paid myself 
sat my test in bishopbriggs
I passed mine in 1991 at Swynnerton. I paid for it myself, it cost ÂŁ600. I went straight from car to class 1 in those days and passed first time.
i paid for mine myself sat the oth in ireland and passed them 1st time
Army tk bedford class 2 then Ford cargo with drawbar.Free of charge British Army thank you very much!
paid for mine myself, did training at Birmingham but had to go to Leighton Buzzard for test because that was the only place we could get in.
paid for it myself
straight onto class 1
lessons over 5 days with Dave Brine from Nuneaton in Dodge 100
test at Featherstone Staffs
my gawd 1987 a long time ago
21st birthday present from my Dad, passed in Chelmsford a week after my birthday, I went to all that trouble & all I got was a little sticker for my little brown book 
passed my cat c,and my cat c + e in wrexham both first time(have a look at how bad theyre pass rate is) in september and october 08 after being made redundant.i had to pay for it myself and once i passed i could claim the money back from the welsh development agency 
and they paid for my adr aswell.and just before xmas i was lucky enough to land myself a class2 adr job startin on the 5th jan at mccarthys haulage in wrexham.total respect for this company as they didnt hold it against me with the old 2 yr exp thing.they took me out on a assesment and give me the opportunity to prove myself, which i did
HGV 3 1973 Garetts Green. Goverment training course
HGV 1 1975 Featherstone. again a goverment traing course failed twice at Garetts Green 
paid for my 3rd test
Test taken in 1991 in Wrexham paid for myself, past 1st time in a F7, didnt even have a car licence :laughing: just a full motorcycle licence, i had to have a car L plate & HGV L plate and they said it was a duel test which they just kept you out on the road for a bit longer, booked a 5 day course and passed on 14/3/91 the law was changing on 1/4/91 and you couldnt have the duel test after that date,
it was only by chance i found out about it so it saved me a few quid not going through all the car lessons & test
How`s the job going clarkyboy 
not seen any of them motors your on last week, keeping an eye out for you, hope your enjoying it.
Paid for it myself. Class 2 in Enfield on 4th attempt (reputedly a very difficult test centre), and class1 in Ipswich on 2nd attempt. On bad days I wonder why I bothered, but when I think of the mind numbing factory job I had before I canât in all consience regret it. I think if I had to do the driver CPC I might think twice.
march 94,volvo f7 used burtonwood airbase as reverse practice area,5 day course,wagon broke down on day before testâŚnightmare,so got an hr before testâŚthankfully passed,couldnt have afforded retest 
Passed everything in 1980 courtesy of my boss (HM The Queen)
Did motorcycle test on a Friday, car test the following Friday, class 3 the Friday after, and class 1 two Fridays later.
What you may call intensive training I reckon.
Paid for my own. Class2 at Enfield on 4th attempt(reputedly quite a difficult test centre), class1 at Ipswich on 2nd attempt. On the bad days I sometimes wonder why I bothered, but when I think back to the mind numbing factory job I had before I know I made a step in the right direction.
Paid for it myself, passed cat C last friday at Guildford with EP Training services.
Paid for mine myself with a loan from family as I was unemployed at the time, having given up a job as a car salesman (rat race, crap job!).
I had driven new wagons for this firm collecting from Manufacturers etc but did not have the required six months â â â â â â â â â â experience necessary to obtain a licence under âGrandfather Rightsâ as most of it was under Trade Plates so I could not put the registration numbers of the vehicles on the form and as I had given in my notice from the Garage the Boss didnât want to sign the form for me either!
I did a five day course with a firm called Training HGV in Avonmouth on a D series Ford with a short flat-bed trailer,and took test and passed on the last day (wednesday).
The test was even more traumatic than normal as this was during the 3-day week fiasco in 1971 when we had lots of power cuts and on that day none of the traffic lights were working around the test route from Aston Gate in Bristol. 
When I went back to the Job Centre the next day they refused to give me dole money for the both weeks when I was training as I was ânot available for workâ and then offered me a job with a well known âCowboy Outfitâ 
.
I told them to âstuff itâ and went out and found my own job with a firm who had their wagons serviced by the garage where I had worked as a salesman 
.
I had got to know their transport manager and he persuaded his boss to take me on even, though they had to pay increased insuance premiums as I was under 25 at the time.
Paid by myself⌠Done Medical & Theory in home town of Stranraer then got wind of an Irish fella doing training/tests for considerably less than anyone local to me (Dumfries & Kilmarnock). He offered free digs, old Butlins caravan but beats a punch in the face. Done Class 2 & 1 both in N. Ireland. Price was still cheaper when inc the boats to/from also.
I went straight from a car to class one. Paid for mine out of my own pocket back in 1993. It was a week long intensive course of 8hrs a day and the test was on the following Monday. There was two of us on the course, but the other guy couldnât reverse so I think he had to do a lot more training.
Passed my test 1st time (like all my tests) and it was in a Scania with a tri-axle skelly trailer. I did my training around Northampton/Daventry/Rugby and the âhome baseâ for the training was the Rugby Truck Stop. The test was done in Northampton around midday and the test centre was Weedon.
I did my PSV and car licence at the same time with a dual test in 89, when I was 18 and doing my apprenticeship at the Midland Red in Worcester in a Merc 608 citybus.
Did my C+E when I was 23 at Featherstone in a Ford Cargo with an aircooled Deutz engine.
This was paid for by the driving instructor who owned the truck as I used to service and repair it. This also gave me my +E on my bus licence too. Not long after I left the busses and went to work on trucksâŚ
The only one I ever had to shell out for myself was bike when I was 17.
Paid for both my tests myself. I used redundancy money to take my class 2 and sold my wifeâs jewellery to take my class 1! Passed both 1st time, class 2 at featherstone and class 1 at swynnerton