Learning to drive is not just about passing the test, that is just the beginning. We aim to make your lessons as enjoyable and as fun as they can be whist teaching you the skills that will make you a safe driver for life. We will teach you according to the DVSA syllabus covering all you need to know to be a confident and safe driver for life.We believe in providing the highest quality of service with no gimmicks or unrealistic promises. Every lesson will have an objective, we will always be aiming to improve your skills and our regular recaps will be used to check your level of understanding and skills. We may not be the cheapest, but we aim to be the best, providing excellent value for money, we so so confident we even back this up with our money back guarantee.
Served areas
- Canterbury, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Deal & Dover areas
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Over the last 15 years we have built a solid reputation for excellent customer service in conjunction with delivering results. We currently provide manual driving lessons to local pupils living in Canterbury, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Dover & Deal every week.
Our driving lessons are fully structured with a firm aim and objective of what is to be achieved during the lesson. Once we have established the learning goals for the session with the student and checked they have a good theory knowledge for that topic, we then set a plan to achieve maximum learning during the driving lesson.
Our driving instructors are highly skilled in coaching during lessons. They will give full, easy to understand assistance when required or simply use prompts to help guide to a successful outcome. The instructors aim is to transfer responsibility to the student to enable totally independent driving.
Using this system makes passing the driving test far more of a formality, as students will already have mastered independent driving before the big day resulting in far less driving test day nerves and giving the student much more confidence and as a result.
We don’t believe in gimmicks or unrealistic promises just high quality lessons and customer service.
Our driving lessons are fully structured with a firm aim and objective of what is to be achieved during the lesson. Once we have established the learning goals for the session with the student and checked they have a good theory knowledge for that topic, we then set a plan to achieve maximum learning during the driving lesson.
Our driving instructors are highly skilled in coaching during lessons. They will give full, easy to understand assistance when required or simply use prompts to help guide to a successful outcome. The instructors aim is to transfer responsibility to the student to enable totally independent driving.
Using this system makes passing the driving test far more of a formality, as students will already have mastered independent driving before the big day resulting in far less driving test day nerves and giving the student much more confidence and as a result.
We don’t believe in gimmicks or unrealistic promises just high quality lessons and customer service.
John Harvey is the Driving School owner. John is a fully qualified Driving Standards Agency Approved Driving Instructor and has been for 15 years. He is a Grade A DVSA ADI. He is the highest graded driving instructor in the South East according to the DVSA website. Grade A instructors are the highest grade any ADI can become and according to the DVSA they have 'Very high overall performance'.
We provide automatic driving lessons in the Canterbury area. There are many reasons why people choose to learn in an automatic car, they may struggle with gears or the clutch or are worried about stalling. For some an automatic car gives you more time to concentrate on the road and what is happening around you.
Many learner students and their parents assume that all Driving Schools and Driving Instructors are the same!. Instructors vary enormously in the way they teach the syllabus and the quality of their teaching. They also vary in customer skills when it comes to their patients and friendliness. It is quite disturbing that around 30% of all learner drivers feel the need to change their driving instructor before reaching test standard because of incompatibility issues or the lack of student progress.Many Instructors work as sole operators and have no requirement for ongoing training.
Are you looking for manual or automatic driving lessons in Canterbury? Our focus is on your success and our friendly, experienced and qualified driving instructors will help put you at your ease. Whether you are a complete beginner or have had some lessons before we will help you to progress quickly and pass your test.
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Reviews (28)
Reb Rob
May 17, 2022
Keziah Cawkwell
May 11, 2022
I had a really good experience with Jason as my driving instructor - he was really patient and helped me understand everything in a way previous driving instructors had not. Communication was always really clear, and the payment method straightforward. I passed first time and would highly recommend both Jason and the John Harvey Driving School!
Francis Lee
May 10, 2022
I have had three lessons with Marcello in Canterbury in April and passed my driving test on the 13th April first time. Marcello was great instructor, he was very patient with me, despite of my clumsiness, his encouragement for sure reinforced my confidence on taking the test. My situation is different from others; I have been driving overseas and in the US for more than 45 years before moved to London one year ago.
Although I considered myself a cautious driver, I know I have developed few bad habits in the 46 years of driving. I couldn't have passed without the dedication, passionate and commitment of Marcello, he is the best instructor out there.
Although I considered myself a cautious driver, I know I have developed few bad habits in the 46 years of driving. I couldn't have passed without the dedication, passionate and commitment of Marcello, he is the best instructor out there.
Lily Thomas
Apr 08, 2022
I was taking lessons last year with John and a trainee instructor, I had to stop due to unforeseen circumstances however, John is an extremely brilliant driving instructor and I would recommend him to everyone. He is extremely patient, and he does everything in order to accommodate you and make you feel as comfortable as possible. If I could give 10 starts I would
Ella Clark
Mar 23, 2022
After being messed around by a variety of other driving schools, contacting & becoming a student of the John Harvey Driving School was the best decision I could have made. My instructor, Jason M, was not only experienced & knowledgeable in how to teach someone learning to drive, but his kindness, patience & genuine nature was thoroughly reassuring & confidence boosting throughout the entire experience.
In addition, the school itself ensures that all parts of the 'curriculum' of driving is followed & rated on a scale of 1-5, so learners can visually follow their progress & anything that needs further improvement was easily identified before revisiting after more skills have been obtained. This rigour, as well as the instructor being easily contactable, flexible & adaptable to an individual's needs meant that I was able to pass first time with only 3 driving faults!
Anyone considering joining the school certainly will not regret it. I will forever be thankful for Jason & the rest of the school for their services - I'll hopefully see you on the roads soon!
In addition, the school itself ensures that all parts of the 'curriculum' of driving is followed & rated on a scale of 1-5, so learners can visually follow their progress & anything that needs further improvement was easily identified before revisiting after more skills have been obtained. This rigour, as well as the instructor being easily contactable, flexible & adaptable to an individual's needs meant that I was able to pass first time with only 3 driving faults!
Anyone considering joining the school certainly will not regret it. I will forever be thankful for Jason & the rest of the school for their services - I'll hopefully see you on the roads soon!
Leonard Jalba
Mar 14, 2022
I passed first time with John and I haven't had any private practice. John is a great instructor and he is very patient. He doesn't expect you to do perfectly the first time for example a manoeuvre. He is the type of instructor who cares, so when I don't understand something, he made sure that I understood. Overall he was looking that I was a safe driver and planning ahead as much as possible.
Niamh Dutton
Mar 05, 2022
An absolutely amazing driving school, I had Marcello and he made learning to drive a comfortable and easy experience. I throurghly enjoyed learning to drive and have now passed, I would recommend this driving school and Marcello to anyone learning to drive. A truly amazing experience I am very happy I chose to learn here.
Silvia Almonte
Dec 17, 2021
Amazing place to learn how to drive and pass your practical exam. I passed first time with Jason. He supported and encouraged me the entire time. He will teach you everything you need to know to pass the exam and to be a safe driver. He's honest with your progress. He's also really funny Couldn't have asked for a better teacher.
Alyonushka Thomas-Sam
Dec 17, 2021
Fantastic driving school that helped me pass my practical test! After having a poor experience with previous driving instructors, Gary from John Harvey Driving School was a breath of fresh air. Helped me feel confident in my abilities in the car, and taught me everything I needed to know to pass my test. 10/10 would recommend
Giles Afeeva
Dec 16, 2021
Harry Drinkal
Dec 15, 2021
Louis Harrison
Dec 13, 2021
Luke Neame
Oct 27, 2021
I passed first time yesterday with Matt. He was amazing from beginning to end, it was very easy to get comfortable properly driving with Matt. His style of teaching made it very easy to remember my manoeuvres, and all my observations while being on the road. I would recommend Matt from John Harvey Driving School to anyone with any level of driving experience for sure! I'm going to miss doing my driving lessons 100% just because it was so fun. Thank you so much again Matt for the first time pass! Luke. :
Alfie Pettman
Oct 07, 2021
Passed first time with Matt it was great experience. He helped me with getting all my reference points for all the manoeuvres and helped me so much with my confidence. Overall experience with the John Harvey driving school and Matt as my instructor was amazing. Thanks very much I'd deffo recommend for anyone within the herne bay, Canterbury or whitstable area!
Baris Celik
Sep 21, 2021
I took my lessons from Matt at John Harvey Driving School. With little experience of driving in the UK, I had a lot of questions in mind. Thanks to Matt's patient, clear, motivating guidance and his spot-on instructions throughout the lessons, I passed my practical test in the first try. I'd highly recommend him also for his impeccable local knowledge on potential test routes in Canterbury and Herne Bay.
Connor Stevenson
Sep 15, 2021
Sally Bucknall
Jun 02, 2021
Lisa Fernandes
May 23, 2021
I learnt with John and passed first time. John is an excellent, calm instructor who communicates clearly and has seemingly endless patience for nervous drivers like myself. His methods make tricky manoeuvres much more straightforward and he doesn't make you feel silly if you do something wrong. He told me at the start that he would teach me to drive rather than just how to pass my test, and the skills he's taught me have given me confidence driving my own vehicle in the real world. I honestly never thought I would be able to drive, and wouldn't hesitate in recommending John Harvey Driving School to anyone. See you for the motorway lessons next!
Sophie Baldock
Jan 04, 2021
I had John as my instructor, and passed my practical test first time. John is an excellent instructor- very clear, calm and professional. He taught me lots of useful techniques for manoeuvres, gave helpful tips on how to improve my driving and made sure I was familiar with the test routes the examiners use so I felt very well prepared for the test. He also focused on making sure that I was a safe and competent driver overall. I would highly recommend John and this driving school!
Melanie Hoare
Oct 29, 2019
Changed instructors after failing my first test, and it made such a difference! Matt was a great instructor, and really focussed on helping me understand the roads better and how to be a safer driver rather than just getting me to jump through hoops to pass the test. He focussed on helping me drive slower and more controlled, I’m so much more confident now.
Tina Widdows
Aug 12, 2019
Aimee Easton
Aug 09, 2019
Sarah Silvester
Aug 09, 2019
Demi Donovan
Jul 31, 2019
Shauna Bosson
May 17, 2019
Lorraine Elizabeth
Sep 12, 2018
Jack Hanson
Hannah Keightley
Karen was an excellent driver. She took her time with me and was patient when I made mistakes. I wouldn’t have been able to pass first time without her help. The company was excellent and a great value for money, especially with the excellent instructors that they provide. Thank you John Harvey and especially Karen for being an amazing driving school and instructor