Category B+E is for car drivers who would like to be able to tow a trailer with their car. With a Category B+E driving licence (car & trailer combination), you will be able to drive your car and tow a trailer with a maximum combined weight of up to 7 tonnes.
Who needs Category B+E
All drivers who passed their driving test on or after 1 January 1997 are required to pass an additional driving test in order to tow car and trailer combinations in excess of a certain weight. The law currently allows drivers with Category B (car licence) to drive vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM (maximum authorised mass) with up to 8 passenger seats.
The B+E driving licence will allow you to drive up to a combined towing weight of 7 tonnes. Remember, the MAM of your trailer cannot exceed the MAM of the towing vehicle. In other words, the approved loaded weight of the trailer cannot exceed the approved loaded weight for the vehicle/car which is going to be towing the trailer. Therefore, the maximum combined weight of 7 tonnes is on the assumption that you are driving a 3.5 tonne vehicle/car, with a 3.5 tonne trailer.
B+E Exceptions
There are some circ*mstances where existing Category B licence holders are allowed to tow a trailer without having acquired the B+E licence:
- If your trailer has a MAM of not more than 750kg.
- You can tow a trailer with a MAM of more than 750kg, but only if the combined MAM of the car and trailer does not exceed 3.5 tonnes.
- If driving a large vehicle/car with a MAM of 3.5 tonnes, then a trailer with a MAM of not more than 750kgs can also be coupled to this, allowing for total combined weight of up to 4.25 tonnes MAM.
However, drivers who passed their driving test before 1 January 1997, will have automatically have been granted a B+E licence through grandfathering rights, and will therefore be able to continue to tow trailers until their current B+E licence expires.
Advantages of trailers
Being able to tow a trailer with your car using Category B+E has many advantages, as you will be able to tow trailers, caravans, horseboxes, jetskis etc. Trailers provide many advantages that vans offer (ie storage space), yet can be detached, and also often require no additional insurance premiums or road tax.
Category B+E Requirements (Car & Trailer)
To take a B+E test, you must already hold a Category B driving licence, and have the provisional entitlement for B+E entitlement which is normally added to your driving licence by default when you pass your category B driving test, but for the avoidance of any doubt, can be checked on the DVLA's website.
There is no theory test requirement to obtain a B+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 B licence (for which you would have already passed a theory test for) as opposed to obtaining a new category of licence.
If you want to be able to tow a trailer with a manual vehicle/car, then you will be required to take your B+E test in a manual vehicle. If you already have an existing manual Category B licence, but take the B+E driving test in an automatic vehicle, the your B+E licence will be limited to automatic vehicles only.
Trailer Training In East London
We offer a range of Category B+E training courses to accomadte drivers with different levels of experience. All of our B+E 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.
Trailer Training Courses
Our B+E trailer training courses start off at 24 hours, and are aimed at people who have no previous experience towing trailers. Our course's 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 by your final 2 hours being used towards your B+E practical driving test.
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 B+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 B+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 car & trailer 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 B+E Test
The B+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.
B+E Price List
| Course | Price |
|---|---|
| 24 Hours | £1150 |
| 20 Hours | £999 |
| 16 Hours | £825 |
| 12 Hours | £650 |
| 10 Hours | £595 |
| Hourly Rate | £50 Per Hour |
| Module 3 Practical Driving Test Re-sit | £310 |
| Weekends / Bank Holidays | £10 Per Day |
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 B+E Driving Lessons?
Since all of our B+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.
