C1 Licence

[Poppy Williams]

Has anyone taken their C1 licence and was it expensive/ straight forward to get?

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Work on £1000 and a week off work

 

[pappajohn]

Do your homework.
Many 'agencies' are just that, they arrange everything for you but have no vehicles or instructors themselves and they will book a course with a school wherever they can get one....it could be hundreds of miles away.

Many people have use the DATA ACADEMY in the Midlands which is run by a MHF/RVOC MEMBER and is rated very highly.

 

[CPhoenix]

I passed on Friday.

D4 Medical - £65
Study Guide - £18 (www.drivingtheory4all.co.uk)
C1 Theory Test - £23
Hazard Perception Test - £11
Practical Training & Exam (2/3 day course) - £700 highly recommend NDS in Nottingham if you are close enough.

So just over £800.
Started the whole process little over a month ago and found it very easy to work through. Despite what agencies might say, there's no need for a CPC unless you are planning on driving +3.5t vehicles for your work. Also don't be lured into taking a full C category licence by training companies if you don't see yourself driving a +7.5t motorhome or even massive equestrian vehicles.

Hope this helps and if there's any questions about my experience going through it, please ask.

Craig

 

[tacr2man]

@Poppy Williams Motor Roamin on sister site RVOC is in Leicester and has very good rep on Driver training this is his web add
http://www.dataacademy.co.uk/
He is very helpful for any info
He has got many thru for their licence to drive RV

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[Poppy Williams]

Thank you for your reply. We are now wondering if we should just try and settle for the 3500kg van and make sure we don't carry so much. We need to work out what we need to carry and then decide. This information is very helpful though.

 

[pappajohn]

Thank you for your reply. We are now wondering if we should just try and settle for the 3500kg van and make sure we don't carry so much. We need to work out what we need to carry and then decide. This information is very helpful though.

You could always go 3500kg AND tow a small trailer (up to 750kg)
That will give you more than enough payload.

 

[stewartwebr]

Not a C1 but did the C1+E last year to allow me to tow a heavier tow car. As others have said, the first stage was the medical to allow me to apply for provisional entitlement. This was followed by the 2 Theory Tests. I did a day and a half training one on one followed by my test which I passed.

I’m now looking into doing my C Training as I’m off to Germany to view a new van next week and it’s almost 12 tonnes

 

[Late Starting]

Does not the C1+E.
Cover you for 12 tons

Cliff

 

[Gromett]

Did my C1 with Tockwith near York. Excellent training and took me 2 days including the test on the afternoon of the 2nd day.
Started my C training with Data Academy. The instructors are excellent and I will be going back for my C when I am ready again.

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[CPhoenix]

Does not the C1+E.
Cover you for 12 tons

Cliff

The C1+E still has a maximum vehicle limit of 7.5t but just includes the towing entitlement over 750kg to a combined maximum of 12t.

If you passed your driving test prior to 1997 you get C1+E by 'grandfather rights' however there is an exception that the combined vehicle and tow does not exceed 8250kg.

If you want a vehicle of 7.5t and over then you'll need a C category entitlement and add on the +E again if you want to tow over 750kg.

Additional info is here https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Agree with the above
On the back of your plastic driving licence card next to C1+E, column 12 will probably contain the number 107
107 indicates the above mentioned 8250kg max train weight

For example this indicates that you could drive, say, a vehicle of 6250 kg MAM with a 2000 kg trailer behind it ( provided the vehicle had the required capability)

 

[zac]

Did my C+E last year just because i had always wanted too and at the time i was thinking of getting an RV which required the Cat C , cost me approx £1100 for C then the same again for the C+E. I think most companies charge around the same give or take. I used a company in Hampshire and although they were ok for me i probably would not recommend them just because they dont seem to have the proper reversing part marked out (some farm yard which was completely different to on the test). That aside the actual driving part was top notch. I did the shortest possible time which i think was 15 hours training then test. I have not done the CPC as cant afford to give up my job to go lorry driving based on the rates i have seen, shocking for what you are in control of and the responsability. They are definitly not paid enough in my opinion.

If i was doing the C1+E i would probably just take the C as will give more flexability if needed and very similar in driving (just longer).