Training to pass a test?

There's a lot of instructors around who will quote a thousand and one qualifications at you to prove how good they are (I even know of one who advertises that he is a cycling proficiency trainer! I'm pretty sure this is slightly tongue in cheek as he seems like a pretty good ADI).

But what actually qualifies them to teach you?

The simple answer is that green badge. (The pink one will do, but this actually means they're ALLOWED to teach, but not QUALIFIED.)

So what does this mean?

Well, in some situations it means that they've taught themselves pretty much, maybe they've had a week or so's training, sometimes they've taken a bit longer and had maybe 60+ hours of training to actually teach someone to drive.

But how relevant is this?

The first problem with getting that green badge is that it is all about performing set exercises (imagine an exam when you know the possible questions beforehand), which are actually quite simple to practice. This doesn't mean that it is simple to pass - the majority of people are trained so badly that they do not understand the basic key principles of teaching (trained by people who profess to know them, but who then ignore them when it comes to training the trainers!).

I myself really did not understand the core competencies when I passed my part 3 to become a qualified ADI. I was lucky that my ability at levels of instruction and Q and A got me through.

The second problem is to do with the way that ADI training courses are run - they are run in the same way that the worst ADIs practice - they teach you to pass the test, but when presented by something out of the ordinary (the L-test that goes off route, or the ADI test where the examiner starts asking awkward questions or making mistakes that you weren't primed for) they have no idea how to handle them.

So what is the solution?

The solution is for ADIs to be trained in teaching before they are trained for the pre-set tests of the part 3 exam.

For all of you out there who are training to be ADIs who are wondering when it will all start to make sense - either your trainer is failing you, by not starting at the beginning, but throwing you into "big picture" training too early, or you are failing yourself by not asking your trainer to explain exactly what they mean at EVERY stage.

How should you learn?

Well it should have started with your part 2 training - understanding why you were doing all of this stuff, with commentary driving to explain every step you take. Then it should move on to the simplest of tasks - guided instruction, broken down in detail, and explained simply and clearly.

From here you should repeat the same task at the prompted stage, and then you should learn to grade your instruction from one to the other, incrementally changing from full instruction through to early clear prompting and finally to the subtlest of hints.

Then you need to be able to read your student to assess which level they need, and to understand the point at which they need no more instruction at that skill, while anticipating things which may mean that you need to quickly leap in with full guided instruction again at a moment's notice.

This is how people learn new skills - it is also how to correct faults in the skills someone already has (core-comps - sorting the fault).

Only once an instructor can understand these levels of instruction can they start even thinking about fault spotting and analysis.

Who cares about briefings, who cares about recaps, who cares about whether the PST starts in the test centre car park or not?

Build the foundations first.

How well qualified are ADIs? It all depends on the quality of their training.

Intensive Driving Instructor Courses

This one has turned up a couple of times recently.

There's a few companies who suggest that you can train intensively to become a driving instructor - very tempting if you've just lost your job or taken redundancy, or even if you're thinking about changing careers and want as little time "sans-wage" as possible.

The fact is though - it's a long process.

There's 3 exams to pass, each with their attendant waiting times (2 weeks minimum for part 1, then 5 weeks ish for part 2 and another 5 weeks for part 3).

There's also the Criminal Records Bureau checks, which can take a couple of months to sort out.

Both Passmasters and The Instructor College supposedly offer intensive courses - one of these is advertised as a 2 week course to learn everything you need to know to become a driving instructor!!!!!!!

Yeah right.

In the real world - you'll need to study like hell to get through part 1 (don't bother paying anyone to train you for this - you can do it with nothing more than the internet and the instructor forums - if you have a trainer lined up for the rest of the training they'll help you out over the phone and email for nowt usually).

For part 2, unless you are already an advanced driver capable of a very high standard of driving (IAM would get you close, RoSPA Gold would get you closer, DIAmond is the same as part 2), you'll need a good few hours - reckon on between 10 and 20 hours of training. Add on to this all of the private practice you will need to do to make sure these techniques are what you do ALL THE TIME, not just on your training sessions, and you'll find that you've done around 120 hours of driving before you take the test. Even if you have passed an advanced test, you'll want to have a couple of sessions to check you're up to the right standard at the time and working to the same standard that the DSA expect of you.

