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More and more I’m hearing from highly qualified driving instructors often with pass rates well above the national average, that the only thing people are interested in, is how much do they charge per lesson!

If you search for a suitable driving instructor based purely on their hourly rate you may find it costs you a lot more in the long run, not just in monetary terms but possibly the experience you have learning to drive and how many attempts it takes you to pass the driving test.

Statistics from the Driving Standards Agency are that nationwide the average number of lessons required to pass the driving test is around 44 hours of professional instruction and 22 hours of private practice. Approximately one in every three driving test candidates will pass on their first attempt.

Here are some examples of the true overall costs:

If you paid £22 per hour with a good driving instructor and took 44 hours, then you would have paid £968 + the test fee of currently £62 = £1030 if you pass first time. If you need a second attempt then let’s say you had 4 more hours tuition and paid another £62 test fee, this would be an extra £150.

So first time pass = £1030

Passed on second attempt = £ 1180

The cost of driving lessons will vary from area to area and some good instructors will still offer cheaper lessons, but if you went purely for the cheapest without taking anything else into consideration then this next example would be very typical!

Let’s say you paid £18 per hour, but this time it would be quite likely if your driving instructor was unable to teach you in a style that suited you, perhaps didn’t monitor your progress, make you feel at ease, design the lessons to suit your ability and needs, your confidence and ability to drive to test standard would inevitably take longer.  You may need 60 or 80 hours to get to test standard!

60 hours at £18 per hour = £1080 + £62 test fee = £1142 if you pass first time!

In the majority of cases if it has taken longer before you go in for your first driving test, then it’s likely you will need more attempts than average to pass. Pass rates will vary from test centre to test centre but fall in the region of 30% -45%.

So if you passed first time, the total is £1142

Second attempt – if 4 more hours were taken = £72 +£62 test fee = £1276

Third attempt –an extra £134 (4 hours + test) = £1410

Fourth attempt -£1410 + £134 = £1544

Fifth attempt = £1678 etc

It goes without saying that passing first time will make you a lot happier than needing several attempts and the appointment for a retest is often several weeks away, which can be really frustrating. The 4 hours extra to prepare for a retest given in these costing examples are absolute minimum as 2 hours are for the test day itself! So the cost would likely be more if you keep having a lesson a week which would be the minimum advised to increase your chances of passing.

For details on the Learners Guide’s Approved Driving Instructors in your area - INSTRUCTORS

One of the recent members of the Learners Guide is Bridlington School of Motoring , run by Ray Jackson, a highly qualified and experienced driving instructor. Ray has been teaching people to drive for over 23 years in and around the Bridlington area and is a grade 6 instructor, which is the highest grade awarded by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) on ability to teach.

Ray is well aware we are in hard economic times and as a result is offering 25% discount off driving lessons to all pupils who book now! Usual hourly rate £20, so for a limited time only lessons are just £15 per hour (quote the Learners Guide).

For more details on Bridlington School of Motoring view http://www.learners-guide.co.uk/instructors/driving-schools-bridlington-bridlington-school-of-motoring/

Rushden School of Motoring:

The Learners Guide is very happy to welcome it’s latest driving school Rushden School of Motoring. With many driving schools registered on the Learners Guide, due to being fully qualified, experienced instructors often with high grades awarded by the Driving Standards Agency for ability to instruct, our latest addition goes one better by being awarded an MBE for the many years in teaching people with disabilities to drive. Rushden School of Motoring is the most established driving school in the Rushden area, having set up in 1957. It is a family business, run by Ellen Inwood MBE, Ellen received her MBE for the work she does with people with special needs, work she continues doing to this day. Other driving instructors include Ellens daughter Linda and Steve.

Rushden School of Motoring also covers the surrounding areas up to 15 mile radius, including Wellingborough, Kettering and neighboring villages. To view more details view http://www.learners-guide.co.uk/instructors/rushden-school-of-motoring-automatic-female-instructors/.

This article is intended on giving a brief insight into what’s involved in becoming a driving instructor and whether or not it’s a job you may want to pursue. Having been a driving instructor for over 8 years and spoken to literally hundreds of driving instructors all around the country, I believe I am in a good position to good advice on becoming a driving instructor, which most importantly is completely unbiased. One of the first things you will need to appreciate is that if you become a driving instructor, you will be self employed and need to be flexible in the hours you work.

