The AA Driving School Reviews

Name: The AA Driving School
Address: Fanum House, Basing View,, RG21 4EA
Rating: 4.05

4.1 Rating 1,301 Reviews

76 %

of reviewers recommend The AA Driving School

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

4.1

Based on 1,301 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour

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Phone:

0330 100 7470

Email:

customer.services@theaa.com

Location:

Fanum House, Basing View,
RG21 4EA
Basingstoke

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The AA Driving School 5 star review on 14th March 2026

Arnold

The AA Driving School 5 star review on 7th March 2026

Anonymous

"I passed first time with 2 minors!!!!\r\nAA driving school Chelmsford- Behnam Parsi\r\n\r\nI cannot recommend Behnam Parsi at AA Driving School in Chelmsford highly enough\u2014he is hands down the best driving instructor I could have asked for. I completed 72 hours of lessons, starting to drive in mid-July, and today I passed my driving test with only 2 minors! This is something I honestly didn\u2019t think was possible before working with him.\r\n\r\nBehnam is not just an instructor\u2014he\u2019s incredibly kind, patient, and genuinely caring. He listens attentively, explains things clearly, and communicates in a way that instantly makes you feel comfortable and supported. He creates an environment where it\u2019s safe to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn at your own pace. He\u2019s respectful, encouraging, and has a natural ability to make lessons calm and productive, even when I felt nervous or overwhelmed.\r\n\r\nWhat really sets Behnam apart is his belief in his students. I have ADD and GDD, and I\u2019ve struggled with anxiety around learning to drive. Behnam adapted every lesson to suit my needs, breaking things down step by step, giving me time to absorb information, and always encouraging me when I doubted myself. He helped me find strategies to cope with stress and nerves, teaching me ways to stay focused and confident, which completely changed my mindset behind the wheel.\r\n\r\nHe goes above and beyond just teaching driving skills. Every lesson felt tailored to me, whether it was mastering maneuvers, building confidence on busy roads, or planning routes. He celebrated my progress, however small, and his patience never wavered, even when things were tricky. He genuinely wanted me to succeed, not just pass a test.\r\n\r\nBefore working with Behnam, I\u2019d had a really rough experience\u2014my previous instructor had bailed on me four times, which left me frustrated and anxious. But with Behnam, I finally found someone reliable, professional, and truly invested in my success. He helped me not only learn to drive, but also gain confidence, independence, and a sense of achievement that I will carry with me forever.\r\n\r\nIf you want an instructor who is supportive, understanding, patient, and extremely skilled, Behnam Parsi is the one to choose. He doesn\u2019t just teach driving\u2014he empowers you to believe in yourself, overcome anxiety, and reach your full potential. Thanks to him, I passed my test feeling calm, confident, and ready for the road ahead. I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better instructor or a better experience.\r\n\r\nThank you Behnam!!"

The AA Driving School 5 star review on 6th March 2026

248

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“My driving instructor didn't turn up for the lesson. I contacted him and he didn't reply. I can't find anyone to help me sit my test now...”

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Posted 4 days ago

“I was driving round the Fox Hollies roundabout and was cut up by the driving instructor with the number plate AJ62 CSV driving a black Peugeot. Dangerous driving! Bad example for a driving instructor to set!”

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Posted 1 week ago

“AA driving school unfortunately was a terrible experience. It is expensive and a good name so i expected quality for my son , but this was not the case. The first instructor did not teach basic things like looking in your mirrors and seemed to spend most of the time eating and not doing manoeuvres. He then told my son he was ready for his test when he was not , which we only found as he went into hospital so we had to swap to another instructor who said he was not ready at all. Had to then put back his test too last minute to get my money back and had a huge problem getting another test for ages. Overall terrible. Have complained but after one initial reply they have not responded to my emails. Do not use them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 week ago

“I was having driving lessons for over a year that was all fine,then after Christmas my driving instructor kept cancelling my lessons,she knew I had a test coming up in March,didn't even put me in touch with another instructor,so not a very good service at all,would not recommend the AA.”

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Posted 3 weeks ago

“Awful customer service, no means of contacting by phone (very restrictive hours) last minute cancellation of first lessons, instructor rude, defensive and aggressive. Had to get a refund”

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Posted 1 month ago

“Stay away. They ruin your day and don’t even show up for appointments.”

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Posted 1 month ago

“Review / Complaint I am extremely disappointed with the level of professionalism and reliability shown by this driving school. My daughter began lessons in March with instructor Samantha Ashley. A driving test was successfully booked for December, and once the test date was confirmed, Samantha acknowledged it, recorded it in her diary, and allowed my daughter to book lessons in advance. Without warning or explanation, Samantha later cancelled a scheduled lesson and informed my daughter that she should find another instructor, stating she was no longer available. This was completely unacceptable, especially given that the test date had been known for months and no concerns about my daughter’s progress had ever been raised during this time. When I contacted Samantha to ask for an explanation, I was told my daughter had not had enough lessons. This made no sense, as there were still over two months remaining before the test date and ample opportunity to schedule additional lessons. At no point were we advised of any concerns, given a progress update, or offered the option of postponing the test if necessary. I then arranged lessons with another instructor, Ms Kaukab J Mirza, but unfortunately this experience was equally poor. She allowed my daughter to book lessons and then cancelled, stating she was on holiday. Despite being fully aware of my daughter’s test date, she later said she could no longer fit her in for lessons. This caused further disruption and stress at a crucial time. Additionally, her conduct was unprofessional. On one occasion, she sprayed the seat my daughter had been sitting on immediately after she exited the vehicle, which I found inappropriate and unnecessary. This instructor also repeatedly pressured us into booking more lessons than were needed, despite my daughter being test-ready. After I decided to move my daughter to another company, I was repeatedly contacted with messages suggesting she take her test in our own car and screenshots of DVLA guidelines, implying a mandatory minimum of 20–40 lessons. These guidelines are not compulsory, and learning ability varies from student to student. My son passed his test with 13 lessons, which demonstrates that a blanket approach is inappropriate. The repeated messages became excessive and made me feel harassed, to the point where I had to block further contact. Thankfully, I have since found a professional and reliable driving school for my daughter. I only wish I had done so sooner. Based on our experience, I would strongly caution anyone considering this company. There appears to be a strong focus on maximising lesson numbers rather than assessing individual ability or providing consistent, professional support. I would advise others to carefully consider alternative driving schools before committing.”

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Posted 1 month ago

“Prevent learn from this AA driving school at all cost: The instructor tech me for 15 lession , then stop teaching, gave me 1 lessons each time only, when I book2, then let me drive on the other day, he owned me 1 lesson, until I complained to the company. Don't trust this school”

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Posted 3 months ago

“Got my daughter to start her lessons with aa , and what a waste of money , her instructor jalal in walsall was shockingly useless , my daughter had 20 lessons and all she did was go round in circles, never drove home or pulled off from the house , when I asked what's going on he said , shes not confident enough yet , after 20 lesson ??? So I got her with bsm , and first lesson he took her on islands , doing right turns and tried parking ,and she even drove back home , instructor said he didn't understand why she wasnt allowed to do what she did with him , my reply was he was robbing us blind. So avoid aa at all costs and go with others”

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Posted 3 months ago

“The instructor was very rude and smelled really bad. He also made me stop for petrol 20 minutes into mu lesson. Avoid AA it's obviously a scam, they don't vet their instructors and only want to sell you more sessions.”

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Posted 3 months ago

“Worse company do to driving lessons with and I truly recommend to avoid this instructor called EMMA FIDGETT as she always tends to cancel the lesson and reschedule, always be late and have a smoke break between the 2 hour lesson, and to me she would waste about 30 minutes of my 2 hours lesson which isn't fair. One day when I had a lesson I waited outside for almost half an hour and in the end she did not show up. I contacted the company about this the same day and told them how I've been waiting and how she s always been late and wasting my time, then when I made the complaint they made me wait for a response back as the company had to talk to her about it as well and I NEVER got a response back from them I HAD to contact them about it and ask for an update, as they completely forgot . And when I called them I explained to the lady I got transferred to that I've been waiting for a response back and told her my issue again she then said that there is a note on my account says that the instructor replied , saying that she had to wait about 20 something minutes but I didn't show up so she just left. The lady on the phone then said she can't do anything and will transfer me to the complaint team which I had to wait over 3 weeks to get a call back from them. I answered I told them how I want my money back from that one lesson and how it isnt fair what happened to me, then they said again that they can't do anything as the instructor doesn't want to refund me the money. Took soo long to get an answer back just for them to say that they cant help😀. I also mentioned to them how I have cameras outside the house and will send them as proof that the instructor never showed up but again they said they couldn't do anything about. Yeah so honestly this is the worse company to ever have driving lessons with, and the people that are supposed 'try to help' not doing anything and is taking weeks for a response from them. Just avoid it at all costs”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 months ago

“I bought 6 hours of lessons in advance, but only 2.5 hours were delivered. Each lesson was supposed to last 90 minutes, and my son arrived 15 minutes early each time — yet lessons ended after just 1 hour and 15 minutes. I have proof of this on my phone. When we raised this through AA’s chat, the instructor (Oliver Hancock) denied the claims privately, which felt unprofessional. I first contacted AA on 3rd November and have had no response. We’re requesting a refund of the missing 3.5 hours. Based on this experience, I do not recommend AA Driving School.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 months ago

“My instructor Umar Cheema was one of the most unprofessional instructors I’ve ever had, for 30 mins of my lessons he would spend it on the phone and then drop me off home 15 mins before my lesson ends when I should be entitled the full 2 hours driving time. As I am driving he spits out of the passenger side window and blames it on a build up of flem but thats unhygienic. Also sneezes and coughs without closing his mouth so for the majority of lessons I felt really uncomfortable. Even so I didn’t want to write a review however the worst is still yet to come. I had my exam on the 11/11/25 and I booked him off 2 months in advance, 3 days before my test he then tells me he has double booked me and told me to book a new exam when the next available test was in April. This then left me to pay £240 for a short notice instructor to let me do my test and use his car. After doing the test I passed and he didn’t even send a text to make sure that everything went ok which kind of hurt considering even though it’s a job I thought he would’ve cared. My advice would be to never book with this AA school as driving is expensive enough and the unprofessional approach will cause you to spend more money as they don’t care about their students.”