Then comes part 3.

Well the training companies usually recommend 40 hours of part 3 training, and will often insist that you throw yourself into one of your three part 3 attempts before they offer any more, whether you are ready or not.

The reality is that unless you are already a trainer or a coach, you will need around 60 hours of training for this part of the process.

Despite the promises of the big schools - you will probably find that you can't get enough training when you need it ("sorry, our next available appointment for you is at 2am on February 37th 2019, but of course this will be free under our promise of all the training you need - thank-you for training with us, have a nice day"). Many potential instructors find that despite signing up for a training "package", they still need to pay for extra training out of their own pocket to enable them to complete the 3 parts before their 2 years is up.

So - are intensive driving instructor training courses worth looking at?

Don't be bloody stupid.

So what should you do?

Look for a good trainer in your area and make sure that they can fit you in. Never pay for more than one session in advance (this way you can leave without being tied in to paying £4k to a company who can't fulfil their promises). Always expect it to be harder than you think - it probably will be.

Enough Work for Driving Instructors?

I really don't know if there's enough work for all of us ADIs at the moment. The fact is - no-one else does either!

Oh the joy of it!

There are lots of posts on the forums at the moment:
http://www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,32850.0.html
http://www.adiforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1217356506
http://www.adiforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1216972910

...and we can never get any agreement.

The fact is, if you expect to just be a driving instructor in this business, you're gonna come a cropper.

Being a franchisee is the nearest to having a job that you can get, but it's the kind of job where your boss can send you home with no pay whenever he likes! Have a look at the last link to see what happens when an instructor trusts to BSM or AA to find them work - it simply doesn't happen unless you do it yourself!

Going independent is not easy, but the fact is that you will be in control of your career. You will live or die (metaphorically I hope) by your business skills.

You will need to:

• Advertise effectively (websites usually work the best, shelling out £500 to Yell is possibly the worst)
• Answer the calls that come from the adverts effectively (you can't do this if you're out on a lesson, but a good answerphone message can help to get leads)
• Convert enquiries into sales (if you're not a natural sales person, employ someone who is, or find out how to do it without feeling like a nasty slimy creep)
• Ensure your customers are so impressed with you that they tell their friends (reminding them to sometimes helps, or offering incentives for them to can help!)

Once you've done all of these if you can't make it then you need to get out.

There are enough customers for all the ADIs and PDIs out there - unfortunately 95% of instructors are fighting for 35% of the customers.

Think about how you find people.

Find cheap ways to get noticed.

Make sure your service is second to none.

Driving Instructor Lesson Plans and Diagrams

There's lots of these about, some better than others, some worse than useless.

Be really careful before you spend your precious cash on any of these, because you may well be buying something which hasn't been updated since the 70's, or worse, may actually have incorrect advice - with the possible outcome of you failing a part 3 or check test.

Lesson plans for a controls lesson which omit the cockpit drill, reverse parking methods which seem physically impossible, no mention of ABS on emergency stop lessons - what problems have you found with the books you have shelled out for? Let me know:

undercoveradi@hotmail.co.uk

If you need some help with lesson plans or diagrams - ask your trainer, or at the very least ask on one of the forums (www.adiforum.co.uk or www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk) don't take the word of the people flogging this stuff that they're good!

Is there enough work for fleet instructors?

There's been a massive increase of instructors deciding to take a fleet diploma, or going through the DSA's 3 exam route to fleet registration, so I thought I'd better ask the question - is there enough work.

The immediate answer is no.

The long term answer is yes.....and some!

At the moment, most people who drive as part of their job are not trained. Those who are are usually trained through one of the big trainers (RoSPA, IAM, Drive&Survive), who pay their trainers between £100-£150 a day.

