UK Instructor Training

Too few 17 year olds

2010-09-19T10:04:00.000+01:00

At present there are around 700,000 people reach the age of 17 each year.

There are approximately 40,000 Driving instructors on the ADI register.

That means 17 people reach the age where they are allowed to learn to drive each year for every one driving instructor.

And with the number of 17 year olds decreasing each year and the number of instructors increasing, there's clearly not enough pupils to go round!

Red Driving School Scam

2010-09-11T17:08:00.000+01:00

Type "red driving school" into Google and one option you are offered is "Red Driving School scam"!

Probably less of a scam than a mistake is their latest offer of £1000 cashback.

In the terms and conditions on the Red driver training website, it states that you must complete 6 months as a qualified ADI with a Red franchise before you are entitled to the cashback. However the next sentence says you have to claim WITHIN 6 months.

A scam or a mistake? - you be the judge!

Getting a job as a driving instructor

2010-06-04T11:47:00.001+01:00

There are many pitfalls in becoming a driving instructor - not the least the need to pass the qualifying exams!

5 Myths about becoming a driving instructor

2010-05-01T17:27:00.000+01:00

1. It's easy to earn over £30,000
Few driving instructors earn over £30,000 after they have taken account of car purchase / running costs / franchise/ advertising etc

2. It's easy to become a driving instructor
Only about 1 person in 10 who sets out to become a driving instructor passes the final exam

3. There's a national shortage of driving instructors
Many instructors are struggling to find enough work and are having to lower lesson prices accordingly

4. You get a guaranteed job at the end of your training
Most training organisations offer a franchise, not a salaried job - all assuming you pass the exams

5. I'm a good driver, so i'll be a good instructor
Although driving skills are important to becoming an instructor, they are not all that's needed.
You need to have good people skills, patience and an ability to teach.

Red Instructor Training

2010-04-08T18:28:00.002+01:00

According to the Daily Telegraph, financial problems at Red Driving School were caused by Barclays stopping their offer of loans to trainee instructors. Full story

Red Driving School almost goes bust

2010-02-22T18:38:00.002Z

Red Driving school's parent company LVG has been saved from administration by a private equity firm. It is believed that the problem was not due to a failure in the business but rather cash flow problems resulting from a change in accounting procedures and the loss of a backer.
None of the 400 staff are expected to be made redundant.

Meanwhile the FT reports that the market is flooded with too many instructors.
Between 2007 and 2009 the number of provisional licences has dropped by 34%. During this time the number of instructors has increased, with an increase of over 50% in the last 10 years.

What Car? Driving School Franchise Costs

2010-01-25T18:00:00.002Z

What Car? have now published their full costs:

Headboard/livery/starter pack but no car or pupils - £67 inc vat

As above but with car - £179.90 inc vat

New pupils £22.95 or £29.95 per pupil

Full details

Instructor Training Directory

2010-01-11T17:08:00.002Z

Driving Instructor trainers can get a link to their site

What Car Driving School

2009-11-18T10:08:00.002Z

What Car are starting to roll out there driving school franchise although national advertising has not yey started.

What car driving School's "Early Bird Offer" is available till 15th Jan 2010.
Use your current vehicle and pay nothing till 15th Jan 2010. Use one of their (slightly less than prestigious) Hyundais for £99.99 per month untill Jan 2010.

As with all driving school franchises READ THE SMALL PRINT. There are set up costs and tie in periods with many driving school franchises. What Car Driving school phone number is 08456 21 21 00

BSM franchise - from £99 per week

2009-11-18T10:04:00.002Z

The new look BSM have announced a new introductory offer franchises from £99 per week. Of course this doesn't last. The details of the advert are a little unclear, but they also offer £249 for the first ten weeks. BSM franchises can be contacted on 0800 740 8719

What Car? to launch driving school!

2009-09-10T10:26:00.003+01:00

Two ex-BSM employees have teamed up with Haymarket publications to launch "What car? Driving School" Their ambitious plans include having 1,000 instructors by 2012 (approximately 2% of all registered instructors).
What marks them out from other established driving schools? Well it seems very little. Their franchise arrangements are pretty similar to many of the large franchise driving schools, with a lot of talk about raising standards of instruction etc.
Franchises will be about £55 per week if you provide your own car and recruit your own pupils and about £170 per week for car and brand franchise.
Instructors should note that their is a "setup cost" and if you want pupil referalls you need to pay a minimum of £19.50 per pupil.
These prices are not a lot different from the Red Driving School franchise.

It seems that the new driving school is relying essentially on the What Car? name to promote their brand. Wheteher they will be succesful remains to be seen!"

Red Driving School Franchise costs

2009-07-04T11:31:00.003+01:00

Red driving school have published their franchise costs for adi's on their website. They are FROM £185 per week for a full franchise and FROM£85 per week for a headboard franchise.

Red Driving School Recruitment

2009-04-09T20:51:00.002+01:00

Red driving school are now "proactively recruiting (can you recruit non-proactively?) for phase 2" of their ongoing expansion. (whatever pahse 2 is!). This would appear to be in the areas of sales, training and franchise management. Applications can be made by email to hr@lvg.co.uk

Disgruntled PDI's

2009-02-20T11:57:00.002Z

If you have trained to become an Instructor and have failed the exams, been strung along by your trainer or failed to get enough work when you qualified, then Trevor MacDonald is waiting to hear from you! ITV are making a programme which will involve the subject of driving instructor training and are looking for people with real life experiences. E-mail Emily Burndred: emily.burndred@itv.com

Red Driving School accounts

2009-02-20T11:48:00.003Z

According to a post on the UKDIC forum the parent company of Red Driving School makes 90% of it's income from training instructors and less than 6% from teaching learner drivers.

The figures suggest that over 5,000 instructor training courses were sold between April and October 2008. At that rate over the period of 4 years they will train 40,000 people. This is the equivalent to the total number of Instructors currently on the register!

The company accounts also suggest that the parent company has more sales staff than trainers.

NOTE: Do not rely on figures quoted in this post. Do your own research. Accounts can be obtained from Companies House.

Driving Instructor training pass rates

2009-02-19T17:29:00.002Z

National pass rates for driving instructor exams for 2006/7 are

Theory test (Part 1): 49%
Test of driving ability (Part 2): 45%
Test of instructional ability (Part 3): 28%

So less than 1 person in 3 taking the final test actually pass!

Red Driving School

2009-02-19T17:03:00.002Z

One company looking to benefit from the current economic crisis are Red Driving School. As people find themselves being made redundant, an attractive proposition can appear to be to train as a driving instructor.

Red Driving School adverts claim you can earn up to £30,000 a year and that you are guaranteed a position when you qualify. But do these claims stack up? The reality may be a little different to what you might hope.

nationally only one in ten people who start training to become a driving instructor make it through the third and final exam. That's a 90% failure/dropout rate!
nearly all driving instructors are self-employed. So Red Driving School, like BSM, the AA and others does not offer you a paid position. What they offer you is franchise where you pay them. So it's easy for them to offer you a guaranteed franchise - the risk is all on your side. If you cannot get enough pupils, even from their referral schemes, then you won't earn enough money. Simple!
Most driving instructors do not earn £30,000. Some don't want to, some cannot generate enough business, however many hours per week they are willing to work

UK Instructor Training

2009-02-19T16:04:00.002Z

With more and more people visiting our website it seemed like a good idea to start a blog devoted just to instructor training.