Your test centre Finglas RSA test centre (10 km from town centre)

Automatic Driving Lessons in Swords

North Dublin town and seat of Fingal County Council.

Your test centre is around 10 km from Swords. We run pretest lessons designed around the routes the examiner uses there, and we provide an automatic for test day.

85% pass rate (national avg ~50%) 4.7 from 814+ reviews 35 EDT-certified instructors
P Park
Drive wheels locked by a steel parking pawl. Drive wheels turn backwards. Stop fully first. Engine disconnected from the wheels. Rarely used. The transmission picks gears as you accelerate.
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See if we have an automatic instructor in Swords

30-second form. We confirm availability and pricing for Swords and your nearest test centre, Finglas RSA test centre.

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4.7 stars from 814+ reviews
85% pass rate
RSA-Approved Instructors
EDT Certified
By the numbers

The 35-point pass-rate gap

Two numbers tell the story for any Swords learner sitting their test at Finglas RSA test centre. The Irish national pass rate, and ours.

0
National average pass rate
Source: RSA published statistics
0
RSA School of Motoring pass rate
From 814+ verified Google reviews
+0
Our advantage
Calmer, two-pedal training pays off on test day
Pretest + car hire

Sit the test in the car you trained in

We run a full mock test on the same routes the examiner uses out of Finglas RSA test centre, mark you against the same RSA fault sheet, and bring the same automatic back for the actual test. Pickup is from Swords on the morning.

What's in the package

  • One full mock test on the actual examiner routes
  • RSA-format fault marking with live debrief
  • Automatic car for the test itself
  • Pickup and drop-off in Swords on test day

Why it changes the odds

Half the people who fail say nothing on the route surprised them. What surprised them was the marking. Pretest puts you through the marking before it counts.

Sitting the test in the same automatic you trained in removes the test-day "strange car" risk that catches a lot of learners.

Pretest + car hire €193.81
Book pretest at Finglas Or call 01 902 3100
Are you ready?

Honest 60-second readiness check

Finglas RSA test centre learners, four quick questions to see whether you should book the test, book a pretest first, or add a few more lessons.

Question 1 of 4

Have you completed your 12 EDT lessons?

Pass stories

Real pass stories from around Swords

Verified Google reviews. Names, instructors, and dates as posted.

I had lessons with Shafique in Lucan and Shane in Swords. Both excellent and got me over the line to pass. Would highly recommend both.
Saoirse Seeber Swords · Instructor: Shane Farrelly · Dec 7, 2024
Passed
I passed my test recently in Mulhuddart Maple House and had Richard Finnegan as my driving instructor. I did pre tests and hired the car from Richie, and I’m so grateful for all his help and patience.
Denise Roche Instructor: Richard Finnegan · 8 weeks ago
Passed
I recently completed a number of pretest lessons with Richie Finnegan. His outstanding level of expertise, teaching and calmness allowed me to recently pass my driving test at the first attempt in Mulhuddart.
David McDonagh Instructor: Richard Finnegan · 29 weeks ago
Why automatic · faster

The re-take trap, and how automatic skips it

A fail isn't one lost afternoon. It's weeks of waiting for a new test slot, plus extra lessons to patch the fault. For learners in Swords, the difference between passing first time and failing once is usually a six-to-twelve week timeline gap.

If you fail (national avg ~50%)

6 to 12 extra weeks

  • 4 to 12 week wait for a new test slot
  • 2 to 4 extra lessons to patch faults
  • Second test fee
  • Insurance/permit paperwork if it expires
If you pass first time (our 85%)

0 extra weeks

  • Straight to full licence
  • No extra lessons
  • One test fee, done
  • Insurance updates to full-licence rates

Two-pedal learners typically need fewer lessons because three of the most common manual learning curves (bite-point hunt, stall recovery, gear timing) don't exist for them.

Why automatic makes sense in Swords

Three things you will notice in your first few hours behind the wheel here.

Stop-and-go traffic without the stalls

Around Swords Castle (13th century), you will deal with bunched-up traffic, parked cars, and pedestrians stepping off the kerb. In an automatic you can keep your eyes on the road instead of the bite point.

Junction work, not gear work

R132, Main Street Swords, Airside Retail Park, heavy airport-bound traffic. Junctions like these are where most learners pick up faults. A two-pedal car removes the gear-and-clutch decision so you can focus on observation and timing.

Buses, cyclists, and shared lanes

Dublin Bus 33, 41, Airlink 747. You will share lane space with buses and cyclists from your first lesson. Automatic gear shifts keep your road position smooth when traffic is moving in fits.

Where lessons happen

Pickups in Swords, test routes from Finglas RSA test centre

Local population
~40,700
Pickup points
4 named spots, plus your home, work, or college
Transport context
Dublin Bus 33, 41, Airlink 747
Swords centre Pickup points
  • Swords Castle
  • Swords Library
  • Swords village
  • Swords shopping centre
Still need EDT?

The 12 mandatory hours, in our automatic

If you haven't started the Essential Driver Training programme yet, our 12-lesson automatic package covers it in full. Twelve one-hour sessions, RSA-approved instructor, logbook signed off lesson by lesson. Pickup in Swords.

Common questions about lessons in Swords

A single automatic lesson is €61.41. Our best value is the 12-lesson EDT package at €659.24, which works out at €54.94 per lesson. Every lesson in Swords includes pickup and drop-off, and the same automatic comes back for your driving test if you book the pretest add-on.

Pickup is flexible. Your instructor collects you anywhere within Swords: your home, work, college, or one of the named pickup points shown on the map above. You're back at the same spot at the end of the lesson.

Learners in Swords typically sit their driving test at Finglas RSA test centre. We design our pretest lessons around the routes the examiner uses out of that centre, and we provide the automatic for test day so you don't have to learn a new car the day of the test.

Yes. Every instructor we send to Swords is EDT certified and on the RSA Approved Driving Instructor register. That's a regulatory requirement, not a marketing line. Our 12-lesson automatic package covers the full EDT programme: 12 one-hour sessions, logbook signed off lesson by lesson, sponsor-driver practice slots between lessons.

Yes. We provide an automatic car for the test as part of our pretest package. Note that if you sit the test in an automatic, your full licence is restricted to automatic vehicles. To get a full manual licence later, you would train and test in a manual car separately. For most learners that restriction doesn't matter. Automatic, hybrid, and electric cars are the majority of new cars sold in Ireland.

Other automatic-friendly areas near Swords

We cover 6+ surrounding neighbourhoods in Fingal. Pick the one closest to your pickup point.

Ready when you are

Pretest at Finglas

85% pass rate. Same automatic for the test as the pretest. Pickup and drop-off in Swords on test day.

Call 01 902 3100 Book Lessons