Avoid Steven Murphy. Had a 55 intensive over 2 weeks from 0 experience before hand, which went reasonably well. Prior to Test I had a Mock test where I got 4 minors and 1 serious for parking. Steve refused to allow me to do the actual driving test that was all ready booked and paid for the following day. This wasn't based on the results of the mock but on a 10+ intensive driving hours previous(20% off my course time) miniature mock. Steven didn't even get in contact after the mock to discuss or go through things, so I was left confused and unsure what to do next. I believe this is also partly due to chilled wanting to appear to have a higher pass rate on their tests. Shame on chilled and doubly so on Steve Murphy for poor proffesionalism.
Response : Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We’re sorry you feel disappointed with your experience. However, our priority will always be road safety and giving pupils the best possible chance of passing their driving test. If an instructor believes a pupil is not yet at test standard, we will not take them to test simply to fail. That decision is never made lightly and is always based on professional judgement and experience. An instructor’s record of pass/fail rates is monitored by the DVSA.
Repeatedly taking unprepared pupils can lead to the instructor being investigated. Although you mention your full mock test result, the concerns raised were based on your overall consistency and readiness across your course — not just one mock result. Intensive courses can produce good progress quickly, but being test-ready requires meeting the required standard consistently and independently. It’s also worth noting that the 5-star review directly below yours was left by your friend who completed an intensive course and passed with zero minors — which demonstrates that when a pupil is ready, we are fully supportive of them going to test. We categorically reject the suggestion that decisions are made to “protect pass rates.” Our instructors’ responsibility is to ensure pupils are genuinely ready and safe to drive independently. We wish you the very best with your continued learning and future test. We apologise Steve did not contact you directly but as it was his day off we called you from the office to discuss.Moreexpand_more