Trailer Towing Practice, Training & Test

The rules on what you can tow are different depending on when you passed your driving test.

Licences issued after 19 January 2013
If you passed your car driving test (category B) from 19 January 2013, you can tow:

• small trailers weighing no more than 750kg
• a trailer over 750kg as long as the combined weight of the trailer and towing car or van is no more than 3,500kg (3.5 tonnes) maximum authorised mass (MAM)

Licences issued after 1 January 1997 but before 18 January 2013
If you passed your car driving test between 1 January 1997 and 18 January 2013, you can:

• drive a car or van up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
• tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg

Licences held before 1 January 1997
If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997 you’re usually allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8,250kg MAM.  You’re also allowed to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

Reason to Ask:  You need to be compliant with the April 2016 rules.  But check the Gov.UK website for updates.

WALLACE delivers training every day (including occasional Sundays).  Please give us around 7 - 10 days advance notice of your requirements and we will do our best to get training started quickly with a DVSA driving test to follow immediately after training.

Reason to Ask:  With WALLACE you only pay for what you need when all training dates are confirmed.

Training is available to anyone aged 18 or over.

*By booking you are self-confirming that you/the trainee is physically and mentally fit, has no special needs or learning difficulties, and has good conversational English and sufficient literacy skills to understand DVSA study material including Highway Code and Show Me, Tell Me.

Unless we receive an email to info@wallaceschool.co.uk at the time of booking, we will presume you/ the trainee does not suffer from problems with eyesight, hearing, heart disease, high blood pressure, epilepsy, fear of heights/vertigo, giddiness, difficulty with balance, impaired limb functions, alcohol or drug dependence or psychiatric illness.

Reason to Ask: *Drivers who need additional support are welcome, but may need additional training than our standard course packages, so we request you advise us of any special requirements before booking.

WALLACE Centres are accredited with RTITB and DSA so you can be sure your training is proper and correct. All our instructors are qualified and our School, vehicles and facilities are inspected annually to ensure we continue to provide high quality training.

Reason to Ask: Non-qualified instructors are not inspected by anyone, their vehicles are not inspected, their facilities not checked.  So any claims they make are unsubstantiated by a Independant Third Party.

WALLACE will teach you everything you need to pass as we adopt a systematic approach to training. All the subjects and information you need is covered. Your lessons are delivered in logical progression, without unnecessary duplications and time wasting. Your lessons time, duration and content are recorded on your Progress Report and you will be invited to sign for each lesson to ensure your complete satistaction.

Reason to Ask: Non-qualified instructors may not deliver structured training and could miss something that could result in failure.

WALLACE training is arranged on an Individual training basis, just you and your instructor in the training vehicle.  This allows you to develop your skills at the most effective rate and you are able to make the best use of your available time.

Reason to Ask: Shared training can be less effective especially if you are held back by a basic driver who needs to practise skills that you don't need to cover.  Also Shared training takes double the time, and we are all busy people, so wouldn't you prefer to concentrate your precious time on just what you need to pass the test.

WALACE has a special arrangement with DSA to pre-book driving tests in advance so you won't have to wait for your test as it will be arranged to follow on immediately at the conclusion of training.  We have our own DSA Approved Test Centre and can usually arrange tests in around 7 to 10 days.

Reason to Ask: Many schools can't afford to pre-pay DSA test fees in advance so they have to take 'pot luck' with whatever may be available at the time they try to arrange an appointment for you and this could end up being weeks in advance. 

Schools who work with brokers have to sign an agreement to say they will not take payment directly from a driver for a re-test (or else they won't get paid by the broker for the training they've just delivered).  These schools are paid such a small amount from the broker for delivering the training that the school dosen't have to money available to spend with DSA.  All this takes weeks and sometimes months.  And in the meantime the little you may have learnt on training is gradually becoming a distant memory and when your re-test comes through it is virtually impossible to drive to test standard.

WALLACE provides a Pass Protection Package but we won't force you to buy a package before you've started training or before we knowing if you need Pass Protection. 

After all we're both working towards a first time pass!   And by following Wallace Instructors ideal training recommendations, if you need a second test, we will give you 2 hours and the use of our vehicle for test at half our normal price.

Reason to Ask:  We don't need to ask you pay for Pass Protection in advance because we are certain that with proper and correct tuition you can be sure to reach test standard and pass your test without the expense of a protection package.  Training schools who 'push' you to buy Pass Protection up front do so because they know their training course is not enough to get you through your test and worst of all they don't tell you that your Pass Protection Package may not be arranged until a couple of months into the future, and may well be on a different vehicle with a different instructor that who you did your first training with!