You may well have seen the glossy TV adverts for driving instructor training from Red Driving School, The Instructor College and BSM, featuring smiling driving instructors, nice shiny cars and the promises of earning lots of money, meeting “great” people’
“Become a Driving Instructor” adverts now appear in every local newspaper filled with appealing promises such as;  “Earn £30 to £35,000!”   “No previous experience required”   “Train for a recession proof career”    ”Work the hours you choose”   “It’s a job for life”...etc

The first thing to highlight is that driving instructor training is big business and the cost of training can be thousands of pounds, so it’s no more a sales pitch that you get. The companies just want to sell you their training packages, so will often tell you want you want to hear. Some training companies will make the initial fee more appealing, but tie you in to a franchise once you qualify, this does more often than not mean you pay out far more in total.

There are 3 tests that you will need to pass in becoming a fully qualified driving instructor which are tough and the vast majority of people give up or fail….

Part 1: The first test you will need to pass is a computer based theory and hazard perception test, the pass rates are around 50%, but you can have unlimited attempts to pass.

Part 2: The second test is a practical test of your driving ability, again the pass rates are around 50%.

Part 3: The third part is a practical test of your ability to instruct, by far the toughest test for most people with an average pass rate of around 30%.

With part two and three you only get three attempts to pass and you need to qualify within a 2 year period of passing part one or will need to start again (this does happen a lot!) In the Driving Standards Agency’s own words; “The qualifying process is not easy, and the pass rates are not high…” it will take you between 6 months to 2 years.

It may be a good idea not to pay out a lump sum, as many training packages don’t offer any refunds if you fail or even if you don’t complete the full course. I know of a couple of people who paid around £4,000 only to pack it in at the first stage! This would have cost the training company very little, however no refund was given. Many smaller driving schools carry out instructor training courses, where as in the past there were just a few large companies. I would recommend you negotiate a good deal with an established driving school in your area where possible, this will make fitting in the practical training easier and it’s more likely you could get a better deal.

Often the deal on an instructors training course may involve signing up to a franchise of at least a year, which may require you paying £200+ a week when you start and it’s very unlikely you will have a full diary to earn a decent amount of money in the first place. I believe BSM have up to 50% of their franchisees leaving after a year, which tells its own story!

There is no shortage of driving instructors, with most areas in the UK already having more driving schools than necessary, leaving many established instructors struggling to keep a full diary. Since 2002 the amount of driving instructors has gone up over 40% to over 44,700. Recent statistics were showing that if every driving instructor had an equal share of pupils they would only have around 15, where most instructors looking for a reasonably full diary would want at least double!

If you are used to working as an employee and knowing how much money you’re going to get every week or every month, you’ll need to be able to adapt to the uncertainty of self-employment, where regular work and therefore regular income can’t be relied upon.

I have been to speaking to many Driving instructors throughout the country are worried about getting  enough work to make a living and who are struggling, taking second jobs if they can find them, or simply packing in driving instruction altogether. Driving lesson prices are falling as the number of people wanting driving lessons starts to decline due to the credit crunch/recession and instructors compete for work.

Summary:

There is no shortage of driving instructors in any areas of the UK, so if you’re going to train up be mindful that it will take time to build business, as you will time need to build a good reputation. Most instructors rely on referrals from pupils they have taught, generating new pupils where they haven’t been recommended is hard and advertising is expensive. It may be wise where you have another job, to continue with it if possible part time whilst building your driving school. The training is likely to take some time and be careful you don’t pay out too much.

Recent TV programmes such as Watchdog and Rip-off  Britain have highlighted the experience of many people having a very poor service from their driving instructors. Watchdog was mainly showing people who had taken up driving lessons with BSM. One of the complaints came from a learner who was very keen to get his test passed and after all the preparation, when he turned up for the driving test, the examiner noticed there was no valid tax disc and as a result refused to take him out on test. Many of the other complaints were regarding BSM swapping their driving instructors, sometimes more than on a single occasion, therefore leaving each pupil to get used to another driving instructor, both personally and professionally. It would be fare to say that extra lessons would be needed when a new instructor has to take over, so will undoubtably cost extra to learn to drive, as well as taking time to feel comfortable getting used to the new person and their style of teaching when this happens.

