Publishing this as a record of how I obtained my class 3 license for future reading. Also to help anyone else who might be looking into getting their license. Do note that my experience was through Comfort Delgro Driving Centre (CDC). Requirements/ learning experiences may vary for other schools.
Things to do consider:
- Cost (Full cost list available here)
- It took me 18 practical lessons (18 * $77- I’m using peak hour costs to keep things simple, overall cost was slightly lesser) and 1 practical test ($322- includes both warm up and TP test)
- Registration fee + refundable deposit ($176.55 + $10 = $187)
- Induction Programme ($38)
- Simulator Course — 3 modules ($80 total)
- VPC ($28)
- LDCS ($56)
- BTT + FTT ($13)
Total Cost: $2110; Actual cost was probably $2000, i had quite a few off peak lessons. If I didn’t mess up the simulator booking, it would have cost me $1780. - Time Required
- It took me 6 months to obtain my license but in reality I only spent 3 months as I waited 3 months to take my BTT, since there were no earlier slots.
- If you’re able to pick up the basics/multi task well/ have previous driving experience you can probably complete the whole process in 2 months or less - Are you available for lessons right now?
- If you’re not able to take around 2–3 lessons a week, it might not be the best idea to take your practical lessons now. From experience, I realised that a lot of the small mistakes I made were largely due to the fact that I forgot about them in between lessons (whenever i had 1 week breaks or longer in between lessons).
- If you’re not able to clear the lessons and take your TP test as soon as possible you might get rusty and need even more lessons just to refresh yourself.
- Also, do note that CDC membership lasts only for 1 year, after which it will cost $64 for a 6 month extension.
Enrolment and Lessons
Assuming you’re still here and don’t feel like the costs/time is an issue for you. Go ahead and apply for enrolment on CDC . Enrolment should complete within 1–2 days and you will receive an email with the first steps to complete.
You will be required to take an eye test (check for color blindness) prior to being able to book your BTT.
Once you complete your eye test, check for the earliest BTT internal evaluation & BTT date. Once you obtain the BTT date, check for future practical lessons that are after the BTT date. Reason being you need to make sure you are free for the next few months following that date, otherwise you are at risk of dragging your driving lessons for a year or more as slots get eaten up (extremely difficult to get good slots now with covid going on).
Do note that for both BTT & FTT you will need to book your Internal Evaluation (IE) before you can book the actual theory tests. You can actually just book the IE and skip it if you don’t feel the need to attend it. Its basically just there for you to do a trial run of the BTT/FTT. But on the CDC learners portal, there are BTT/FTT packages that you can practice online.
Once you’re done with your BTT, you can start booking your theory lessons. One important thing that affected my experience was not clearing the simulator lessons. I actually was ready to take my test on the 13th lesson but because I didn’t book my simulator earlier I had to wait 1 month for my simulator meaning an additional 4 lessons (1 per week) to ensure I didn’t forget how to drive. Once you’ve completed 5 practical lessons, book your simulator lessons ASAP, don’t bodoh like me.
LDCS
Just a single lesson where you sit in the car with a lot of cameras on it. They will basically record the area around the car as you move. Drive normally and the instructor will give you tips on how to improve after the drive (blind spot/turn too wide, never check rear view mirror often enough etc).
VPC
For this lesson they will basically just tell you how a car works and basic maintenance & how to change oil/replace tyre. Book other lessons after this for the same day if you can, otherwise you go down just for VPC (20 mins?) and go home after, quite a waste of time.
Tips for lessons:
For manual learners:
- Master your clutch control first before anything else, doesn’t matter if you are a god on the road when the car is just going straight, if you cannot control the car at slow speeds/slopes you won’t be able to learn the more important modules without getting tekan non stop by your instructor.
For both manual and auto learners:
- Take all information provided by instructors seriously, but only apply what works for you. As you’ve probably read/heard from others, every instructor tends to have their own method of teaching. Granted this doesn’t change things too much, it does affect how you approach each course.
- I had issues learning how to lane change in heavy traffic, if that is an issue for you, bring it up early.
Practical Test
Now all thats left is to book your TP test and pray for good weather during your test.
When you reach CDC, go straight to the Warm Up office. It is the office near the vending machines. They will ask for your IC & student booklet. After which an instructor will call you to the car to start your warm up.
This is your last chance to fuck up. If you have any more concerns/fears (not sure how much to turn or reverse/not sure whether you’re doing it right), this is the last chance for you to clear it up. The warm up instructor will bring you through the circuit as well as one of the test routes (unless you take too long in the circuit).
Remember the car number you were assigned for warm up. It will be the same car you use for the test. This means you can set your mirrors/seat position before you leave the car after warm up.
Go back to the waiting area at the time you are told to after the short break upon completing warm up. (The instructor will inform you specifically what time to go back).
Now all there is to do is to drive as well as you possibly can. Pray for a friendly tester (I was lucky, my tester definitely gave me some chances) and hope it doesn’t rain. It rained during my test and my foot kept slipping off the clutch making it unnecessarily tiring to keep readjusting my foot. But for auto drivers it also affects your driving vision since visibility is less than a metre when it rains heavily.
If you passed the test, you can apply on the SPF website for your QDL, once you get your receipt from payment ($50 for lifetime license). You can use that receipt as proof of license until they send you the physical copy. This means you can pretty much drive right after passing.
Congratulations, you are now a licensed driver, please don’t be an ass and cut people off :)
More resources:
Car refresher course (Youtube) — useful for navigating CDC circuit, he was an ex instructor
Special thanks to the following instructors for making my driving lessons much more impactful and fulfilling and being patient with me.
- Mr Zakana Bin Zainal (0037)
- Mr Abu Hassan bin Abu Bakar (7126)
- Mr Tan Seng Lee (7114)
