About EDT... Learner Drivers & Sponsors

Car Driver Training (EDT)
Essential Driver Training(EDT) is a training course teaching fundamental driving skills to learner car drivers. EDT is mandatory for all learners who received their first driving permit on or after 4 April 2011.

An Introduction to EDT
Learn more about mandatory Essential Driver Training (EDT) for learner drivers, why it’s necessary and what the benefits are (see also our EDT section)

Learning to drive videos
A series of ‘Learning to Drive’ videos explaining everything you need to know about doing their test and becoming socially responsible drivers.

There are lots of videos in the series, each of which deals with a different aspect of the ‘learning to drive’ process for driving a car, motorcycle, bus or truck. These provide additional support and guidance to some of Ireland’s most vulnerable road users (please see our useful information section)

The Lessons
The Essential Driver Training course is made up of 12 one-hour lessons, which you must complete before taking your Driving test.
Information for Sponsors
Sponsors are learner-nominated accompanying drivers who help learner drivers through the Essential Driver Training (EDT) programme and assist learners in becoming better, safer drivers.

View "My EDT"
You can view all your EDT training records online. With your own personalised essential driver training application (My EDT), you can keep track of your progress and prepare for your driving test.

Undoubtedly...
You will have additional questions or query's you would like to make, we at Richie's School of Motoring will answer these before, during and after each unit of learning and at the most opportune time, for example issues like, the primary and secondary controls of the vehicle to questions on passing my test and everything in between! 

What is a Sponsor?
A sponsor is an experienced driver who accompanies a learner driver in their practice driving sessions. Sponsors are often family members or close friends of learner drivers.

The RSA’s Essential Driver Training (EDT) programme has identified the sponsor as playing a key role in safe driving education. EDT is a crucial component of the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system, which aims to provide new drivers the opportunity to gain driving experience, skills and maturity. 

Research tells us that accompanying drivers can have a real impact on the learning to drive process. Although you are not expected to teach the learner driver, by offering support and encouragement, you will increase the learner’s enthusiasm for practicing driving. In your interactions with the learner driver, you should:

• Show interest in their progress
• Encourage them
• Assure them they can rely on your experience in difficult road situations
• Reinforce that safe driving takes lots of persistence, patience and practice
  
  The EDT programme now requires learner drivers to take a mandatory
  12 hours of lessons with an ADI before they may sit the driving test. Learners may also wish to take additional lessons with an ADI to increase their knowledge of safe driving.
  

You should only facilitate practice on topics already covered by the ADI,
and should not seek to teach your
learner anything that has not yet been recommended by the instructor.

The Learner’s Logbook
When a learner starts the EDT course,
they will be given an EDT logbook in
which they and the ADI record details of each lesson.The logbook also has a page for sponsors to record details of any practice undertaken by the learner.

You can use the information in the learner’s logbook to help plan out practice sessions and to pinpoint areas of learning to focus on. Please ensure your bring your logbook to each driving lesson.