To avoid any misunderstandings here are our pupils’ terms and conditions

  • Drive Smart Academy has the right to withdraw the tuition car on the day of your driving test if, in the Instructor’s opinion, the candidate is not deemed to be at required test standard.

  • Drive Smart Academy cannot be responsible for lesson cancellation due to mechanical breakdown but will endeavor to find replacement vehicle as soon as possible.

  • Drive Smart Academy will provide a dual controlled car in a clean and roadworthy condition.

  • Pupils must be in possession of a valid UK provisional driving license.

  • Smoking is not allowed in a Driving School vehicles.

    Cancellation Policy

  • You are required to give a minimum of 24 hours notice to your instructor should you wish to cancel a lesson. Anything less than 24 hours and your instructor is entitled to charge you the normal lesson rate or the prorated amount if it’s a block booking, which includes the discount.

  • It is your responsibility to present your valid UK provisional driving license before the start of your first lesson. Failure to do so entitles the instructor to cancel any lessons you have booked within 24 hours, and you may be charged.

    Refund and Complaints Policy

  • A full refund for a pre-booked lesson will only be issued if zero hours have been used and you have paid Drive Smart Academy direct by bank transfer or PayPal. To receive a refund, you should contact us in writing within 30 days of the purchase date.

  • In the unlikely event that you are not fully satisfied with a recent driving lesson with us, please inform us of the reasons why by email drivesmartacademy.info@gmail.com

  • All pre-paid block booking offers are valid for six months from the date of purchase. If you have any issues commencing your first lesson within the 6-month time frame, then please notify us by email, we may be able to help you: drivesmartacademy.info@gmail.com (so we have proof of your problems/circumstances). Unfortunately, if you contact us after the six months have expired, then you risk losing any remaining lessons.

  • If you book a block of lessons and are unable to continue with them, we can issue a credit note for your remaining lessons; (expires six months from issue). Block bookings are non-refundable unless zero hours have been used.

  • All lesson purchases to the company are valid for six months.

Driving Test Policy

  • Your Drive Smart Academy instructor is entitled to withdraw their car for the usage of your test, should they feel you are not ready.

    Your Drive Smart Academy instructor will always give you a minimum of 5 working days notice, providing you haven’t come to the instructor at short notice (less than five working days).

  • You are allowed to take your driving test if you do not pass a mock driving test, as long as your Drive Smart Academy instructor is confident you still have a reasonable chance of passing.

  • Very occasionally, instructors can become ill at short notice. In the event that this happens, we will endeavour to find you another instructor, but cannot guarantee anything at such short notice.

  • In the event the instructor’s car is not road worthy for your driving test, Your instructor and Drive Smart Academy will do their utmost to find you a replacement vehicle. However, we cannot guarantee an identical vehicle.

  • If the DVSA examiner has declined to go out on test in your instructor’s car because it’s not roadworthy for any reason such as a nail in tyre or brake light not working, your driving instructor will pay for your a replacement test.

  • In the event that you (the pupil) damages the car during the driving test, where the total repair cost is less than the instructor’s insurance excess, you will be required to pay for the damages to the car.

Please note, your instructor may charge additional fees on your driving test day.

Payments Policy

  • At Drive Smart Academy, our driving instructors are all self-employed franchisees; therefore, we act as their agent, taking bookings and transferring payments across to them. The contract for driving lessons is between pupils and their instructors.

    Once you have made a payment to us, we will forward the total amount to the driving instructor, as you complete your lessons. In the event you would like a refund, please approach your instructor first. If you are unhappy with this, we recommend that you pay your instructor for each lesson individually, though you will not be able to take advantage of a block booking discount if you choose to pay per lesson.

  • Any block bookings paid to the instructor direct by cash or bank transfer is solely between the pupil and the franchised instructor. In the unlikely event you are unhappy or need help resolving an issue, you can contact the office, and we will try to help resolve the situation.

  • We cannot be held accountable for any cash/bank transfer payments made to your Drive Smart Academy instructor.

    The safest and most secure way to protect your money is by paying Drive Smart Academy by bank transfer, or online.

    When you pay Drive Smart Academy directly, our admin team will pay your instructor after each lesson is completed.

    This is done manually and is labour intensive, which is why we charge a 4.9% management and protection fee to cover our staffing for this service.

    If you are experiencing difficulty with a cash/bank transfer refund from your instructor, driveJohnson’s will try to assist on your behalf. In the event we can’t recover your money, we may refer you to the following so you can report and make a claim against your allocated instructor.