The short answer
Driving lessons can be cancelled; the notice period is what matters. Cancel in good time and there is no charge, and the slot can be given to somebody else. Cancel at short notice or fail to appear and you should expect a cancellation fee, because that time is no longer usable by anyone. The exact period is in your training contract.
It happens. An infection, a shift that moved, an exam brought forward. Cancelling is not a problem — the only question is when.
Why there is a notice period at all
A driving lesson is a car plus an instructor plus a slot. If it falls through an hour beforehand the slot stays empty: nobody else can step in at that notice, and the next person on the list is at work. The cancellation fee is not a punishment, it is the fact that this time no longer exists.
What sensibly applies
- Cancelled in good time: no charge, new appointment by arrangement
- Cancelled at short notice or missed: a cancellation fee as a rule
- Illness: tell us early, even while you are still unsure — a "possibly not tomorrow" the evening before helps more than certainty in the morning
- We cancel too, when weather or a fault requires it. Nothing is charged to you in that case
The awkward ones are not the cancellations but the silent appointments — somebody does not turn up, does not get in touch, and we are standing there with the car not knowing whether something has happened. A message, even ten minutes beforehand and with no explanation, changes everything at our end. The slot is still gone, but nobody is worrying.
The other side: cancelling too often
Cancelling regularly costs you more than appointments, it costs progress. Three weeks between two lessons means part of the last one is gone, and the next begins with revision. That is the mechanism that pushes the total number of lessons up — far more strongly than any question of talent.
When nothing is possible right now
A longer break is not a reason to stop. Tell us if a few weeks are impossible, and we will plan the restart deliberately rather than as "next lesson as usual". After a long break different things apply anyway.
The exact periods and amounts are in your training contract and on the price page. If anything is unclear, ask at the office — it is quicker than searching.
What to take away
Early cancellations cost nothing and late ones always cost something, whatever the notice period says in a given case. The more expensive mistake is a different one: cancel often and what you pay for in the end is not the fee but the extra lessons that come out of a broken rhythm.