Recently there have been a whole host of new providers to the market (naming no names, you know who you are) trying to get a slice of the future cake. Speculative market entry I guess. There's probably about 20 relatively serious contenders who have actually started to make an impact on the business and who are picking up work for their main 2 or 3 trainers. These guys will occaisionally need more trainers, so they call on their mates within the business to help out.

Then there's another thousand or so Fleet registered ADIs who have added a bit to their website and are wondering where this famed pot of gold is!

Oh, we've been here before haven't we!?!

The fact is that providing fleet training involves a hell of a lot of work:

1. Get the enquiries - either by advertising, doorstepping or cold calling
2. Answer the enquiries (not "You've reached Bob the driving instructor, please leave a message and I'll get back to you.")
3. Send out proposals and costings which are professional, competetive but not amateurishly cheap and are suitable for the customer
4. Liaise with the customer to design the course.
5. Provide pre-course materials including profilers and theory tests
6. Assess drivers from profiles and info given
7. Assess drivers on-road
8. Design training courses to fix any problems
9. Cost training courses and propose them
10. Carry out training courses
11. Invoice
12. Wait
13. Pay instructors out of own pocket
14. Wait
15. Receive payment

Lots of work innit?!

That's why the training costs £300-£500 a day to the company, but the instructor only gets £120.

For £120 what would you prefer - three double lessons or travelling half-way across the country to meet people you won't get any connection with?

There are other ways around the problem. For example, the ADI federation are proposing a co-op of fleet trainers, but whether this will provide enough work for all of their trainers is a different matter.

You could always use your own contacts to work in your own area.

You could design a specialist course to play to your own strengths.

There really is massive growth potential for Driver Training in the UK and across the world, but as I'm sure regular readers know - it's not going to be money for nothing.

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!!!!!!!!

Driving Instructor CPD (and tangentially DIDU)

Yep, the subject is really getting people hot under the collar right now, which probably means that something is being done.

Unfortunately it's probably being done behind the scenes, unless you're a DIDU member apparently - they tell all their members what is happening, and have more meetings with the DSA than any other association or union........I pity the DSA!

To be serious for one minute though, I don't really understand why the other associations can't do the same thing and publish stuff - yeah, it would confuse the hell out of your average ADI and they'd get really riled up and shouty (have you seen the forums recently?) and then realise that actually it wasn't that bad after all. Please - give us more information - we want to be given the chance to be indignant!

It would be good to have the information published widely and not just in links to the DIDU forum guys - if you just say you are members of DIDU in your signature and publish the information openly on the non-affiliated forums - people might appreciate the openness, be impressed by the quality of the information and join up, but all the underhand sniping just makes the rest of us even more wary of you.

(Apologies to a couple of the very genuine members, who do give good and accurate information, but there's a few of your members who remind me of Citizen Smith - a lot of mouth, but with very little brain.)

Anyhoooooo! Back to CPD......

Should it be mandatory?

The one statement from the forums I really liked was one of the regular contributors (you know who you are!) who suggested that it would be terrible if it was made mandatory, leaving it voluntary allows those of us who do CPD regularly to differentiate ourselves from those who can't be bothered!

I know there are problems with the idea of whether "doing a course" will make any instructor better and because of this I don't just "do a course". I plan my future career - I dream about what I would love to be doing in 5 years and I pursue it. This nearly always means taking some form of structured training alongside hours of personal study and practise.

Many of the guys seem to feel that by studying alone they can progress and to an extent they're right. Many of the guys feel that by combining that study with peer review and discussion on the forums they can progress.

Again, to an extent they're right.

But could you really learn and understand a new language by studying books, tv programmes, dvds, the internet and by logging in to http://www.teachingyourselftospeakalanguagewhichyougetnochancetorealisticallyandpracticallyputintoeffectineverydaylife-forum.com/?

I don't like things being made mandatory, but the fact is that this isn't personal - this is an industry wide thing. With the wide angle specs on I can see that if sensitively implemented (that could be another post in itself, but recent info seems to be that the DSA may have learnt from the mistakes of the past) there is no doubt that the base standard will rise.

The fact is - practical training with people who have superior skills can have a massive effect on your progression - something that doesn't sink in even after months of personal study can become clear in an instant when you're with someone who really does understand what they're on about and who can communicate that clearly.

You would have thought that people doing our job would understand this.

Red Driving Instructor Training TV adverts

Yep - they're back!!!

The Instructor College always used to be linked to Red Driving School, and were the only people advertising on TV, so I'm gonna make a big assumption (possibly a mistake - correct me if I'm wrong guys) and suggest that it's the same company, just a different name on the adverts.

Well the search engine queries have all started up again:

• How much does a driving instructor earn
• Driving instructor training prices

and one of the more worrying ones:

• learner instructor £30k tv ads

(lets face it, if you can't search for something with a little more finesse than that, you may not be able to communicate well enough under pressure to be a competent driving instructor.)

So, we come back to the same old questions of whether there are too many ADIs out there, and whether you can earn £30k as a driving instructor.

In response to the "too many ADIs" statement that always gets bandied around - well there's no shortage, but like anything else - if you're good enough you'll get work.

In response to the next question, I'm actually gonna change my answer:

No, you can't earn £30k as a driving instructor while working a normal week.

If all you want to do is instruct people how to drive - you probably won't be able to consistently clear £30k after expenses and before tax. However easy the salesperson with a few figures on a whiteboard or in a glossy brochure suggests it may be - the reality is that there are very very few driving instructors who earn this much. Those who do certainly don't conform to a 9 to 5 work pattern.

However - if you're prepared to be a business person, a coach, a trainer and use your skills and imagination - you can earn this and more.

Consider fleet training - you should earn around £120 a day before tax even when working for someone else. That's a 9-5 job (ish) which earns around £600/week if you can get the work. There's your £30k straight up.

Consider getting your own business training - fleet, or specialist. Now you can charge £300+ per day, but you've got bigger overheads, but if you're really good you could be working 4 days a week, and if you have a free receptionist (partner or suchlike) you could bring in £1200 a week.

Suddenly you're earning £60k a year.

And finally, consider ADI training You can charge £4000 for a course that has overheads of around £400, and takes around 80 hours to deliver - often at a ratio of 2 trainees to 1 trainer. This means that in 2 weeks you should effectively turn around 2 trainees, at a gross profit of £3600 each.

Suddenly you're earning enough to start advertising on TV!!!! (after doing the math, and having 4 weeks off a year, you should be getting around £140,000!)

The training colleges would have a problem with my math here, in the same way that I would have a problem with theirs!

Just a word of advice to all thinking of training - do the research on the forums and at the websites mentioned in the sidebar to the right.

Don't hand over any cash until you know what you want and are certain you are going to get it.

Driving instructor training shouldn't need to cost the earth, and having a successful career shouldn't mean penury for ever, but it's not as easy as it seems in the adverts. The exams take hard work and dedication, and even when (if? the overall pass rate for completing all 3 ADI exams is around 7%) you pass, you may find that what you think is a job at the end of a course is only a franchise, and no guarantee of earnings.

http://www.adiforum.co.uk/

http://www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk/

Cost of Training Courses

CPD hasn't arrived yet, but most of us with a couple of braincells are already involved with training ourselves almost as much as we do training our customers.

There's one thing that seems to run through all of these courses - it doesn't matter which course it is - there's a company set up to administer the course, and of course they have to cover their costs, but some of these costs are pretty high.

Cost of course - £420 for 2 days - no problem. Excellent 1 to 1 training with loads of useful information.

Cost of registration - £100 - just to put my details on a computer and a phone call to confirm things? Profit to administering organisation - probably £80

Cost to be a trainer for the courses - £250 - this covers a few booklets, cost value of which I would put at no more than £25 for printing, and probably could've been designed over 2 days with an expert, 1 day with a graphic designer - total design cost - no more than £1000. Considering that there's probably between 500 and 2000 of these courses taken per year that means at most an extra £2. Profit to organisation - £220

Maybe I should stop being a trainer, design a course - sell the idea to government for their backing, then make it compulsory and rake in £300 profit from every trainer who signs up to promote my course for me!

