C1 vs Category C: Which Licence Do You Actually Need?

Start with the vehicle, not the course

Nearly every call we take about these two categories is really a question about one vehicle: a 7.5 tonne box van, a horsebox, a large motorhome, a works lorry. The answer comes from the plated maximum weight on that vehicle, not from what it looks like. A standard car licence (Category B) stops at 3,500kg, so anything heavier needs one of these two courses.

Cost and training time compared

Both courses are priced as complete packages rather than as hourly rates. C1 is £995 and includes the medical, theory and case study, study material, 12 hours of in-vehicle training and the driving test. Category C is £1,695 and includes the same package with 16 hours of in-vehicle training instead of 12. Finance options are available on both.

The extra four hours on Category C are there because the vehicle is bigger and the test is taken in a rigid lorry over 7.5 tonnes. Both courses are built around the individual, so the lessons are arranged to suit how quickly you are picking things up rather than to a fixed classroom timetable.

Do you already hold C1 without knowing it?

If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997, C1 may already be on your licence. Check the categories on the back of your photocard before paying for any course — our guide to the 1997 licence rule walks through exactly where to look.

This matters a great deal to the decision. If C1 is already granted, paying £995 to retake it makes no sense, and the real question becomes whether you want to step up to Category C at £1,695. If you passed after 1997, you will need to apply for provisional entitlement, complete a medical and pass both the theory and practical tests, whichever of the two categories you choose.

What the work looks like on each

C1 is the licence people take when a specific vehicle is in the way of something: a job in the transport or medical sector, a larger motorhome, a van that has crept over 3,500kg. It is the cheapest lorry entitlement we offer, and for a lot of people it is genuinely all they need.

Category C is the entry point into professional HGV driving and the most commonly used lorry category in the UK because of how versatile it is. It covers haulage and distribution, local and regional deliveries, removals and logistics, and construction and trade work. It is also the category most Glasgow employers advertise for, and it is the licence you must hold before you can sit the Category C+E test.

When C1 is the right answer

• The vehicle you need to drive is plated at 7,500kg or under, and that is not going to change
• You want a larger motorhome and have no plans to drive commercially
• Your role is in the medical or community sector where 7.5 tonne vehicles are the norm
• You want the lowest-cost route to legally driving over 3,500kg

When Category C is the right answer

• You are starting a career in transport and logistics rather than solving one vehicle
• The vehicles at your workplace are 18 tonne or 26 tonne rigids
• You intend to go on to Category C+E later, since Category C must be held first
• You want the category that appears most often in Glasgow driving adverts

The honest trap to avoid is paying £995 for C1 and then discovering within a few months that the work you want sits above 7,500kg — at that point you are booking Category C as well. If you are genuinely unsure which side of the line your plans fall on, tell us what the vehicles are and we will say so plainly on the phone.

What comes after either course

If you are going to drive professionally, Driver CPC applies: 35 hours of periodic training every five years, which we run at £55 per seven-hour course, and Module 4 at £199 before you can drive professionally. ADR from £496 is the usual add-on for drivers who want dangerous goods work once the licence is in place. None of that changes which of the two categories you should book first.