiences. Listen to your friends and do your research online on the Swiss driving school comparison at todrive.ch.
- -What is your first impression? Does the instructor suit you?
- -What car does the instructor provide?
- -Will you be picked up or do you have to come to a particular meeting point?
- -Flat charges for insurance and administration?
- -Lesson blocks (10, 5)?
- -Is a first-aid, VKU or WAB package linked to the lessons?
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The very best driving instructor in Switzerland
Who is the perfect driving instructor in Switzerland? Even though there are reports, surveys and statistics around this question, do not pay them much attention; they only say so much. Why? The learner drivers who give the ratings usually have nothing to compare against, because they always took their lessons with the same instructor. So everyone gives their own candidate top marks and whoever has the most votes always wins. But objective, unbiased measurement looks different.
Read more about this in the article «The best driving instructor in Switzerland»
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The first driving lesson – what do I need to know?
What awaits you in the first lesson depends a great deal on what you already know:
- First you get to know every button and switch, how it is operated and what it does. For example, how to set the seat and the steering wheel optimally for your height.
- You will cover your first metres behind the wheel either in a car park or even on the road already. Do not worry, your instructor knows this situation very well. They will not ask anything impossible of you and can step in at any moment if danger threatens.
- You do not have to practise privately before the first lesson. Better to drive a few private kilometres afterwards, to consolidate what you have learned.
But there is much more to know about the first driving lesson. To give you more confidence and reassurance, we have collected a few experience reports about it. You will find Helena’s report and Sandro’s by clicking on the names.
You can see roughly how driving lessons in Zürich go, for example, in this video and in this one.
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What do I learn in my driver training?
What you learn in your lessons can be divided into four training phases:
- Pre-training: the first step is about developing a feel for the car and for how it behaves. Your instructor explains the controls and all the adjustments. Correct observation technique will be a topic too. This part of the training mostly takes place away from traffic, for example in car parks or quiet industrial areas. You learn to pull away and to stop by doing biting-point exercises. Then you acquire the ability to turn, to drive figures and circuits, and to slalom forwards and backwards. Controlled stops at a target and emergency braking round off the pre-training.
- Basic training: you feel your way slowly into driving in traffic. In this phase you are meant to consolidate the routines of operating the car so firmly that you can call them up automatically. You should develop a feel for speed too. On quiet roads you learn the correct observation technique and how to position yourself in the right lane. You learn to pull away and stop in traffic and, in particular, on uphill and downhill gradients. You will park the car nose first at the right-hand side of the road. Turning and reversing are also practised more intensively.
- Main training: on normally busy roads you are meant to adapt more and more to the other road users. You get to know environmentally aware and safe driving. You also practise and perfect parking nose first, in reverse and parallel. On drives outside town you learn to master your choice of speed, merging into traffic and keeping a proper distance. Likewise how to behave at right of way and on roundabouts.
- Perfection training: the final segment of the training is about assured driving, on motorways as well and following signposts. Hazard training including an emergency stop is also carried out. You may also drive a mountain road and be out at night and in the dark. Finally you will do a mock test drive, in order to practise the practical driving test under similar conditions. From this phase on you are ready for the test.
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When am I ready for the practical driving test?
During your lessons your instructor keeps filling in what is known as a training card, on which your current level of training is recorded against the requirements of each training phase. As soon as you have mastered every step confidently and every point is ticked off without exception, you are ready for the test.
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What does a driving school’s training card look like?
Driving schools normally use a training card for each pupil. It serves as a record of progress and shows exactly how far along you are. In every lesson what you have learned is ticked off. An example of such a card is shown here:
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Who decides when I am ready for the test?
As a rule your instructor decides when you are ready for the practical driving test. As an experienced professional who by now knows you well and of course knows what matters on the test drive.
Your instructor’s judgement may well differ from your own conviction. If you believe that you have long been ready and that any further delay is unnecessary, you can also register yourself at the Strassenverkehrsamt and go to the practical test in a private car. Even then you may fail 2 times. If you have no success at the second attempt either, the legislator requires a number of compulsory lessons. You have to complete those with an instructor, who then also has to confirm your readiness in writing and register you for the driving test.
We have put together a detailed checklist for the road to your driving licence in the blog article «Detailed driving licence checklist».
Driving instructor Nathalie Bornhauser answers all your questions about lessons and instructors in this video What you need to know… tips on the driving licence from a driving instructor!