Whoopee.

Driving Instructor Earnings - AGAIN!!!!

Yep, this is a never ending one - it's so much fun when you throw the subject into a thread on a forum and watch the two sides jump at each other!

Simple fact is - yep, you can earn a lot in this business!

No, it aint an easy ride!

As is always the case, there will always be those who cry that they've not made their On Target Earnings in their first year, those who cry that they're never going to make the promised £30k (or £40 if you take note of some company's promises!), and never make the effort to get there. There will always be those who don't rightly care - they never expected to make £30k anyway and just wanted to tick over thank you very much.

And then there will be those who do, have, or will make the cash. Easily in some cases. These are the guys who treat it like a business. If you opened a shop you wouldn't expect to make money without advertising, making the place look nice, offering stuff that other shops didn't, and generally being better than those around you.

So why should being a driving instructor mean that you can just "do the job" and expect the cash to rush in. It won't. It will go to the guy down the road who works harder, works smarter and has a better website!

Have fun everyone!

Complaints about driving instructor training colleges

(Since posting this - we've had a lot of traffic for people looking to complain about their driving instructor - if you want to do this it's easy - just contact the driving school they work for, or failing that - the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) http://www.dsa.org.uk/ in the meantime, back to the thread in hand.......)

Yep - it's that time of the month again when all the people who didn't do the research, didn't engage their brains, didn't look beyond the glossy TV ads start complaining again!

Sorry guys - you deserve everything you get!

It takes about 2 minutes searching on the internet to find the forums and some serious independent advice. It takes even less to remember that you don't get owt for nowt.

I really am sick and tired of people saying that these colleges should not be allowed to advertise their £30k a year claims - the fact is YOU CAN EARN £30K/YEAR AS A DRIVING INSTRUCTOR.

The thing is - you can earn £30k/year as a toilet cleaner. You can earn £30k/year as a street scene operative (bin person!). You can earn £30k/year as a nocternal ambient replenishment operative (night shift shelf stacker). It's just that in all of these circumstances you know that you are going to have to work your way up, and put the hours in.

Driving Instruction is no different - get used to it.

Sorry guys - not in the mood for whingeing this week.

What's to be done?

Well, driver training in all it's forms are a bit of a mess.

Learners can be taught by ADIs or trainees with very little training, or their mates.

FLH can receive training from anyone.

Companies can receive driving advice from risk assessors (with little or no driving qualifications).

Driving Experience days seem to be above the law, allowing people to drive high powered cars around race tracks or 4x4's over the fells with little or no driver training or instructional experience.

ADIs and PDIs can be trained by ADIs with nothing more than a 3 second wait after passing their part 3.

Police can be trained by police.

Ambulance drivers can be trained by ambulance drivers.

The only regulation seems to be that if you want to earn money, teaching learners, you have to be an ADI.

Now I know the law spreads over the whole of the above, with certain restrictions and allowances, but surely there should be a blanket qualification which ALL driver trainers should reach. So suggestion time:

To train FLH for normal/advanced/business driving:

• Advanced Test passed (not one of the independent ones - a government approved one, like the part 2)
• Instructional Techniques Course passed
• Risk Assessment Course (on road) passed

To train FLH for specific purpose (experience days):

• Specific purpose driving test passed (specific to the experience)
• Instructional Techniques Course passed
• Risk Assessment Course (specific purposes) passed

To train Learners:

• Advanced Test passed
• Instructional Techniques Course passed
• Risk Assessment Course (learners) passed
• Counselling/coaching techniques Course passed

To train Response drivers:

• Response driving experience verified/Test passed
• Instructional Techniques Course passed
• Risk Assessment Course (response) passed

To train Trainers:

• Appropriate driving skills courses passed to high standard
• Instructional Techniques Course Passed
• Train The Trainer Course passed
• Risk Assessment (for purpose) passed
• Counselling/Coaching Course passed

I'm sure we could all think up more, and until then, we can ponder which of the two main systems of car control we should be concentrating on, or whether we should integrate them - MSM/PSL, or IPSGA?

How can we sharpen the DSA's teeth?

The driver training industry is full of contradictions. (Just look on the forums, or as 3 driving instructors how to reverse park, or 3 ADI trainers whether you can pass a cyclist on the zigzag lines approaching a pedestrian crossing!)

One of the biggest of these is how Driving Instructors feel about the DSA.

On one hand we complain that they do nothing about Instructor Training companies who promise seemingly impossible rewards, but then complain that the part 3 exam has too low a pass rate!

So the question has to be asked - how can we help the DSA sharpen it's teeth, without having it bite us?

One suggestion could be to encourage the ORDIT scheme to become mandatory, not just for companies, but for every individual ADI who is paid to provide ADI training.

Another is to ensure that ADI's who break the Code of Practice can be check tested and put on probation until they prove that they are able to follow the code.

Another suggestion could be that all ADI's must follow a progressive CPD program which ensures that the public understand what level of experience an ADI has, and what they are paying for.

But when would those teeth start to draw blood? Would one complaint from a disgruntled customer put an ADI's career (and income, house and possibly marraige) at risk?

Would a new entrant to the business be able to gain work when competing with less enthusiastic or less ambitious ADI's who have simply been in the industry longer?

Would an ADI trainer be able to get through ORDIT without help from a potential competitor?

Where should the lines be drawn?

Personally I think there are far too many of us who complain about the DSA, without understanding why they exist. They exist in the main to ensure that those on the road are capable of driving safely - all the rest of it is simply politics.

All ADI trainers should be on ORDIT, but the regulations should be made simpler, with step by step assessment of their capabilities - for each assessment (and it's attendant cost) they should gain part of their accreditation.

All ADIs should have to accept and stick to the Code of Practice, but the complaints procedure must be made as open and accountable as possible allowing each party to put their view before action is taken.

All ADIs should have to follow a CPD program which follows a clear path (or paths) allowing (and enabling) instructors to work towards their own goals.

And don't even get me started on franchise agreements and their use and abuse - from both sides of the contract.

Will all check tests soon be roleplay?

Going purely on rumour again guys - you know me, never let a lack of facts get in the way of a good story - but there's suggestions that the check test is moving towards a purely roleplay format.

Now I'm normally here defending the DSA, but on this one I won't be.

There are various reasons why the roleplay could be useful to both ourselves and the DSA. It introduces a set format with a simply examined structure, allowing for much more standardised gradings for instructors. It also reduces the problems with instructors "prepping" their check test pup.

However, many of the examiners have never been driving instructors, and at best their experience of how learners react is limited to their experience on tests. This means that the mistakes they make during check tests are often un-realistic and do not follow the pattern that we see on a day to day basis.

It also takes no account of the work we do with individual pups, with regards to problems and weaknesses outside the knowledge & skills area. Some attitude is tested, but in comparison to the amount of work some of us do with nervous or disabled customers it is woefully inadequate in assessing this, and often actually causes good specialist instructors to be graded lower than they deserve. The examiners often misunderstand how we work to teach people in the way that they learn, rather than in the way the DSA would rather we teach.

Unlike some instructors I feel that a great instructor would not fail a roleplay checktest, and a good one should at least be able to achieve a grade 4 - so no-one's livelihood is at risk. The problem occurs when we look to each other for help - we understand the gradings, and will often take them as read. Unfortunately this means that some of the finest specialist trainers are penalised within the industry because the DSA do not understand the complexities of their chosen speciality.

Aaaaaggggghhhhhh!

I've just been speaking to yet another trainee instructor who's been let down by their training company. I won't mention this one because they are a bit litigious apparently, but at least 2 of the "good guys" have worked for them at 1 point or another and left because of the way the company treated their trainees.

