Young Driver and Passenger Course

Please consider booking the award winning Young Driver and Pasenger Course, free of charge to every Secondary school and College in Kent.

Young car drivers (17 to 24 years) are over-represented when you look at statistics for this age group and their involvement in fatal and serious road traffic crashes. In Kent and Medway between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025, 123 passengers aged 17 to 24 were killed or seriously injured. Of these casualties 72% were in vehicles driven by someone aged 17 to 24. The programme, will help young people to develop the knowledge and confidence to make safer decisions both behind the wheel and as passengers, helping to reduce the risk of serious collisions and their consequences.

The Young Driver and Passenger Course is suitable for all year 12 and 13 students. The majority of the course (sessions 1 to 4) are pre-recorded virtual or Vimeo sessions led by teachers to small groups in a classroom setting. The session 5 Presentation is delivered to all participating students by one of our Safer Road User Team Officers in a larger school venue. We provide additional class resources and support to teaching staff enabling them to confidently facilitate the virtual programme.

The virtual sessions offer curriculum flexibility, where you can plan them in over a day, week or the term. The programme generates conversation and therefore groups of 8 to 30 students is desirable. Schools have successfully run the course sessions as individual, double sessions and as drop-down days.

The new face-to-face session will be delivered by a Safer Road User Officer after the completion of sessions one to four. Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, South-East Coast Ambulance Service, and National Highways have all contributed to, and appear in, the accompanying film (included within the presentation) to share their experience and knowledge around safer strategies, best practice, and legal requirements. The aim of the session is to give clear strategies to aid young drivers and passengers when faced with a crash situation. This will be achieved by supporting them with an overview of post collision actions as well as an understanding of how best to support emergency responders attending the scene, which will assist in developing safer behaviours at the scene of a crash

The course, written by education professionals, provides students with greater depth in understanding of why crashes occur in their age group. Pupils are encouraged to explore coping strategies to become safer drivers and passengers.

This course is aimed at passengers, novice drivers and those that have passed their theory and practical tests. We are passionate about supporting young people to understand the key skills required for safer driving. Our aim is to empower them to understand causation factors, identify safer behaviours and ultimately, encourage them to say something when they feel those standards are not there.

For further information visit the Kent Road Safety website

Please view the Young Driver and Passenger Course advert on Vimeo

For further information and to book please contact saferroadusers@kent.gov.uk.