Sunday 23 March 2008

Complaints about the Instructor Colleges

This is a bit of an odd one - I tend to keep an eye on which searches lead people to me and in recent weeks this one has started turning up higher and higher.

It leads initially to a post about how to complain about a driving instructor (geared towards learners), so I thought I'd better address the issue itself.

As I've mentioned before on several occasions, I'm not a keen fan of The Instructor College - the one who are affiliated with Red Driving School and who insist on telling everyone out there that our job is really easy and that we're raking it in.

I get annoyed with them, because they mean that everyone feels that they can ask for a discount (one reason I don't do learners any more) and everyone else wants to become an instructor because they've been told that there's a "shortage" of instructors (ask any instructor if there's a shortage!!!!).

However, just to re-iterate previous posts again - there is nothing wrong with the way that they work - they're a company.

The claims they advertise are substantiated and I can happily tell you that yes - it is possible to earn £30k a year as a driving instructor.

I'll also tell anyone who wants to listen that if you shelled out to the instructor college without doing the research with regards to what you are going to get - then you're a fool! And in the modern market economy we all know that the fool and his money are easily parted.

A couple of pointers - ask how much training you will get - and get it in writing.

Ask what ratio this training will be - 2 trainees to 1 trainer? 1:1? Or will half of it be classroom training at 20:1?

Then ask yourself how many hours training you are getting?

50 hours at 2:1 = 25 hours.

14 hours at 20:1 = 1.5 hours.

So you are getting 26.5 hours for your £3k+?!!!!!

This means that you may find yourself paying over £100/hour for your training.

Hell........
...................even I don't charge that much!!!!!!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Got agree with your comments. Plus they wanted to charge me a £1000 more than everyone else, there claims was that they are the only company to provide the extra 20/40 hours, while preparing for part 3 test at no extra cost. Checked with the other big 2. They do exactly the same.

Anonymous said...

have to confess i am one of these visitors, my mister has been with the intructor college for three years, he just failed his third adi part 3. i have asked about all the money he handed over to the instructor college and he says the training is always there if he needs it until he passes, but he's never sang their praises either. i just wondered if there is any way he can get any of it back, especially if the fool is paying through the nose for additional part 3 training. trust me, i've done the supportive mrs part at 110%.

part of me is questioning his suitability, but as he did PDI and enjoyed it (he had quite a few pupil passes as a PDI too) i don't think he is misguided but definitely lacking something as a driving instructor if he is failing part 3.

The Undercover ADI said...

argh - I understand the frustration.

The fact is that no-one should fail their ADI part 3 if they've had proper training. As you say - TIC will continue to train him, but I would suggest that once he is back toward part 3 again the second time around he should seriously think about getting some top-up training with a really good trainer (see "The Good Guys" panel in the right sidebar).

A trainer who fully understands the process will be able to make clear what is needed - it is not a particularly complicated thing to do, but it takes systematic practice to be able to do when under pressure. Working with a trainer who understands this process is necessary.

It may also be worth checking the credentials of the trainer your husband has been assigned - make sure that he is registered with ORDIT to train part 3. Some trainers are not yet registered (even with the large training colleges) and some are ORDIT registered, but only up to part 2 (the ones who aren't capable really - you can choose which skill to demonstrate on your ORDIT assessment, so if you choose part 2 then you're obviously not comfortable training the trainer - not good).

Keep at it, good luck, and for anyone else in a similar position, if you need help, feel free to email me (undercoveradi@hotmail.co.uk) or visit the instructor forums for support and advice (www.adiforum.co.uk and www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk).