Training to be a Driving Instructor – Part 1
The pitfalls and how to avoid them – “beware the cost of cheap”!
Have you ever done an internet search about training to become a driving instructor? I have done an internet search today. Page one of Google comes up with statements like these”
“Join our award-winning team and we’ll provide our full driving instructor training course for just £2,330 with a 100% refund on these training costs when you become a Driving Instructor with us.”
“If you are ready to start straight away, and you wish to pay in full, you can save a further £200 – paying just £1299.”
“At just £1,499 (with payment options available) this training makes becoming an instructor more affordable and accessible than ever before.”
“Interested in becoming a driving instructor? Launch your new career with XXXXXXXXX Driving School, and become a DVSA-qualified instructor for only £1495.”
“Training courses can range from £1000 up to as high as £4000 with some of the larger, national driving schools – it all depends on who you train with.”
All of these statements are from national training companies with huge advertising budgets so it is no wonder they populate the top of page one of any search engine. It is such a minefield and, sadly, the situation is littered with people who have embarked on training courses and found, at no small cost to themselves, that what was being promised was nothing like what they experienced in reality.
We recently had someone come to us for help after being lured by a national company offering what seemed like a really good deal – plus a car. It did not take long before this trainee came to realise that what was being offered fell well short of what was expected and promised. Training was 2:1 so the sessions were shared with another person and it transpired that the other person’s needs were very different and so our trainee felt very frustrated. Since transferring to us this person received individual training and has gone on to successfully pass all the qualifying tests and is now happily working as one of our fully qualified instructors – and with a very full diary!
So how can these big national companies offer training at such low rates? I will go into this in more detail later in this article and explain how their claims often do not stand up to scrutiny.
I will explain how finding a good, reputable local trainer can often be a much better way to becoming a driving instructor
How do I choose my trainer?
1:1 in-car instructor training
I have to admit at this point that my path into the profession was with a national company! I did my research of the ones that appeared at the top of the internet search but I discounted local trainers. At the time (2006) I thought national must surely be best. I did actually get very lucky with the company I trained with – and it was none of those whose claims I have included at the start of this article. I stayed with them for 7 years and became their trainer for this area (Devon and Cornwall).
The more experience I got and the more Continuous Professional Development (CPD) I did, the more I came to realise that there was a large number of extremely professional and reputable local trainers. I believe I got lucky – the company I worked with was (and still is) is a family concern and, even though it works across the UK, it still kept a ‘family feel’ to it. Sadly the majority of the very large companies embark on what I describe as ‘conveyor belt training’. There is nothing personal about them and they know that more people will be coming along who are lured by the seemingly low cost of the training. So they have little interest in you personally.
How much should training cost?
To qualify as a driving instructor is likely to involve at least 60-70 hours training. How can any company offer training for that many hours and only charge around £1500?! This would mean an income of a little over £20 per hour – in Exeter we are charging £50 an hour for driving lessons! The maths of these large training companies just makes no sense syrely there must be a catch? Yes there always is!
A lot of companies leave you to get on with the Part 1 (theory test) by yourself. Similarly, Part 2 (driving test) can often involve little in-car training. (at Training Wheelz we integrate all three parts so you would be doing aspects of Part 2 and Part 3 right from the start of your training.)
Once you pass the first two parts and have done the minimum 40 hours Part 3 training you can then apply for a trainee licence which allows you to teach pupils and get paid for this. And this is where the big companies reel in their profits! They will provide you with a liveried car which will probably cost you over £300 a week! So you will be paying them well over £1000 each month before any of the other expenses – fuel, insurance, etc. And you are quite likely to be tied into a minimum 12 month contract. So now, having been lured in by the ‘cheap’ training costs you are now paying this company well over £12000! Does it still sound cheap?
So those companies who might even be offering you back the cost of your training – which must sound so generous initially – are still making plenty of money from you.
You need to bear in mind also that the trainee licence is not intended as a method to earn a living. It is very much there to gain experience so that you can pass the Part 3 test first time hopefully. Too many trainees see it as a money making exercise and so do not focus on what is needed to be successful in the test.
Realistically you should be looking at investing an absolute minimum of £3000 for your training. Anything less is likely to come at a much higher cost later on.
How do I choose my trainer?
The simple answer is ‘very carefully’. Do your research. Don’t discount local trainers – these people are far more likely to have your best interests at heart. Look at their reviews, ask to speak to their trainees and anyone who is now working with them. We at Training Wheelz have nothing to hide and we would gladly put you in touch with any of ours.
What is an ORDIT trainer?
You may have read about trainers claiming to be on the ORDIT register. ORDIT stands for the Official Register of Diving Instructor Trainers. It is administered by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and is a voluntary register. Anyone on the register has to be regularly assessed by a senior DVSA examiner so it should be an indication of high quality training. As it is a voluntary register, there are also many good trainers who have decided, for their own reasons, not to join it. Both myself and Christie, as the Training Wheelz trainers, have decided that we wish to be on this register. We believe this gives us added credibility when it comes to offering training.
I will go into some of these issues in further blog posts very soon but if any of this has sparked your interest and you think you might like to train and become a driving instructor then why not get in touch and have an informal chat.