Cardrome Learner Centre

It's a really helpful place to practice driving. There is enough space to practice turns, parking, etc.
Price is reasonable (you need 15 pieces of £1 coins), as there is no time limit.
However, it needs some maintenance repairs. There were potholes that were really dangerous. And the lines are faded already. If the place had been maintained, it would really be perfect for driving practice.

We took our 16 years old son for his first drive in our car. Entrance is just by the petrol station. Try not to miss it. The automated gate has coin slot with a digital counter. We got there at 10am on a Wednesday morning and no one else was driving. Soon driving lessons started. In total there was about 6 or 7 other cars. Plenty of roads for this many cars at the same time. Some potholes but they help to experience the real state of the actual roads! £15 for as long as you want to stay is a bargain and the experience of driving in a safe environment is excellent.

Would rate this a 5*, unfortunately, there are many potholes, the markings on the ground are fading. Other than that great place to learn! Cheaper price then Young Driver, (£40 30 mins). You only need 15 £1 coins, which you can get at your nearest arcade, for however long you want!

Very nice and easy place to Manoeuvre. Only let downs was the traffic lights not working lots of big pot holes road markings need repainting and signs need sorting out.

Great idea to practise for learners if you get early enough,however bad points are : overpriced now (£20), overcrowded, and roads in very bad state - holes not being patched and repaired ,and another one - you need pay in £1 coins !!! Been 3 times for £15, but not returning for £20! Local Lakside Tesco car park much better after they close, to practise and for free :)

There’s pros and cons to this little establishment and i score 2 1/2 stars.

PROS:
Great for Sons & Daughters on L plates with you as a passenger teaching them the basics of clutch control, Hill starts, Roundabouts, cornering, Reversing into bays and the sense of being on a road without the added pressure of being on a normal road. There is no time limit on how long you can practice,
The Garage next door does hot food and costa coffee.

CONS:
Price has increased from £15 to £20 and is CASH ONLY £1 coins. No card or contactless.

The road markings are barely visible and in desperate need of a fresh lick of paint.

The traffic lights are knocked over and not working and have been for some time judging by previous reviews.

The potholes are terrible especially where you do hill starts which isn’t friendly for the suspension of the vehicle.

The roads are very prone to flooding.

No markings or cones to practice parallel parking.

There’s no limit on how many cars can access the site at one time.

Occasionally you get one person not on L plates who uses it as a race track and overtake other drivers which in turn intimidates L drivers.

The corners and junctions are far to sharp to turn.

You won’t get out of 3rd gear so expect to burn a-lot of fuel plodding around in 2nd.

The toilet facilities are absolutely vile and
disgusting ! I couldn’t tell you the last time they were cleaned. I’m sure there’s bacteria unknown to man in both the Men and Women’s toilets. Bring a bucket or a spade to dig a hole.

The owners desperately need to invest in this little place. It could be so much better. I think they just don’t care and would rather reap the profits knowing people will still use it no matter how run down it looks. Such a shame. The land does serve a purpose i suppose but could be so much more.

Will i return regarding the current state it’s in and the cost to use it sadly NO.

I have given a 3 star rating for the following reasons:
Some of the pot holes are so large and damaging to vehicles, not to mention the danger of inexperienced drivers trying to swerve round them - putting themselves and others at risk.
Also, whilst we were there today, it was raining very hard and the pot holes had filled with water, making mini trenches, so you were unable to see them until you were in them.
When we checked the details before making the journey, the website and any other info we could find said £15 payable on entry - it is now £20, requiring £1 coins only. There is no option for card payments at this centre.
Overall, I like this place as somewhere safe to take a learner driver, before they are road ready, but it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.

Fantastic experience, took my son today for a quick drive, he ended up driving for 3 hours straight and loved every minute of it. I do think the owners need to maintain it a little better though, fix the pot holes, reinstate the traffic lights etc but it’s still worth the £15 (you need 15 x £1 coins). We arrived at 9:45 ish on a Saturday morning, by around 11am there were approx another 20-25 cars so it became a little busy but that really didn’t effect our experience