The Most Frequently Asked Questions About HGV Driver Training – Answered

Becoming a HGV driver is a fantastic career move, to be sure. But it can also be a little daunting. After all, this isn’t one that you can just stroll in off the street, do an interview and start out in a brand new industry. Instead, before you’re even considered for any sort of job, you have to show your commitment and skill by undertaking your driver training. This means the Driver CPC, and any other HGV licenses you might want to do, before you can get a job. Understandably, many people have questions about this process, so today we’re going to do our best to answer them for you.

How Old Do I Have To Be To Train?

Let’s start with the easiest question to answer. If you want to be a professional HGV driver, you need to be over 18, and hold a full UK drivers license.

Where Will I Do My Training? 

This one is a bit tricker, because it largely depends on which training school you choose to use. While the theory portion of the training can be done online, and usually is, the practical elements require you to be on site at the training school – where trainers will use local roads to teach you. They will also know appropriate off-road spots to help you practice manoeuvres and reversing, which is why this part of your training will take place in-person at your chosen training school.

How Does Training Work?

Each training school will approach training in a slightly different way, but in general terms, the process is the same. When you train with The Surrey & Hampshire Training Centre, the process looks like this:

• Register for a course and receive your starter pack. This pack includes all of your license application and medical forms, along with access to our online theory revision portal.

• You attend a basic medical exam and send off the forms for a provisional HGV licence (a pre-paid envelope for this is in your pack.

• Once you have your provisional license, we book in your theory test for you, and support you in your revision using our online tool.

• Congratulations, you’d passed your theory! Now we get you driving, with a 4-day intensive course with one of our experienced HGV instructors.

• Once you’re trained up, we guide you through your practical tests, and get you on the road! We can even help you in finding a new job once you’re ready to go.

How Long Does Training Take? 

Again, each training school will have a different timeline for you to follow, depending on their style and the type of license you’re training for. Training courses can be run in as little as 4 days from start to finish (as ours are), or spaced out over several weeks. In some cases, the longest part of the entire training process is waiting for your provisional license to come back!

What Does It Cost?

This one is really difficult to answer, because it depends on so many things. It depends on the school you choose, the license you choose, the length of course and even the area within the UK. This is why it pays to do your research into all of your local HGV driver training schools, and choose the best option for you once you have all the information.

How Much Could I Earn?

As a HGV driver, your earning prospects are quite positive. If you’d asked us 10 years ago it would be a different story, but the necessity and importance of HGV drivers has become more visible in the last decade, and now wages for drivers are more than fair. A newly qualified HGV driver with a C+E license could earn up to £32K a year! We do also expect salaries for HGV drivers to grow even more in the coming years, particularly as Covid-19 has shone a bright light on just how essential drivers are to this country.

At The Surrey & Hampshire Training Centre, we specialise in supporting the next generation of HGV drivers take their first steps into the world. We’ve perfected our training courses, so that they can be delivered either in spread out sessions or in intensive, 4-day courses, so that you can be on the road as quickly as you want. If you would like to know more, or have a question we haven’t answered here, just get in touch with us today.