Have you been thinking about taking a van driving training course in order to get your Category C1 licence? If so, there are a lot of places you can go to receive your training. We recommend you seek out the best training company in the business if you want the best possible training. Here at the HGV Training Centre, we believe we are that company.
We are already the significant provider of commercial driver training in the UK, with more than four dozen facilities instructing hundreds of students every single month. The most substantial portion of our customer base are individual drivers just like you, but we are also expanding to include a greater concentration of corporate clients as well. In either case, we provide the same high-quality training whether we are working with individual or company drivers.
Make no mistake; all of our training programmes are fast-paced and intense. This includes our van driving training programme for the Category C1 licence. We have chosen this approach for one simple reason: it works. Before we explain our training approach, it is important to discuss driving licences.
Two Main Licence Categories
People looking to drive vans weighing between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg must have one of two licences, depending on when they obtained their original car licence. If you received yours prior to 1 January 1997, you already have acquired rights to operate most vans for personal and other non-commercial uses. If you obtained your licence after the 1997 cut-off date, you can only drive vans of up to 3,500 kg on your Category B licence. If you want to drive anything heavier, you need the Cat C1.
It is also important to understand the difference between professional and non-professional drivers. All professional drivers also undergo a certain amount of Driver CPC training in order to receive the CPC qualification card that enables them to work. This is not required of non-professionals. Therefore, the training you receive from us may or may not include CPC training, depending on your professional status.
If you are looking to earn the Category C1 licence for personal and non-commercial purposes, you could still undergo the CPC training to earn your card. This would allow you to use your new licence to look for work as a professional van driver should you decide to do so in the future.
Why Our Training Is the Best
In every industry, there are multiple players claiming to be the best in the business. It is relatively common. In fact, a business that does not believe it is the best at what it does is a business that needs to change the way it does things. Still, the reality is that not every company can be the best.
We ultimately understand that our students are the ones who determine whether or not the HGV Training Centre is truly the best training company out there. Below is a list of reasons we feel confident in claiming to be the best:
- Our Growth Rate – From the earliest days of our business, we have been pursuing a rather aggressive expansion plan in order to make commercial driver training available to as many people as possible. Expanding at the rate we have is only possible when customers are happy with the service they receive. Our incredibly fast growth is proof that we deliver on our promises.
- Our Experienced Instructors – We believe that the best people to teach our students are instructors who have real-world experience as successful commercial drivers. Therefore, we are very particular about the instructors we hire. All of them have the kind of experience we and our students are looking for.
- Individual Attention – We give each student who passes through our doors individual attention. It has been our experience that doing so makes students more comfortable, creates an environment more conducive to learning, and fosters a team approach between students, instructors, and support staff.
- Administrative Attention – There are a lot of administrative details that go into earning a commercial driving licence. We employ an administrative support staff that handles all of those things so that students do not have to worry about them. This makes for an even better learning environment.
- Our Training Resources – All of our training resources, including educational materials and equipment, are both up to date and relevant. We do not train using resources from decades past; we fully embrace the 21st century in everything from course materials to software to smartphone apps. All of our equipment is late-model equipment that drivers are likely to encounter in the workplace.
We know that every student we encounter is a person who learns at his or her own pace and in his or her own way. Therefore, all of our instructors have been trained to pay close attention to each student in case any one of them seems to be struggling or falling behind. At the first sign of any such difficulty, the instructor knows to give that student the extra help and support necessary to overcome the challenge.
Our Intensive, Fast-Paced Approach
Our intensive, fast-paced training approach is the number one reason we feel confident in saying we are the best. Whether we are talking about van driving training or a top-of-the-line HGV or PCV training course, our approach is the same. It is based on a philosophy that says students not only need to learn a specific body of knowledge in order to drive professionally but they also need to know how to apply that knowledge to pass the Driver CPC test regimen.
This approach relies on three fundamental concepts:
- Learning – Students must learn the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful drivers. We present the information in short, concentrated bursts rather than long, drawn-out classes. This enables students to learn quickly by mastering one concept before moving on to the next.
- Retention – Once information is learned it, needs to be retained. This is accomplished in our training programme through the building block idea. One concept is mastered the next is taught and mastered, and so on. By learning concepts in short succession and building one on top of the next, students are able to retain information more easily as they progress through training.
- Recall – Lastly, students need be able to recall information at testing time. We accomplish this through practice. For example, we provide new students with software that will prepare them for the theory test. Included in the software are numerous practice tests and real questions taken from past tests. We also give our students the opportunity to practice their driving skills in late-model vehicles.
We believe the HGV Training Centre is your best option for intensive van driving training. We believe our record speaks for itself, as evidenced by our continued growth and our higher-than-average pass rates. More than 90% of our students pass their tests on the first try as compared to the national average of 50% to 75% across the full range commercial driving tests.
Your decision to consider van driving training as a possible road to a future career is a wise one. Professional driving is a very good career choice offering job stability, good pay, and the opportunity to be out and about every day. We encourage you to take your interest in van driving one step further by contacting us to enrol in our training course. We can have you trained and prepared to take your final test in a few short weeks.
Be sure to ask about CPC training if you intend to use your Category C1 licence to look for a job as a professional. If you just want van driving training for personal and non-professional purposes, that is perfectly fine as well. We train all drivers regardless of their future plans.
More on Training to be a Professional Van Driver
Listed below is a selection of our other articles covering many aspects of driving a van for a living.
- Nationwide Low Cost Van Driver Training Schools
- Are You Thinking About Van Driving For A Living?
- Hiring A Van – Do You Need A Van Driving Licence?
- The UK’s Best Intensive Van Driving Training Courses Revealed
- Latest Van Licence Requirements for UK Drivers
- Top Quality Intensive Ambulance Driver Training Courses
- The Best LGV Driver Training Schools across the UK
- The Driver’s Guide to LGV Classes
- You’re Career as an LGV Driver Starts Here
- Find the Best LGV Driver Training In Your Local Area
- The Complete Guide to the LGV Licence
- The Real Costs of Getting an LGV Licence
- How Do I Get an LGV Provisional Licence?
- Everything You Need To Know About the LGV Test
- Facts and Top Tips on Passing the LGV Theory Test
- Find the Best UK LGV Training Course Deals Online
- How to Compare LGV Training Costs Like a Professional
- What is LGV? Driving Licence Requirements Explained.
