Has anyone done a course with any off these company? if so how did they find it ?

Are they genuine ?

Do they lead to jobs at 30k per annum ?

I may come accross as being naive, but I'm thinking of changing my career, and I see these ads every week in Thursdays Star.


Is this the only way of becoming a Driving Instructor ?????

my email is trevorberbick@hotmail.co.uk

Hi Trevor. Lets get the record straight.

These companies that advertise to train you as driving instructors make their money from - guess what? -

Charging people £3,000 to train as driving instructors.

They're not interested in whether you can make a go of it - all they want is your £3k.

As far as the claims go, I believe the main two claims are -

1. Earn £30,000 a year.

2. A 'guaranteed position' at the end of it

Lets look at it logically.

1. Lesson price £20 an hour - 30 hours = £600 per week x 50 weeks =£30,000 a year. Simple maths.
What they DON'T tell you is that you've got expenses to come off that:

Fuel - between £3000 and £4000
Car purchase - say £3000 (conservatively)
Advertising - say £2000 (again conservatively)
Tax and National Insurance - everyone is different but for the sake of a figure say £2000
Maintenance, service and repair - say £1000
Telephone, office expenses, etc etc - say £1500
Car insurance - £500

so you're soon down to about £15 - £16k.

You'll also be self-employed, so:

No sick pay
No paid holidays
No pension
No work......?

Still sound as attractive?

2. 'A guaranteed position'
Of course they'll guarantee you a position working for their own driving school - they'll then get you to pay them a franchise fee. It doesn't matter to them whether you get work to go along with your guaranteed position - they'll still charge you the franchise fee - whether you have enough hours to pay it and still get a decent wage is irrelevant to them.

Hmmm.... not sounding so good is it?

You'll also have to undertake 3 exams in order to qualify as an ADI.

First one is the theory and hazard perception - OK, not too difficult

Second one is an hour long driving test in which you can make no more than 6 minor driving faults (contrast that to the learner test in which they can make 15 minor faults in 35 minutes) and NO serious or dangerous faults.

Third one is the hardest of all - the test of instructional ability in which a senior examiner roleplays the part of a learner and you have to sort him or her out with all the errors they will make.

Not surprisingly, only about 15-20 out of every 100 people who start off training to be ADIs will actually make it, and once you do, you've then got to battle with everyone else for the market share.

Don't get me wrong - its a very rewarding job and if you go about it in the right way, you can earn a decent living.

But don't be fooled by the adverts you see in the paper. If you REALLY want to do it, go with an independent instructor trainer who will charge you by the hour ratehr than with one of the big colleges.

But PLEASE be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.

Oh Saxon, Saxon, Saxon.

You don't sound very happy about being a driving instructor.... Some of your pupils sending you into deep depression?! :suspect: don't know who that could be :twisted::razz:

Seriously though to the OP, you need a lot of patience to be a driving instructor (especialy with some pupils eh Sax?!) although I guess the reward of getting a particularly useless pupil through their test must be immense (Saxon could probably tell you all about this though!) :help: :)

i did it all with the instructor colleage - and was there a job at the end of it - like **** there was..

Now my badge has expired.. waste of ******* time that was! i'm still self employed but i am really earning around 30,000 a year - but in another role

As Already stated it sounds great 30k a year with a car. Wow it sounds to good to be true. I am a driving Instructor I have been for the last 7 years.

In the last seven years especially with the arrival in Sheffield of a certain college, offering all these wonderful opportunities. I have noticed as most have the market is saturated with Instructors all trying to get a share of the market. I have had to watch friends go bust as I am not even in a position to help them.

Driving Instruction. The work is not out there!

just finished with the college.Waste of time how can you take everything in in the last 40 hrs training.Job earning that £30.000 dont think so.