This one apparently isn't going to receive any more training because they are now costing the company money. The training was offered as a set fee with a guarantee to pass. Now this trainee doesn't lack get up and go - they're proactive (sorry, I'll make up a buzzword bingo card one of these days, but it's the best word to describe them) and well informed, but because of a combination of nerves and frickin awful training they haven't passed their part 3 yet.

And now they're getting the run around from their company who haven't actually said they can't give them more training, but serious hints have been dropped.

Now should this trainee go back to the company and just bully them into providing what has been paid for, or should they run and get some decent training?

You decide.

How much does it cost to train to be an instructor?

I keep getting hits for this question - or something similar, so the answer is.........

anything between £0 and £6000.

And the £6000 doesn't guarantee you'll pass!

The free route - do loads of research yourself, be strict with your revision, know your subject, be a bloody good driver already, and be a good trainer/coach already. With the amount of info out there it is possible I reckon, though I suspect only in theory. The best thing would be to do the work, then get someone to check you're on the right track every now and again. I reckon realistically you could do it for about £500 if you were really determined. Bear in mind about £220 in test fees, and a hundred or so on books.

The expensive route - follow the adverts, let the sales people talk you into things, and trust them to do the right thing by you. Don't do your homework, and expect "them" to "teach" you. This will not work. "You" will have to "learn from" them.

The sensible middle ground - go and have a chat with one of the "good guys" in the panel on the right, or someone who's posts you trust in the forums. Find recommendations, and work with them. Don't expect anything to come to you, 'coz even with the good guys it won't happen. Go after it.

If you wind up paying more than £3k for the whole shebang you're probably paying too much.

Too many new Driving Instructors?

It's a commonly heard complaint in this industry, with people calling for the ADI register to be closed, training companies to be sued for mis-advertising and the like, and moaners on the forums from noon till night.

And yes, there's loads of the buggers around - I think I've seen 6 pink badges in my area recently, even though the local BSM office has shut down. There's a hundred and one new cars and new roofboxes around, and the local garages must be upping their stock of cheap and nasty cars for driving instructors. (Kia Picanto - eurgh!)

But they disappear again after 5 minutes! I'm gonna keep a list, and tick them off when I get a chance, and see how long they last. It seems no sooner than these guys get their green badge they disappear (obviously a good few disappear even before the green badge stage!).

The main reason seems to be not enough work. And I'm not sure why. Yes it's competetive, yes it's not regular, yes you have to do dodgy hours sometimes, BUT THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU START YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

And we are all self employed! The business sense of some of these guys is great, but some of them seem clueless. One of the PDI's I spoke to in the test centre complained that he didn't have enough work because his recommendations were going to another PDI who had started with the company!!!!! GIVE 'EM YOUR OWN NUMBER!

Like I've said before - with a lot of work, and by vigorous rubbing together of braincells it is not too hard to make a living at this game. With a bit more work and brainpower (and some lateral thinking, training, and luck) the £30k is not out of reach given 3 years or so.

ORDIT - What does it really mean?

Driving Instructor Training is an interesting business, because to do it all you need is to be an ADI.

Curious eh? Imagine this going down the line - as soon as someone had passed their driving test, they could advertise themselves as driving instructors!!

But surely there's some kind of exam that proves your trainer is good? Well.......ORDIT kinda does this.

The Official Register of Driving Instructor Trainers (the full title), is not essential, but the DSA reckon it will give some kind of "accountability" to the business. A business that has suffered a bit through unscrupulous types trying to make a buck out of people who wanna become driving instructors. This accountability largely entails having a clear refund policy ("we don't give refunds" is about as clear as you need to be for this), and some kind of complaints procedure ("write to the DSA at.......if you don't like what you got" is about as procedural as it needs to be).

So you can see why people aren't keen.

But......and it's an important one, the trainer who is on the register will have been assessed by an examiner as being competant at their job. This can be important, in the same way as the difference between being a trainee instructor (PDI) and qualified driving instructor (ADI) is pretty important. It means that at the very least - on the day - for 1 hour - in the eyes of the examiner - the trainer was giving ok instruction.

