The calm approach behind MSM Driving Academy

Twenty years of getting people through it

MSM Driving Academy has been teaching people to drive around Warrington for over two decades. In that time the cars have changed, the test has changed, and the roads have got busier — but the thing that actually decides whether someone passes has stayed exactly the same. It's whether they feel calm enough to think.

That's the whole approach. Lessons are explained clearly, paced around you, and never rushed to make progress look faster than it is. Stall at a junction and nothing happens. You restart, you carry on, and you've learned something.

A teacher first, an instructor second

Before MSM, Mark spent years as a qualified schoolteacher. It's not a detail on a certificate — it's the reason the lessons feel the way they do. Explaining something three different ways until one of them lands is a teaching skill, and it's the difference between an instructor who tells you what you did wrong and one who gets you to understand it.

On top of that, Mark is a DVSA-approved driving instructor (ADI) and holds a Diploma in Driving Instruction. Worth checking for, whoever you end up learning with: an ADI has been vetted and examined by the DVSA, and you're entitled to ask any instructor to see their badge.

Nervous learners are welcome here

A lot of people who ring MSM open with an apology — they're nervous, they're older than they think they should be, they had a bad experience with a previous instructor, or they failed a test and it knocked them. None of that is unusual, and none of it is a problem.

Mark also has real experience teaching neurodiverse learners, including autistic learners and those with ADHD. If that's you, it genuinely helps to mention it when you book — not because anything gets watered down, but because how something is explained can matter as much as what's being explained.

Who you'll be learning with

MSM is a small team, which is deliberate — you get the same instructor each week rather than whoever happens to be free.

If you'd be more comfortable with a female instructor, just ask when you get in touch — nobody needs to justify the preference. One thing to know honestly: Louise Curnow teaches automatic lessons only and works part time, so her diary is limited — ask as early as you can and she will fit you in if she has the space.

What MSM offers

• Manual lessons — keeping every option on your licence open.
• Automatic lessons — less to juggle, more focus on the road.
• Intensive courses — when there's a real deadline.
• Pass Plus — MSM is a registered provider.
• Refresher lessons — getting your confidence back.

Where MSM teaches

Warrington is home, and that's where lessons run — including a working knowledge of the test routes, junctions and roads you're likely to meet on the day.

Widnes, Runcorn and further afield as one-offs, by arrangement — there's an extra charge for the travel, so ring and ask rather than assuming either way.