Driving Instructor

First things first and in case you didn't know...

Driving instructors teach people the skills and knowledge they need to drive safely and pass their driving test. This can be done in a manual car and via a manual exam, or via an automatic car and an automatic exam. As the law currently stands, people who pass their test with a manual car are allowed to go on to drive automatic cars after (although it can/does feel v strange at the start); however, those that pass with an automatic car (and licence) are not allowed to go on and drive manual cars. For good reason, of course, but we thought it worth noting anyway.

Key skills/talents

Basic teaching skills - how to teach something new to someone
Excellent verbal communication skills
Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations - yep, emergency braking situations are frequent!
The ability to monitor your own and your learner's performance at all times
The ability to multitask - watch multiple ‘things’ at once
Great eyesight and visual awareness (spotting potential hazards ahead etc)
To be thorough and pay close attention to detail (to the road and to your pupil’s driving)
Basic computer skills to keep client records up to date and manage your own diary/booking system effectively
The ability to work effectively on your own

Qualifications required

Sadly, but also, thankfully, you can’t just like driving, decide to do this job, and then do it; you need to become qualified.

This Govt link gives you a step-by-step guide, including advice on how to apply for a trainee driving instructor licence, plus how to get a criminal record check, etc: https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/teaching-people-to-drive

You'll need to pass the approved driving instructor part 1 and part 2 exams. You'll then get a licence to give instruction and legally charge for lessons.

To get onto the register of approved driving instructors, you must also pass the part 3 exam: https://www.gov.uk/adi-part-3-test

If you feel you would benefit from some extra hands-on experience, while you are getting qualified, you can contact and find training with (already) approved driving instructions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whats-involved-in-being-a-driving-instructor/approved-driving-instructor-adi-register-guide

Rules and regs

There are a few restrictions & requirements to becoming a driving instructor (in the UK), which include:

Pass the required motoring conviction checks
Pass enhanced background checks
Be able to read a licence plate at 90 feet or 27.5m, with glasses or contact lenses, if worn
Have a full UK or EU driving licence, held for at least 3 years
Be over 21 years of age

The step-by-step link above outlines all of this really clearly, as does this BSM link: https://www.bsm.co.uk/how-to-become-a-driving-instructor

Driving instructor insurance is vital, and we hope, obvious. It covers the instructor, any learner drivers, when they're driving the car, and indeed any 3rd party vehicles that may become involved in an incident.

Lots of companies offer this insurance, however, an example is through the RAC here: https://www.rac.co.uk/business/insurance/motor-insurance/driving-instructor

And then Compare the Market have good advice and multiple quotes to search: https://www.confused.com/driving-instructor-insurance

Remuneration framework

Obviously, the usual geo implications apply (London and cities will be more expensive), however, on the whole driving lessons are charged out between £25 and £35 an hour.

This clearly isn’t profit, because you have the costs of running the car, plus insurances etc.

How many lessons you do in a day, week, month is down to you and what hours you want to work, so always do your maths well and try and set salary targets to make sure you’ve always got enough (but not too many!) students on your books.

According to indeed: https://uk.indeed.com/career/driving-instructor/salaries, instructor salaries tend to be around the £33-£38k a year mark, however, some go above this.

How to get started

If you would like to pursue this career, then first of all, you need to choose a qualification route. Laura qualified (and then worked with for a few years after, before going solo) with Red Driving school: https://www.reddrivingschool.com/start-a-new-career-become-a-driving-instructor-4

Other ‘schools’ offer this service, so a simple google search will pop these for you, i.e:

The AA: https://www.theaa.com/driving-school/driving-instructor-training
BSM: https://www.bsm.co.uk/driving-instructor-jobs
Bill Plant: https://www.billplant.co.uk/careers

Alternatively, following this ‘official’ Govt process: https://www.gov.uk/apply-to-become-a-driving-instructor?step-by-step-nav=80bd32e4-9708-4214-bc0f-50358223bb09

Deciding whether to go through an official school, like Laura did, or whether to do it solo is quite a key decision here. A school means you’ll likely end up working for them (in a semi self-employed way); solo you truly are your own boss.

Availability of funds might be a key factor here. The school route is more corporate funded because they will ‘encourage’ you to sign up with them during the qualification process. And this route may well work perfectly for you and may be exactly what you need to get started.

The solo route is fully self-funded and is down to you to work out each step of the process, however, at the end of it, you’re 100% your own boss.

Both will come with challenges and restrictions, as they will opportunities… For example, being part of a school means they will do a lot of marketing for you in your early days. However, if you’re proactive, marketing shouldn’t be an issue, not with modern social media. And indeed, by using tactics like Laura did and driving around/parking up near colleges and places that ‘potential learners’ might ‘hang out’.

You will also need to decide what type of car you want to teach in and what type of exam your students will take. The most common route is still manual cars and manual tests/exams, however, and particularly with the increase of electric cars, automatics are increasing in numbers.

You could, of course, teach both, but this would mean having two cars and you would need to do the £ numbers of that to make it worth your while.

This is a good YouTube video to explain pass rates of manual vs automatic, and might help you to decide which ‘route’ to take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UobOPsPjho

Either way, you’ll need to make sure that you have a suitable, dual-control car, and these are typically leased from providers (who also fix them if anything goes wrong). Laura leases hers.

CarWow have a great ‘best cars for driving instructors’ review here, to help you with you search and to pin down what type of car you’d like: https://www.carwow.co.uk/best/cars-for-driving-instructors

A simple google search will show lots of leasing companies, but a few, are:

https://www.cacars.co.uk

https://www.hippoleasing.co.uk/dual-control-cars

https://www.bsm.co.uk/solo-car-lease

Associations or official bodies to register with

As previously mentioned, the Govt website has all the information detailing legal requirements needed: https://www.gov.uk/become-car-driving-instructor

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) encourages you to join approved driving instructor (ADI) associations and organisations so your interests are properly represented in talks. However, you do not have to join one to be an ADI.

Each association and organisation has its own set of terms and conditions.

Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council: www.adinjc.org.uk
Driving Instructors Association is the UK’s largest professional body for driver and rider training, education, support and advice: https://www.driving.org
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain is the longest established representative group & trade association for ADIs, PDIs & road safety practitioners in Great Britain: http://www.msagb.com

Progression pathway

GOV.UK has some information on professional development, as an FYI: https://www.gov.uk/approved-driving-instructor-adi-development

With experience and training you could move into specialist areas like training disabled drivers. You could even go on to train drivers of passenger carrying vehicles, large goods vehicles (LGV) or emergency services vehicles. Not for the faint-hearted, but if you like driving and you're confident, the world always needs bus drivers and HGV drivers. One training example is: https://www.rha.uk.net/Training/Book-a-Course?eventLocation=0&course=4156&radius=-3&city=0

If you do want to go on to instruct in these larger vehicle areas, you would, of course, first need to get the relevant driving licences for those vehicles: https://www.gov.uk/become-lorry-bus-driver.

As we touched on in the chat, one progression route could be to become a driving test examiner. Now, as Laura discusses, this isn’t strictly speaking a progression, because the money earned could well be less, however, if you’re passionate about this subject, and if money becomes less of a requirement for you, you could well enjoy doing this. One thing we do know is that examiners are in very short supply… so maybe there will be further opportunities here in the coming years, or indeed room for negotiation with salaries??

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/driving-examiner-training-programme

https://careers.dft.gov.uk/dvsa/driving-examiner