29 February 2016 //
Today is a very meaningful day for me because I got my driving license today.
To be honest, it has been a very very very very tiring journey for me. So I am extremely happy to be able to pass in just one try.
"HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A DRIVING LICENSE?"
&
"HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET A DRIVING LICENSE?"This 2 questions were my concerns before I decided to go ahead and get my license.
But for me, I had no one i could go to when I wanted to get my license.
- Mainly because the time when my dad got his license..... beehoon only cost 25 cents.
- My friends were doing private/manual.
So I had to research on my own and I thought it might be good to share my experience with lost souls like me. ^^
Below is the timeline and areas where I paid money for.
Note: I applied for Class 3A license, in another word, AUTO CAR.
****I was actually contemplating between Class 3 license (Manual) and Class 3A license (Auto). But I finally decided on Auto because I strongly believe I'll fail many times if I take manual. LOL. And tbh, most of the cars these days are Auto cars.
I honestly had no idea that there were different driving schools in Singapore.???!!! For all my life (wa sound like I've been living on this earth for like 50+ years like that lol), I thought that there was only one driving school, which is also the one at Ubi. But I was wrong.
So for those people who are like me, here's a list of driving schools that you can sign up with.
1. EAST/NORTH EAST
ComfortDelGro Driving Centre (CDC) @ Ubi
205 Ubi Avenue 4, S(408805)
Recently, CDC introduced a new outlet.
ComfortDelGro Driving Centre (CDC) @ Kovan
This will be a better option for people staying around Kovan, Potong Pasir, Serangoon, Buangkok, Sengkang, Punggol and Fernvale area, and it is all located near MRT/LRT stations.
2. NORTH
Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC) @ Woodlands
2 Woodlands Industrial Park E4, S(757387)
Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC) @ AMK
Blk 635 AMK Street 61 #01-5113, S(560635)
3. WEST
Bukit Batok Driving Centre
815 Bukit Batok West Ave 5, S(659085)
So for me because I stay in the east, I enrolled into CDC @ Ubi.
This is the guide which the staff will let you know upon enrollment.
March 2015:
Enrolled into CDC @ Ubi.
Enrollment Fee (1 year): $165.85
*Renewal will be at $53.50 for another 6 months.
For my case, I finished it within 1 year. THANK GOODNESS.
So after paying this sum of money, I was given 2 books, which is Highway Code Book 1 and 2.
You will need to study Book 1 for BTT, and Book 2 for FTT.
I am not sure if I paid additional for this 2 books or it came together with enrollment.
June 2015:
Went for BTT, and PASSED.
BTT: $6.50
*You will need to score at least 45 out of 50 to pass.
Which means you can only afford to get wrong 5 questions only.
September 2015:
Went for FTT, and PASSED.
FTT: $6.50
*Same as BTT, you will need to score at least 45 out of 50 to pass.
Okay here's the thing... The moment you pass your BTT, you can actually apply for Provisional Driving License (PDL), and start your practical lessons already. As long as you pass your FTT before your practical test, it's okay.
But for me, I finished my theory tests before starting my practical. (Actually reason was I was just too lazy hahahaha)
So right after I passed FTT, I went ahead to apply for PDL.
PDL: $25
*It is valid for only 6 months, so you have to renew it every 6 months.
November 2015 - February 2016:
Every practical lessons is 100 minutes. (I know, like why 100 minutes? I wonder why too.)
Costs for lessons are as follow:
WEEKDAYS
Session 1 - 4: $68.48
Session 5 - 7: $77.04
WEEKENDS
Session 1 - 5: $77.04
Below is the number of practical classes I had from the start, to the end.
November: 3 lessons.
December: 1 lesson.
January: 15 lessons.
February: 9 lessons.
If you're on budget, just like me, then this would be my advise to you.
First of all, try to take sessions 1 to 4 on weekdays, instead of session 5 to 7 and on weekends. This can help you save some bucks.
Secondly, you will be offered if you want to have a fixed instructor, or a smaller group of instructors to take you for practical, when you first enrolled. This will require more money. For fixed instructor, you will need to pay additional $10.70 PER SESSION. And to be honest, I'm so glad I didn't opt for that because for all my 28 lessons, I had a total of only 10 instructors.
It is very important for you to bring along this booklet and your PDL every lesson, otherwise the instructor will not let you drive. (Especially the PDL)
Practical Lessons: ($68.48 x 25) + ($77.04 x 3) = $1943.12
One very important to note for practical lessons is the dates they open up bookings for classes. They open the booking for 2 months later, for example on 18 November, 10pm, they open up booking for the month of January. So you must must must remember the dates to book the dates and timings of your choice! Otherwise you only have to go back to the site and wait till someone cancels their booking.
And I would recommend you to top up your account with sufficient funds! For my case I didn't bear to top up one shot $1000. I top up few hundreds every time. This can be quite troublesome when booking classes because if your account does not does not have sufficient sum of money, you can't book any classes. And if you top up online, there will be additional 90 cents charge per transaction.
*The One Team was what I mentioned earlier about smaller group of instructor/fixed instructors.
For me, if you can see the dates in the image I uploaded, you'll tell that I actually chiong alot, especially for January.
Definition of chiong here would be: Go for back to back classes (my record was 3), one week go 3 - 4 times.
Honestly, chionging was really super tiring!!!!
Back to back lessons = Sore butt
There are pros and cons of having back to back classes.
Pros: You can learn more things in a day. And if the instructor is the same, he can play around with the time and not limit to just a particular subject. (I would recommend more back to back classes after you're done with learning parking. So more of like during revision period.)
You go all the way to Ubi for 2 lessons is better than just 1 right? :P
Cons: Your butt will hurt a lot and your legs may cramp too hahahahaha.
The reasons why I chiong was....
1) I didn't want to renew my enrollment (which was going to expire in March 2016) + PDL (which was going to expire in April 2016)
2) I just want to get over and be done with it.
But it was fucking tired because I was having my intern at the same time.
My schedule would be something like....
8.30am - 10.10am: Practical Class
10.10am - 11.30am: Home
11.30am - 1pm: Travel to work
1pm - 10pm: Work
Or if I had back to back classes.....
8.30am - 12pm: Practical Classes
12pm - 1pm: Travel to work
1pm - 10pm: Work
Or
8.30am - 5.30pm: Work
6.50pm - 10.20pm: Practical Classes
I could do this back to back every day for a week or so.
I was honestly very very very tired. But I had no choice. I regretted not finishing practical lessons before intern started, when I was still in school. But since I did not want to waste any more time and money I endured and pulled through it.
29 February 2016: Traffic Police Test
Practical Exam + Warm Up: $231.44
I was actually really very very very very worried. Like i kept thinking what if I mount kerb, what if i kena some sibei strict instructor and all. But I was so thankful everything went very smoothly~~~
After you pass, you'll need to apply for your license.
License (For a lifetime): $50
You'll need to submit a passport photo of yourself, and you may do so at the center itself at the charge of $7, if you haven't done so. (OPTIONAL COST)
So in total, I spent a total of 1 year including theory to get my license.
If excluding theory, it would be 4 months!
And I spent a total of
Enrollment Fee (1 year): $165.85
BTT: $6.50
FTT: $6.50
PDL: $25
Practical Lessons: ($68.48 x 25) + ($77.04 x 3) = $1943.12
Practical Exam + Warm Up: $231.44
License (For a lifetime): $50
TOTAL = $2428.41
(And I am so proud to say that I paid it fully by myself.)
Some tips for first day of practical class:
- Wear something comfortable
- Eat before class
- Wear comfortable shoes!********
This is very very very very important!!!!!!!
For the first few lessons, I wore slippers for class. People who knows me well enough should know that I'm an absolute slipper lover. I can go ANYWHERE with my slippers. Yup, so I wore slippers for the first few lessons, only until one of the instructor told me that I should wear shoes for my next lesson otherwise some instructors will not allow me to go for lesson.
I would not recommend you to wear sport shoes, but something softer. In my case, I wore Rubi Jenna Slip On.
Why is it better than sport shoes???? Reason being the material is softer (cloth), thus you're able to feel and control the brakes easier. So there was once when I wore sport shoes because I was planning to go work earlier to work out. So being lazy, I decided to just wear sport shoes and not my usual slip on. And I totally regretted it. In fact the instructor, who took me a couple of lessons before, could also tell the difference in my driving. So the moment you decided on a comfortable pair of shoes, don't change! Especially on the day of your TP!
Cheers!
