For most of the history of the UK driving test, learners weren’t allowed on motorways at all before passing — meaning a huge number of newly qualified drivers found themselves navigating a motorway alone for the very first time within days of passing. That changed on a specific date in 2018, and the rule that resulted is more limited than a lot of learners assume.
What actually changed, and when
From Monday 4 June 2018, Rule 253 of the Highway Code was updated to allow learner drivers in England, Scotland and Wales onto motorways for the first time, provided specific conditions were met. According to the official government announcement, learners must be “accompanied by an approved driving instructor” in a car “fitted with dual controls” — meaning this isn’t a general right to drive on a motorway with any supervising driver, the way an ordinary learner lesson on other roads can be supervised by a qualifying friend or family member. It has to be a fully qualified ADI, in a dual-control vehicle, specifically.
Why it’s voluntary, not compulsory
The government’s own announcement was explicit that “any motorway lessons will be voluntary” and that it is “up to the driving instructor to decide when the learner driver is competent enough” to attempt one. There’s no requirement for every learner to take a motorway lesson before their test, and motorway driving was not added to the practical driving test itself — meaning a learner can pass their test having never driven on a motorway, and many still do. The change was framed instead around giving instructors the option to introduce learners to genuinely broader driving experience before they’re on their own: joining and leaving a motorway safely, overtaking at higher speed, lane discipline, sustained higher-speed driving, and understanding motorway-specific signage — none of which a learner restricted to ordinary roads gets any exposure to before passing.
Who can actually give the lesson
The rule specifically restricts motorway lessons to qualified ADIs — trainee instructors, working under a Trainee Licence while completing their qualification (sometimes referred to as PDIs), are not permitted to take learners onto motorways under this rule. This is a meaningful restriction for learners choosing an instructor specifically because they want motorway experience before their test: it’s worth confirming an instructor holds full ADI status, not trainee status, if a motorway lesson is part of what you’re looking for.
Why this rule exists at all
The underlying road safety logic is straightforward: before 2018, a newly passed driver’s first-ever motorway experience often happened completely unsupervised, at exactly the point their skills were least tested under real motorway conditions — high closing speeds, lane discipline at scale, and traffic merging that simply doesn’t occur on ordinary roads. Giving instructors the option to introduce these conditions in a dual-controlled car, with an ADI able to intervene, was intended to close that gap for learners whose instructors judged them ready, without making it a mandatory part of every learner’s training or the test itself.
What learners should actually ask for
Because the lesson is voluntary and instructor-judged rather than a standard part of every course, a learner who specifically wants motorway experience before their test needs to raise it directly with their instructor rather than assuming it’s automatically included in a standard package of lessons. It’s also worth asking early rather than late: since the decision on readiness sits with the instructor, and a motorway lesson typically comes once other core skills are solid, leaving the request until shortly before a test date can mean there isn’t time to fit one in.
The bottom line
Since 4 June 2018, learner drivers in England, Scotland and Wales have been allowed onto motorways, but only accompanied by a fully qualified ADI in a dual-control car, and only when that instructor judges them ready — it remains entirely voluntary and isn’t part of the practical test. A learner who wants that experience needs to ask for it specifically, since it won’t happen by default.
Sources
- GOV.UK, “Learner drivers will be allowed on motorways from 2018” — gov.uk