Simran J.
1/5
I went to Phoenix Motorcycle School to continue my bike training after starting at another school, earlier in the year. When I called to book my training I wanted to be sure that the Mod 1 training would be a full day as my issue with the last school was that it was only 4 hours and that was not enough time to confidently get through all the manoeuvres on a Mod 1 test and gain muscle memory to execute these with confidence. I was assured over the phone that the training would be one full day with a confidence ride in the morning. I did a intro session, an improver session, Mod 1 practice session and Mod 1 test day with this school and I was charged 600£ (not including any CBT as I already had all of this). On the Mod 1 training day we were told the site in Aldershot was not suitable for Mod 1 training and we had to ride to Crystal Palace, I explained to the instructor, I was not as confident on the road and wanted to focus on Mod 1 training as I had my test the next day. We spent the morning riding to Crystal Palace arriving at 12:30 and spent approximately 2 hours at the site leaving at 14:45. For a rider taking their test for the first time, this left me feeling very nervous for the test as it was not enough practice - I mentioned this to the instructor. On the ride back we were asked to filter through traffic, as new riders this felt incredibly dangerous. On the following day, I had my test and I was again asked to filter through traffic on my way to Southampton (where the test was booked). On this occasion I refused to filter as it did not feel safe to do so.
It feels like this school sets you up to fail your test charging you 240£ for a Mod 1 practise and only giving you less than half a day to get up to speed for the test. By setting you up to fail you are forced to give them another £125 to try to take the Mod 1 test again.
I called Steph in the office to explain my concerns with the training following my experience this week and I was given a number of excuses and unhelpful comments such as "you would feel tired practising all day", to which I responded we were still riding all day to and from Crystal Palace, we spent more time on the road than actually preparing for the test (which is all off road).
Steph in the office was not horrible at all, she seemed like a lovely person but her responses did not help me in the slightest . Steve, my instructor, was a nice man and with the right resources he might have had a better chance at getting a pass for his students but all three Phoenix Training students taking their test on Wednesday failed (not surprising with the amount of practise given). Please consider this before booking your training with this school.
