Category C1+E (7.5 Tonne & Trailer)

The Category C1+E training courses (7.5 tonne & trailer) are aimed at those people who already have their Category C1 licence (7.5 tonne licence), but would like to drive a vehicle between 3.5 tonne and 7.5 tonne vehicle with a trailer over 750kg.

Once you pass your C1+E test, you will also be able to drive any vehicle up to 7.5 tonnes with a trailer over 750kgs, providing the combined maximum weight does not exceed 12 tonnes, and the Maximised Authorised Mass (MAM) of the trailer does not exceed the MAM of the towing vehicle. Once you pass your C1+E licence, you will also automatically get Category B+E entitlement (car and trailer licence) as well.

Advantages of this licence means you can drive any vehicle up to 7.5 tonnes and tow horse boxes, caravans, boats or motorbikes. Another common reason for taking the C1+E test is it is a common requiremnet for those people seeking employment in the breakdown and recovery sector.

C1 Licence Exceptions

Drivers who passed their Category B (car licence) test before 1st January 1997 will benefit from acquired rights (also referred to as grandfathering rights). This means that these group of drivers already have the C1+E entitlement on their driving licence. However, the C1+E licence granted through acquired rights has a restriction code 107 attached to it meaning that you are restricted to a combined weight of not greater than 8250kgs. Therefore, if you wanted to drive any combination in excess of this weight up to a maximum combination of 12 tonnes, you would need to take the C1+E test.

People who took their driving test after January 1997 will not have been granted the C1 licence or the C1+E licence, and will therefore have to take a separate C1 test to get the C1 licence, and then a further C1+E test to acquire the C1+E licence.

Category C1+E Requirements

In order to attend our LGV C1+E (any vehicle up to 7.5 tonne with a trailer towing) training courses, you must have first passed your Category C1 LGV test. You must ensure that you have Category C1+E provisional entitlement on your driving licence, which you can check on the DVLA's website. You will also need to ensure that your existing LGV Category C1 entitlement is still valid, and has not expired, as candidtaes over the age of 45 will nedd to renew their LGV medical examination every 5 years for their LGV Cat C1 Licence entitlement to remain valid.

There is no theory test requirement to obtain a C1+E licence. This is because the "+E" part of a driving entitlement simply means "and trailer over 750kg". By adding the right to tow a trailer, you are simply extending your existing Category C1 licence (for which you would have already passed a theory test for) as opposed to obtaining a new category of licence.

C1+E Training In East London

We offer a range of Category C1 training courses to accomodate drivers with different levels of experience. All of our C1 car and trailer courses are provided on a 1-2-1 basis, ensuring that you receive 100% of the instructors attention without the pressure of any other observers. It is this 1-2-1 trailer training by our qualified trainers which leads to our superb first time pass rate.

Our training days usually consist of 4 hours training per day, with all 4 hours being spent by you at the wheel, and not spent with unecessary "coffee breaks" or "lunch breaks" which many other schools use as a tactic to reduce your training time.

Many other schools will offer you an 8 hour training day, which may sound like good value on the face of it, but the 8 hour day is not on a 1-2-1 basis, and the driving time is shared with another pupil, meaning you spend half the time squeezed in a drivers cab waiting for your turn to drive and effectively wasting half your day. The other problem with the 8 hour days provided by other trailer training schools in East London is that many of theses training schools will introduce lunch breaks into this 8 hour day meaning that you are not receiving your full time driving/practicing that you are paying for. The final problem with an 8 hour day is tiredness. Driving for such a long time results in a lack of concentration and therefore has to have an adverse affect on your learning. The combination of these problems is quite obvious as to why such schools do not have the same extensive pass rate as we pride ourselves on. However, if you are insistent on having an 8 hour day, we can of course accommodate this, even though we do not recommend it.

C1+E Driving Licence Training

Our C1+E trailer training courses start off at 24 hours, and are aimed at people who have no previous experience towing trailers. Our course then step down in 4 hour blocks including a 20 hour course, 16 hour course, and 12 hour course, with each step down being aimed at drivers based on their previous towing experience. We do also offer a 10 hour course, but would only recommend this to people who have very good towing experience, and being exceptionally good at reversing.

Your course will typically be split up into 4 hours training per day, with your test being taken on the final day of your course, where you will receive 2 hours pre-test warm up training, followed your C1 practical driving test for which 2 of your training hours will be allocated for.

Your training will consist of verbal and practical training for the following:

• improving your general driving skills to make sure they are up to the DVSA " driving test standard"
• showing you popular test routes you are likely to encounter as part of your driving test
• teaching you about the reversing manoeuvre which you will be required to do as part of your practical test
• teaching you the "show me / tell me" questions which will be asked at the beginning of your test
• teaching you how to un-couple and re-couple the trailer correctly as your examiner will expect to see it

Our most successful courses are those within the 16 - 20 hour bracket, as these course's generally provide us enough time to adequately cover all the training points mentioned above. Obviously the shorter the course, the less in depth we can cover the training points above.

Please remember when deciding which C1+E training course would suit you best, that if you try to select a shorter trailer training course to try to save yourself money, you may not pass your C1+E test first time, and may end up spending more money on re-tests than if you selected the most appropriate course for your skill level in the first place. If you are unsure about which C1+E course would suit you best, then please contact our office where we will be more than happy to listen to the experience you have and help you make an appropriate choice.

About The Category C1+E Test

The C1+E test will be taken in the same vehicle in which you do your training in. The test starts off with the examiner asking you some vehicle safety questions, and is usually immediately followed by the reversing excercise.

You then proceed to spend the next 50 minutes - 1 hour driving on the public road, going over through the test routes you would have hopefully practiced during your training. During this time on the road your examiner will assess your ability to interact with other road users in a safe and appropriate manner following correct road traffic procedures. Upon returning to the test centre, the examiner will ask you to un-hitch & then re-hitch your trailer as the final part of your test.

C1+E Price List

All courses INCLUDE training and practical test fees. (An additional £30 will be charged for any practical test booked on a weekend or as classed as out of hours by the DVSA)

How do I book my C1+E Driving Lessons?

Since all of our C1+E sessions are bespoke to each individual, the only way you can book a session is to call our offices on 020 8597 7333 or 0800 848 8418 where our office staff will discuss your personal requirements and discuss availability to help you find a suitable time and date to suit you.

Booking a Course if you have an EU Licence

If you have an EU licence, you must obtain a D91 Form from the DVLA.

To get the D91 Form, you will need to complete a D9 Application Form. Once you complete the D9 Application, the DVLA will then send you a D91 Form in the post, and allocate you UK driving licence number.

Once you have the D91 Form and a UK driving licence number, you can then book onto a course with us as well as being able to book any other driving courses/tests/assessments in the UK.

Please note, you will need to bring the D91 Form form with you to your course, so please make sure you do pyhsically have this in your possession before making your booking.