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Posted 3 months ago

“I fell in within less and 48 hours and as soon as it was reasonably practicable to notify the instructor I did. I asked to reschedule and he said there’s nothing that could be done. Said AA was gonna charge him and that there was nothing he could have done. Well I’ve been in contact with AA and have been notified that my instructor (the one that couldn’t do anything, yes that one) charged the class so there wasn’t anything AA could have done their end. Very unprofessional, and unethical and I will not be booking Sanjeev again.”

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Posted 4 months ago

“Avoid if you expect professionalism from a driving school and instructor!! My instructor, Nazira Zaker, arrived over 10 minutes late for my first lesson and made up a story about a “roadblock” to justify not reaching my building — the road to my pick up address was completely open. She then asked me to walk to a different location and was rude and abrupt about the fact I’d contacted the AA to understand where she was and why she was late. I didn’t receive a genuine apology, only attitude and aggression. I didn’t feel comfortable proceeding with the lesson, yet the AA have refused to issue a full refund and are instead acting like this was my choice. It wasn’t — the service simply wasn’t delivered properly. Really disappointing and unnecessary stress.”

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Posted 4 months ago

“Terrible Experience, Instructor can cancels and changes driving time last minute with no penalty whilst we as students has to give up to 40 hour notice or lose the lesson time money, Tried to request refund on lessons that I was not informed about due to the confirmation being sent to spam and the instructor did not send confirmation through other means (text or phone call) they did not refund me. Explicitly emailed and said I could only take lessons Wednesday-Fridays but for some reason they booked a date for Monday. Amongst that I felt the instructors instructions/coaching style was belittling and unclear and their car smelt of cigarettes and vapes. Very Unprofessional Instructor and very poor student experience.”

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Posted 4 months ago

“Instructor dropped my daughter from his lessons due to cancellation due do illness on just 2 occasions with ample notice given a rebooked for different days . No reply from him regarding the issue even though cancelled 3-5times himself with 1 hours notice . not refunded back all hours with no response to calls or messages . Also instead of filling out my daughter progress report when asked on the aa app desided to bad mouth my daughter driving to other students unaware that the students were frends with my daughter . Now been high and dry regarding lessons with the aa as no instructors available for months around us . 10 hours in and she didn’t realise the she needed to press the accelerator to move forward …. Would not recommended.”

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Posted 4 months ago

“had 2 instructors one always cancelled the other never showed would not recommend”

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Posted 4 months ago

“I booked an instructor for pass plus. He didn’t even realise I’d booked for pass plus. I had to tell him. He also smelt really bad so I didn’t bother continuing and I’d fully paid up front. It’s a franchise so I guess they don’t have much control over the standard on instructors. I’m sure they’re not all that bad.”

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Posted 4 months ago

“Avoid Karen Begley, at least if you’re a foreigner driver who wants to learn how to drive on the UK. Karen made me feel judge as soon as I entered the car, even before switching seats — by asking inappropriate questions on how many hours of lesson I had with a professional instructor before passing my test, even after telling her about my driving routine in my home country AFTER obtaining my license. She would complain more than once that weekends are busier, making sure she would repeat that in different ways because by then she already decided I was the foreigner who didn’t speak English well and didn’t know how to drive, to the point that I had to justify myself by telling her that I work full time and can’t do other days. In general, she would repeat things several times with different wording because of her assumptions. I really value an empathetic approach, which she clearly didn’t have, so I’ll admit I didn’t give my 100% in what was a new situation to me, but she made sure to make it worse despite her apparent polite manners by asking even more inappropriate questions. Specifically, she asked me if I passed my test at the first attempt and asked if I used to drive on my own and had my own car back in my country (which I already told her I did). After the lesson, she asked me again if I used to drive in my country because to her I looked like a learner. Not satisfied by an affirmative answer, she had the nerve to ask me if everything went well when I used to drive back home. Again, not satisfied by an affirmative answer, she went to her lowest pint by telling me:”Don’t blame it on driving the opposite way you’re used to, I did that too and I didn’t have your problems.” After that she heavily implied it’s easy to pass the test in my country by saying she doesn’t know the standards there because she’s never driven there. Icing on the cake, when I politely told her that although I expected I wouldn’t be ready to drive on my own in the UK after just one lesson, I was taken aback by the rest of her general comments, she got annoyed and defensive and told me:”so you think it went well today?”. She cut the conversation short because she thought I would break down in front of her instead of voicing a different opinion, poor frustrated woman.”

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Posted 4 months ago

The AA Driving School is rated 4.1 based on 1,301 reviews