SSDC: Tips & Tricks for Booking of Practical Lessons(as of December 2023)
Hi everyone, saw a few guides on reddit so I decided to share some tips on how I managed to get my class 3 license in 3 months at SSDC(56 days to clear all my driving lessons). You can consider this an add-on to this very informative and extremely detailed guide. Please note that the stuff I’ve written here are as-of-writing and their lesson allocation system may change.
My own experience is as follows.
Enrollment date: 25 September
BTT: 13 October
FTT: 1 November
First practical lesson: 16 October
Last non-revision lesson: 11 December
TP test: 22 December(2 + 2 + 8 points for those who're curious)
Total lessons attended: 24 including 3 revisions
After you’ve cleared your BTT, the next and arguably most annoying part would be trying to actually book practical lessons. This will naturally be significantly tougher if you’re taking 3A due to the number of students in the course. I’ll be sharing tips on how(I believe) the booking system works and with that, you may be able to secure your practical lessons easier.
Practical lessons can be booked in person at level 3 SSDC counter or online via your SSDC account.
There is a monthly limit of 4 counter bookings as well as 8 online bookings. This limit does not apply to the number of lessons you can attend in a month, merely the booking of lessons. You can effectively attend more than 12 lessons a month if you manage to book that many.
Cancellation or successful try-sell of your lessons will not result in a refund of the 12 monthly booking limits, so make sure you book lessons that you absolutely can attend.
Slots are released weekly on Wednesdays 2pm(may not be released on time). These are for lessons that are roughly 2 months ahead.
This is based off my observations but slots seem to be allocated to different booking channels(counter or online) and further segmented to cater for different groups of students:
-new students(group 1)
-students who are nearing the end of their course(group 2)(only applicable to counter slots)
-students who are waiting for TP(group 3)The counter staff are the ones assessing if you’re nearing the end of your course. I was given these slots when I had cleared around 20 subjects but this may change in the future.
There are 7 sessions of practical lessons on weekdays and 5 on weekends daily. The first 4 sessions on weekdays are non-peak with the last 3 being peak(more expensive). Weekend and public holiday lessons are all peak hour sessions.
Group 3 slots that aren’t booked by students waiting for TP are released daily at 5am as-of-writing. In the event that SSDC decides to shift this timing, do note that they still have to release these slots so you just have to search for the release timing again. One thing I’ve observed is that these slots are only for non-peak sessions(basically the first 4 sessions on weekdays) and they’re released 3 days before the actual lesson(example: Friday 5am – slots are released for following Monday. Saturday 5am – slots are released for following Tuesday). I booked 50% of my lessons this way.
Try-sell slots are released inconsistently. They can be released immediately after a student has submitted a try-sell request while other times these slots can be collated and released at at random. Therefore, do be careful of the risks involved if someone wants to sell you their slot.
There is a syllabus of 34 subjects for class 3 and 32 subjects for class 3A. Your progression will be reduced by 2 subjects if you enrolled for class 3 and later decide to change to class 3A. It may be possible to exploit this and progress faster if you’re feeling rich and only want a 3A license(since class 3 lessons are easier to secure).
TP test dates are roughly 4 weeks ahead, but similar to practical lessons, they may also suddenly release slots that are just a week ahead. The shortest wait I’ve seen for TP test is just 3 days ahead for class 3 and 1 week ahead for class 3A(which rarely has earlier dates to begin with).
Those who are more concerned about traffic conditions may wanna take into account the day of the week as well as which TP test session they book. Traffic is lighter on Saturdays while the first session on weekdays have relatively heavy traffic. Ultimately though, traffic conditions won’t matter if you’re a safe and smooth driver. I took my test on a Friday morning and a reckless lorry weaving in and out of traffic cost me 8 points.
There are 2 different car models for manual cars, old and new models. Your reference points may change for these 2 vehicles so try to stick to one(by fixing the same instructor for your lessons). The electronics for both vehicles are also very different so try to get used to their different behavior. Understanding how transmission and clutch plates work may also help you in driving smoother and controlling your vehicle better.
When you get to the parking lessons, try to make sure you minimize the number of variables. You can do so by making sure your seat is always at the same position and your ear pressing on the headrest when you are looking back and reversing into your lot. For the side mirrors, you can use reference markers to make sure the mirrors are always adjusted to the same angle(example: both front and rear door handles are visible in the side mirror).
On that topic, though it is good to have a good feel of the vehicle’s steering and clutch, reference points are good in that you’ll have something to fall back on. Don’t be afraid to use reference points.
You don’t have to complete your parking in one smooth motion during the actual test. The only restrictions are time and the kerb. Something the testers look out for that is easily overlooked is executing your safety checks before you reverse/move forward, so always execute all your safety checks again before you actually make your adjustments while parking.
A set of instructors are assigned to each student. Most are good but some are great and teach very passionately. If you’re feeling rich, you can try to fix the same instructor but do note that the excellent ones are often tough to get. Shoutout to instructor K who actually helped me build confidence for my parking by getting me to alight and physically inspect the size of a parking lot in the circuit. He also taught me a lot more reference points as compared to other instructors and was extremely patient and detailed in his teachings.
Once you’ve passed your final subject, you may no longer get the same set of instructors that taught you. You can still try to fix them but that may not be easy. At this point, it’ll be helpful to know that different instructors may have slightly different ways for you to navigate the various circuit courses. If what the revision instructor is trying to teach you is confusing you, just ignore and stick to what you were initially taught. These revision lessons are meant to be test simulations so the instructors may be extra critical of your driving. You may also use these revision lessons to clarify all the doubts you have regarding the actual test as well as the various circuit stations.
Build rapport with your instructors. A friendly instructor is more likely to be more sincere in his/her teaching so you may just learn a little bit more out of each lesson.
The paynow top-up system may not work at times so just top-up at the counter if you don’t want to take the risk of that happening to you.
Cost breakdown for me is as follows.
Enrolment and theory fee: $186.52
BTT Theory Trial Test: $5.40 x 3 = $16.20 (2 practice mode 1 test mode)
BTT: $6.50
FTT Theory Trial Test: $5.40 x 3 = $16.20 (only needed 1 for test mode but I didn’t know and booked 3 back-to-back)
FTT: $6.50
Simulator Lessons: $24.16 x 3 = $72.48
Practical Lessons: $72.36 x 24 = $1736.64
Practical Lessons adjustment: around $50 cos I booked 1 peak(extra $10+/-) and 2 holiday peak(extra $20+/-)
1 fix instructor fee: $8.64
TP Test: $313.80
Total: $2413.48+/-
Hopefully my tips can speed up your journey to acquiring your driving license!