High School Driving Academy

I took the course at High School Driving Academy as a «mature» learner a few years ago. The reason why I chose this school rather than another was mostly location: it’s easy to get to the Dartmouth Sportsplex using transit whereas some of the other schools have fairly inaccessible locations for the theory part.
The course consists of 25 hours of theory, usually comprising two subsequent weekends, and 10 driving lessons. The atmosphere of the theory part is a bit like back in high school, but I guess that’s necessary given the audience. Apart from me only one or two other people were older than 18. The course is well taught though, and the materials used good. Peter and Janet, the two instructors of the theory part, and the owners of the company, are ex husband and wife. Interesting setup but it seemed to work. Peter is extremely obsessed with detail though, so he may be a bit challenging as a driving instructor. For the theory part he was great though.
When you start taking the theory part you should already have your learner’s licence — otherwise you can’t start booking driving lessons. An important organizational detail that is not really explained on the company website. It’s a bit of an interesting situation since, in order to get a learner’s licence, you have to pass the rules test and the signs test (as well as the vision test) — so in a way you first have to pass the tests before you start learning the material in the course. Another reason to get your learner’s licence as early as possible is that there is a three-​month waiting period between getting your learner’s licence and taking the road test (which you take after having taken the theory part as well as the driving lessons).
For my driving lessons I had Gary Steed most of the time who is truly an excellent instructor. Meanwhile he started his own driving school though. The other instructors I had were good too.
So overall it’s a good driving school with nothing really to complain about. I passed my road test at the first attempt and have been accident-​free ever since. I can recommend them.