Training schools lend the expensive things: a helmet, a hi-vis, usually gloves, often a jacket. What they almost never lend is footwear, and what they cannot lend at all is a licence. Both of those end days early.
The things that will actually stop you training
- Your photocard driving licence. The physical card, not a photo of it. No licence, no training, and most schools will not refund the day.
- Boots over the ankle. Trainers are refused everywhere. They do not have to be motorcycle boots — sturdy walking boots pass at most schools — but they must cover the ankle.
- Proper trousers. Jeans are fine. Shorts, leggings and tracksuit bottoms are not.
- Eyesight. If you need glasses to read a number plate at 20 metres, bring them and make sure they fit under a helmet.
The things that will ruin the day without ending it
A CBT is a long day mostly spent standing around a training area or riding at 30mph in the open air. Riders are cold far more often than they are hot, and being cold makes you tense, and being tense makes you ride badly.
- Layers, not one thick coat. You will be putting a borrowed jacket over the top.
- A thin pair of gloves under the lent ones if it is cold, though check they do not cost you feel on the levers.
- Lunch and a drink. Some schools are on industrial estates with nothing within walking distance.
- Waterproofs if rain is forecast. Training runs in the rain — it is only cancelled for ice, high wind and fog.
What to buy first, if you are buying anything
A helmet. It is the one piece of kit that is genuinely personal, the one where fit matters more than price, and the one you will keep using long after you have finished training. Get it fitted in a shop rather than ordered from a size chart — a helmet that is loose is not doing its job, and one that pinches will ruin every ride you take in it.
After that, gloves, then boots, then a jacket. Buy in that order and every purchase gets used from the day you make it.
Ask before the day
What is lent varies more than you would think. A short call or message to the school settles it, and it is the same call in which to ask what happens if you do not complete on the day.
Kit requirements are set by the school, not by DVSA, so they differ. The boots rule is close to universal; everything else is worth confirming.