Does this mean that all trainers on ORDIT are good? No. In the same way that not all ADIs are any good, just that they are CAPABLE of being good.

Does this mean that all trainers who aren't on ORDIT don't have all these policies in place? No. But if they don't you can't complain.

So where do we go next? Well there are rumours that ORDIT will be mandatory soon, which is no bad thing - it will at least get rid of the REALLY shady operators out there, and it will make sure that if there are problems with a trainer then there's someone to complain to. (If you reckon the DSA can or will actually do anything about dodgy trainers.......!)

So if you are thinking of becoming a driving instructor - look around for trainers, and ask them what they are doing about ORDIT. If they aren't on it - find out why not. If they tell you it's rubbish - beware - this is the excuse of the cowboy.

If they ARE on ORDIT, don't relax - this doesn't mean they will be good. Meet your trainer, ask for their qualifications. Don't hand over ANY cash before your first training session, apart from payment for that session. Go to the forums and do the research - it'll pay you back a fortune.

I'm not sure what a legit reason for not being on ORDIT would be - if you can come up with one - comment at the end of this article!

The Instructor College Con?

This keeps coming back!!!

Are their adverts intentionally misleading? Possibly.
Are their adverts lies? No.
Is it possible to earn £30k as soon as you qualify? No, but they don't say you can.
Is it possible to earn £30k as a driving instructor? Yes.
Is it possible to earn £30k and work flexibly? Yes, as long as the flexibility you're thinking about is yours towards your customers, not the other way around.


Do The Instructor College TV ads give the wrong impression to people? Yes.

On the forums there are hundreds of accounts of people who feel that they have been misled by these adverts and promises. However, there are other driving instructor training courses who do similar things. Guaranteed placements or franchises sound like guaranteed 'Jobs', but they aren't. There are other careers entirely which seem to offer huge rewards - take sales - we've all seen the adverts that specify 'On Target Earnings of.....', and we take those with a large dose of salt. Why are people so taken in by these adverts tho?

Possibly because it all seems so plausible. People look at how much driving instructors charge (£22/hour say), and then simply multiply that by 40 hours. Unfortunately this simplistic view of things can easily over-ride the reality.

So should we be taken in? No. Should we sue them? No. Are they doing something underhand and sneaky? Possibly. Should we have sympathy for people who are taken in? Probably. Should everything we see and hear on TV adverts be taken as gospel truth? Only if you are really stupid. Sorry guys.

Do the research. Go to the Driving Instructor Forums. Read as much as you can about REAL driving instructor stories. Don't hand over a penny until you know what you are getting. And try to pay as you go. That way you can walk away.

Not enough work for Driving Instructors

Yep, some of you guessed it - I've got too much time on my hands.

I could blame all the trainees coming in from the pink factories like TIC, on a promise of £30k a year and a fully maintained car.

I could blame all the parents, for trying to skimp on good training for little Alfie, who are trying to teach him themselves.

I could blame the DSA, for making me take time from my amazingly effective marketting campaign to do the HPT.

I could blame everyone but myself. But I won't.

There is work out there. There are people who need my services, all I've got to do is get off my (overly large) behind and find them, entice them in with my skills and qualifications, promise them independence and a highly paid job once they pass. But I don't want to. I'm tired and I need a break, so I'm having one!

If you want an opinion (why are you here if you don't?) then yes, there are too many instructors for the available learners. But learners aren't the only people who need training. There's other instructors, there's fleet drivers, there's banned drivers, there's drivers who want to avoid getting points after being caught speeding. There's new drivers who need pass plus for insurance, or confidence and help with new areas or motorways. There's young drivers who need to know how not to kill themselves on country roads. There's police drivers, army drivers, ambulance and fire service drivers.

Look at the roads - who do you think needs driver training!!!!

So, to the whingers - I say get off your (probably also overly large) a$$e$ and start tapping into these markets. Don't sit there complaining about bad driving - do something about it. That's your chosen job.