WALLACE provides high standard and quality training.  However, regretfully there is no such thing as a Guaranteed Pass.  Some schools use the term just as a marketing ploy. 

The truth is - if you make a mistake on your test the DSA Driving Examiner has to fail you - no one can offer a Guaranteed Pass.

You can, however, give yourself the best opportunity to pass by taking lessons with a qualified instructor and an accredited school as WALLACE.

Reason to Ask:  You need to look at the small print - if they have given you the 'deal' in writting - and if not what guarantees have you got anyway??   A so called Guaranteed Pass may be only a guaranteed opportunity to take more than one test, not a guarantee of the instructor or schools ability to teach you fully and properly or you to pass your driving test.

WALLACE has two bespoke reversing areas conveniently situated at our school which are laid out exactly to the DVSA test requirement (as Wallace also has it's own DVSA Approved Driving Test Centre). Drivers are able to practice the reversing manoeuvres everyday whilst on training if needed.

Reason to Ask: If a school has to 'buy' in reversing facilities each time they want to use them, then they wil rations access to those facilities and only having limited reversing practice time could mean you fail your test.

WALLACE saves you save time and money.  Book directly with us and you'll receive quality training with a reliable booking service. We have our own instructors and vehicles and provide accredited and approved training.

Reason to Ask:  Nationally advertised training agencies (we call them brokers) do not have their own training vehicles and simply 'sell' your booking to the cheapest, unqualified and unregulated provider that they can (and they may not be anywhere near you either, despite what the broker says!).

Don't think just because they appear at the top of the first page on Google that they are the best.  They have simply paid (the most) to be at the top of the page - its nothing to do with how good a company they are!

Brokers organise 'cheap' training for you because this means they keep more of the money you've paid them. 

Brokers aren't bothered if you get the training hours you think you've paid for (in fact they pay so little to the instructor that actually delivers your training, that the instructor usually has no option but to short-time you simply to make ends meet).  Brokers have no interest in the quality of training, or when it is delivered, after they have got your money, they don't care.

Remember you should always make sure you know who you are dealing with. 

You can only establish you are talking to a genuine school by visiting them and looking at their training vehicles (remember photos on broker website aren’t necessarily their actual training vehicles). 

Take your time.  Don't be rushed into making a decision and buying over the phone. And be careful if buying with a Debit Card - Remember payments made by credit card give added protection through the credit card company.

Wallace school of Transport is an independent school; we are not brokers/agents.  Don't fall into the HGV SCAMMERS TRAP!!

Good companies with genuine deals will still be there tomorrow.  Wallace School of Transport has been established for over 50 years.

WALLACE welcomes you to visit our office to pay personally or pay over the phone, either by Credit or Debit Card, or cash.  We also accept BACS payments and we offer Low Monthly Repayment terms if you want to spread the cost of your training.

Reason to Ask: Be careful if buying with a Debit Card - Remember payments made by Credit Card give added protection through the credit card company.  We have received reports about brokers storing clients payment card details and running amounts through without permission.

WALLACE customers receive Joining Instructions from us when booking.  We give clear directions where to meet our instructors and vehicles, and how to find our training locations which are near main arterial roads, with free parking and most are close to public transport connections. (See our training locations for your nearest Wallace instructor and vehicle)

Reason to Ask: Brokers claim to have 'branches nationwide' but as they have no vehicles or instructors or their own they contact local schools in different parts of the county who they hope will deliver training on their behalf.  Most quality training schools are busy enough meeting their own customers needs and like Wallace, they are independent schools and do not want or need to work with the brokers/agents.

WALLACE is approached by many companies who ask us to help them find drivers and you can also choose to work with our associate company, an employment agency, Drivers on Demand. For temporary assignments call 020 8453 3444 and mention you are a Wallace customer for priority enrolment.

Reason to Ask: Schools without a good reputation are not approached by employers looking to recruit.  Brokers will offer all kinds of promises and make offers that seem to good to be true just to entice you to spend more money for additional qualifications that will suposedly 'guarantee' you a fantastic job.

_{B = vehicle which has eight or less seats and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes
B+E = as above, but with a trailer that has a MAM (Maximum Allowed Mass) weight of more than 750kg
C1 = vehicle that weighs between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes
C = vehicle that weighs more than 7.5 tonnes
CE = vehicle with trailer combination up to 44 tonnes
D1 = vehicle that has between 9-16 seats 
D = vehicle with more than 16 seats 
F = Tractors 
G = Road Rollers 
H = Tracked vehicles 
K = Mowing machine 
P = Moped}

Yes, we are both involved in the day to day operation of the school. We are proud our name is on our vehicles. We look forward to meeting you at our Park Royal Office.