DRIVING lessons with a difference in Bradford have proved successful for instructor Javez Khan, with the trained hypnotherapist getting inside the minds of learners to help them pass.

One of his pupils, 32-year-old Alan Sambrook from Shipley, sailed through his first ever test this week without a single minor or major fault.

Just as impressively, of the 10 drivers who took their first tests with Mr Khan's company, Hypno Driving, between May 2018 and January 2019, nine passed straightaway and one after two goes.

Mr Khan, who is 49 and from Manningham, explained: "We specialise in neuro-linguistic programming, hypnotherapy and accelerated learning.

"It's not like stage hypnotherapy (with people under the influence). It's more about coaching and being proactive, because most of our pupils suffer from being extremely nervous. They just need to learn how to relax.

"You have to get their head into the right space but you've got to see where each person is at and what they require as individuals, even if they need you to scream and shout at them.

"You have to be thinking properly when you're on the road so it's a case of needing to redo how learning is taught, tapping into the brain and mind, not just revising the rules of the road."

Speaking about how he got into the role, Mr Khan said: "I'm a trained hypnotherapist and I wanted to apply my interest to the field of driving, as I had already been an instructor for 10 years.

"I looked into some driving test figures around a decade ago and found the national average for first time passes was only about 28 per cent.

"I wanted to help other people and improve those figures.

"I studied situations like exams, interviews and students giving presentations to observe what makes people nervous and how that shows.

"I set up Hypno Driving in 2010 to try and provide a service which tackles those issues. My first time pass rate is now around eight out of ten."

Star pupil Mr Sambrook is part of that impressive statistic and he was full of praise for Mr Khan, saying: "I think my test result speaks volumes for his teaching.

"He helped out with my driving technique, like delaying my gear changes for a smooth transition and working on my speed on the approach to junctions but he also spends a lot of time speaking to you and preparing you.

"I think nervousness is a natural state and it's about how you approach that. Javez just helps put that in perspective and he did that from day one.

"I only had 12 hours of lessons before my test, for two hours a week on Saturdays. It cost me £25 an hour."