Thanks for the detailed response. It's interesting to see how it works in another country. In Aus it takes years to get to a full license. Hours have to be logged, lots of different tests and so on.
I wonder if Sarah has failed the theory test or the practical.
I thought maybe you were in AUS. I did a display project for my local museum of the police, which included a board with information about driving laws and licences around the world. We did this, because the previous year, the police museum had a display of both cop bicycles and a board on cycling laws and licences (!) around the world, so I thought I'd do something similar for the police car display we did. I ended up in a convo with a young woman from Queensland a few weeks before I started writing the text, and she said most Australian states have a learner's permit stage, then other 'provisional stages' before you get a full licence.
I could add that in the UK, when you have just passed your practical and got your full licence, you have a two year period where it is easier to be disqualified through accumulating penalty points, than it is to get disqualified after that 'probationary period is up'.
Our theory test costs £23, that's 41 AUD a pop. The practical test is £62 ($111) a time and it's also difficult to pass first time so it is expensive to get your licence in the UK. Plus the usual 2 hours instruction fee from your instructor, for the hire of their dual-control vehicle, is around £50 to £60 for two hours, depending on your instructor.
If I were Sarah, I wouldn't be spending so much on holidays and tat for the kids, cause it's using up money for whatever tests she needs to keep retaking!!
Also, with regard to tons of goodies and tat, we never saw the multiple advent calendars and the gift bags each day for all the girls towards the end of December did we? Unless it was me not watching all of each video.