Driving Instructor Megathread - Part 2 Do Not Advertise in here

Mod note: It's time to start a new thread for this topic - post your queries about driving instructors and driving lessons in Sheffield in this thread.

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Found a great instructor.

For new starters, He has a great deal.

Either £60 for 5 hours. You take the first 2 and bank the other 3 for your test week so it lowers the cost of your test. (Needing 2 of them hours for the test itself)

Or he has a £99 for 10 hours, same sort of scenario.

He drives under the company Drive Dynamics and his name is Alistair.

I've had 4 lessons with him and he's said I'll be ready in 2 months

 

I've had 4 lessons with him and he's said I'll be ready in 2 months

This is entirely possible, particularly when you manage to find an instructor with a crystal ball and the ability to by-pass lead times for theory and practical tests.

This is entirely possible, particularly when you manage to find an instructor with a crystal ball and the ability to by-pass lead times for theory and practical tests.

:hihi:

To summarise the story so far, if I may be so bold and to tell it as it is:

Anyone wanting to find a driving instructor has a huge choice. For one thing, the UK's ADI register has swollen in ten years from 30,000 to 47,000 and there's no shortage of instructors in Sheffield, for sure.*

Because of historic fluctuations in birth rates, this increase country-wide is met with a reduction in pupil numbers - there aren't as many 17-yr olds today as there were 5years ago and this trend will continue for a while. So, whether with a big nationally branded driving school, with smaller independents or as one-man/woman bands, instructors across the country report less work than previously.

Hence the silly prices per hour (or is it "per lesson"?) advertised on here and elsewhere.

*

Despite this, the driving instructor training industry is just an INDUSTRY. They carry on taking £3500 (or more maybe?) off prospective, wannabe ADI's for the instructor training despite the fact that only 1 in 10 of them will ever end up doing the job (such are the trials and tribulations of the ADI qualification process).*

Furthermore, the qualification process is, let's say, imperfect. It doesn't really prepare an instructor for the work and many qualified instructors decide to pack it in quite quickly and pupils are left without an instructor.*

So your choice of instructor for your son or daughter in a task that could kill or maim them should come down to personal, detailed recommendations from friends and/or colleagues rather than down to price alone, don't you think?

What counts as a good driving school? Each ADI flies under a banner, large, small, independent, non-descript but works basically alone, unbothered by any management hand or oversight (until a complaint surfaces).

The "school" is only as good as the individual instructor and the school only has a loose control over what happens in the car on a day-to-day basis.

*

To know what you are getting for your money, you should ask prospective instructors when they qualified, what pass rate they have, what check test grade they achieved ... but those answers don't necessarily mean a great deal. E.g. Some relatively inexperienced ADI's can be absolute gems; an excellent run of passes is sure to be punctuated by runs where the instructor can't buy a pass. *Then there are ADI's who have been doing it for donkeys but are miserable so-and-so's that cannot and will not update their skills.

You could ask what extra driving and instructional qualifications the ADI has over and*above the norm and based on these extra qualifications what work does he/she have outside of L-test work?*

Ask about lesson length, age of car (plans to replace the car), petrol or diesel, range of vehicles he/she is entitled to drive (and has driven).

Ask what feedback you will be given by the instructor as to your son's/daughter's progress.*

OR you could just ask what the price per hour is and go with the cheapest, most desperate-for-work ADI you can find.*

This is entirely possible, particularly when you manage to find an instructor with a crystal ball and the ability to by-pass lead times for theory and practical tests.

I did say "He said I'll be ready in 2 months" NOT, I'll be taking the test in 2 months as there is at least 2 month waiting list for the Practical and 1 month for the theory.

This is a debate you could have all day. If your learning over a longer period, ie one or two hours per week, I don't think you will be ready in two months. Sometimes people under estimate how much there is to learn, the complexities of what your leaning as road are much busier than say ten years ago, the test standard has also improved. As a learner, you will also go through periods where some subjects are easier to pick up, some more difficult.

If you wanted to learn quicker, you might take more lessons over a shorter period of time and pass sooner, and could even pass within two months. There are cancellation available which would help. But this all depends on what your aim is.

In a nutshell, if you wanted to pass sooner, you can, but you have to put the time and effort in.

I did say "He said I'll be ready in 2 months" NOT, I'll be taking the test in 2 months as there is at least 2 month waiting list for the Practical and 1 month for the theory.

I took my theory last month, and it was only 2 weeks waiting. I booked my test last week, and got a date in September.

I'm with Horizon. cant fault it. realistic timescales given for passing..and I may need to move my test.. especially taking into account I'm useless at reversing around a corner..

This is a debate you could have all day. If your learning over a longer period, ie one or two hours per week, I don't think you will be ready in two months. Sometimes people under estimate how much there is to learn, the complexities of what your leaning as road are much busier than say ten years ago, the test standard has also improved. As a learner, you will also go through periods where some subjects are easier to pick up, some more difficult.

 

If you wanted to learn quicker, you might take more lessons over a shorter period of time and pass sooner, and could even pass within two months. There are cancellation available which would help. But this all depends on what your aim is.

 

In a nutshell, if you wanted to pass sooner, you can, but you have to put the time and effort in.

I appreciate what you are saying and have to say you have it bang on.

However, this is the second time I'm having to do it.

I got 6 points within 2 years 8 years back and didn't bother re-applying for 7 years after I got the 6 points. So in effect, I'm only ironing out bad habits I picked up and learning a bit more about the current test.

Having said that. When I did my first test, I had to do 'turn in the road', 'reverse round a corner', 'Bay Parking' and 'reverse parking' as well as follow instructions. Strangely, he never gave me an emergency stop, which I thought was mandatory back then. I passed anyway.

These days, I'm told you get 1 manoeuvre and 30 minutes driving! What's that all about?

I was only driving 18 months and picked up a lot of bad habits in a short space of time.

Oh, I'd better explain the 6 points too!

If you get a PRODUCER...... Produce your documents!!

I sold my car after forgetting all about it. I was done for not producing a tax certificate(couldn't prove it back then) or the M.O.T. Certificate. 3 points each.

I provided Licence, Insurance and receipt of ownership in Court. Along with all the other documents from my then current car.

I was given 6 points, £90 Fine + costs. Which I thought was both unlucky and harsh.

Thats ok, I think if you have past driving experience it will help you greatly.

Good luck with it all, I hope you do well.

Four manoeuvres in a test 8 years ago with both parking mano's?

More likely to have been 2 of those four (with only one of the two parking mano's) plus a random 1 in 3 chance of an emergency stop.

Currently you will still need to be prepared for all four of the standard mano's plus ES but you will be asked to do just one plus a move off at an angle from behind a parked car (re-classified by the DSA as a mano' to keep the EU happy) plus a 1:3 chance of an ES plus some Independent Driving in a 35-40 minute test.

What the change was about was to do more driving for one thing and secondly to make the driving on the test more like real life i.e. you don't normally have someone next to you telling you where to go at every turn.

Good luck.

Can anyone recommend an ex police class 1 driving instuctor in Sheffield for my gf

I was taught to drive by one and think it's always better to learn from the best