The BBC’s consumer show Rip-off Britain was highlighting several complaints regarding the growing amount of driving instructors with trainee licence’s conducting lessons with unsuspecting customers who were often paying the same price as fully qualified Driving Standards Agency (DSA) Approved instructors. Trainee driving instructors would not yet have passed the most challenging part (part 3) for ability to instruct, to enable them to become fully qualified and there are time limits for them to pass the final test. If the time limit elapses then legally they can’t charge for lessons, so this is often the reason why many learners end up having to start with a new instructor. Trainee licence holders should display a pink badge in their tuition car, they may be perfectly good instructors, however, apart from the possibility of not being able to continue until passing the test, with the lack of experience it is often that their pass rates won’t be as high as fully qualified green badge holders.

For more considerations for finding the best driving instructors -visit the Learners Guide Choosing your driving instructor.

Driving for economy is an enviromentally friendly way to drive, by driving in such a way that you reduce your fuel consumption and therefore your carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This will also safe you money on your driving costs, as well as your fuel consumption being reduced; you’ll be saving on general wear and tear on your vehicle. These savings will add up considerably over a period of time and as well as reducing CO2 emissions, it will help you drive in a safe manner.

Eco Safe Driving Tips

* Try and identify hazards early, allowing adequate time to react -this will result in being able to brake and accelerate in a smooth and progressive way.

* Drive at a speed appropriate to the road, traffic and weather conditions. There’s no point in racing around built up areas like town centres, which apart from obvious safety issues will likely result in harsh braking and harsh acceleration will use up more fuel.

* Try not to keep in too low a gear unnecessarily. You should aim to change up as soon as conditions allow. If your engine is revving high for normal driving, it’s likely a higher gear is needed.

* Use the accelerator smoothly and progressively. When appropriate take your foot off the accelerator and allow the momentum of the vehicle to take you forward. Avoid pumping the accelerator as this uses more fuel.

* When stuck in traffic or waiting for someone, the engine is idling so wasting fuel and adding to CO2 emissions. If you are likely to be waiting a while, simply switch off your engine.

* Keep your tyres properly inflated – Under inflated tyres not only lead to poor road holding but also cause excessive drag and resistance, increasing fuel consumption. Both over and under-inflated tyres can be dangerous to road holding, so make sure your tyres are at there recommended pressure.

* Remove any unnecessary items – Carrying excess weight in a vehicle will  increase fuel consumption.

* Switch off air conditioning – Use air conditioning sparingly as your engine has to work harder to power the air conditioning machinery. If driving at a low speed open the window instead.

In reverse order:

10: Inappropriate speed – You should drive at a speed suitable for each road and not unnecessarily hold up traffic. Driving too slow is likely to marked as a driving fault and driving much slower than necessary is the 10th most common reason for failing the driving test.

See Progress – Main roads.

9: Turn in the road – People messing up on this exercise is the ninth most common reason for failing the test. You should be able to carry out this manoeuvre showing good control with all round observation, including the rear view check on reversing which is often missed.

See Turn in the road.

8: Lack of steering control – You will need to steer at the correct time for the speed you are driving at with enough steering to maintain control and road position. The tighter the turn then the slower the speed, with the correct gear selected. Hitting the kerb can also be marked as a steering fault.

7: Reversing around a corner – In at number seven is the exercise which requires reversing into a side road on the left. Like all manoeuvres good observations all around is very important and you must stay reasonably close to the kerb on this exercise without hitting it or going too wide. See Reverse around corner.

6: Incorrect positioning: You must make sure you’re in the correct position for the direction you’re taking. Get in the correct lane early when necessary, look out for road signs and markings. Go the wrong way if necessary. See Emerging and Approaching junctions to view examples of when to take up various road positions.

5: Use of signals – Failing to signal correctly is the fifth most common reason for failing the test. This may be failing to apply a signal in good time so other road users have enough warning of your intentions, it may be a confusing signal that was applied or simply not applying one when necessary.

4: Moving away safely – Failing to move off under full control and/or without checking properly. You must move off checking mirrors and any blind spots, without causing anyone to change speed or direction as you do so. See Moving off and stopping.

3: Use of Mirrors – The third biggest reason for failure is not looking in the mirrors when necessary. You must use the mirrors well before changing speed and or direction and act on what you see. It is really important that both the interior and the relevant door mirrors are checked, especially when changing lanes.

2: Reverse parking – The second most common reason for failing is  people messing up one of the parking manoeuvres. The observation must be maintained and you must get reasonably accurate, correcting yourself if necessary. See Parallel Parking and Reversing into a bay.

1: Observation at junctions – The number one reason why people fail their driving test is due to the lack of sufficient observations at junctions to enable them to emerge or turn into a new road safely. You must give priority where necessary and not cause anyone to change speed or direction. You must stop at stop signs to allow proper observations.