Text Box: This article has been amended since it was first published in Hertfordshire Business Independent in May 2007 Choosing an Instructor - What you need to know! Making the Right Choice So – how exactly do you choose a driving instructor? Making the right choice is not straightforward! Let’s assume that the most obvious pointer, personal recommendation, is not an option. Research is therefore your only option. When I was considering changing career to become an ADI (DSA approved driving instructor), a little research soon taught me that there was a fine balance between informed decision making and playing the lottery. Unfortunately, choosing an instructor for yourself or nearest and dearest is little different. Three Part Process to Qualification The Law requires that anyone charging for driving instruction is licensed to do so by the Driving Standards Agency. To gain this licence (which MUST be displayed in the windscreen of the car being used for tuition), you start out as a PDI (Potential Driving Instructor). The process is that first you have to take and pass a part 1 Exam (an extended theory test) – and then pass a test of driving ability (that’s the “Part 2”). Then we have to pass a “Part 3” exam which is a (simulated) test of instructional ability, conducted by a DSA Senior Examiner. PDI’s have three chances of taking this test - and if not successful, they will have to wait 2 years before starting the whole process again. Small wonder, then that only 23% of those who start down the ADI route ever end up qualifying! And yes – it IS possible to qualify as an ADI without ever having taught someone to drive! Trainee Licence There is a half way stage. After passing the Part 2 test it IS possible (subject to satisfying some practical training requirements) to gain a Trainee Licence which will be sponsored by the training company. These “TL’s” are valid for a maximum of 6 months and are intended to be used as a ‘teaching aid’ to gain experience. You can recognise a Trainee by the pink triangular badge displayed in the windscreen. How Driving Schools Operate Know what / who you’re buying Whilst there are many large schools of motoring, over 95% of all instructors are self employed individuals licensed to operate under a brand name. When you call them, you’ll probably talk to a sales person who feeds the instructors with work. They will be able to give little information (if anything at all) about first time pass rates! It’s a fact that few instructors even bother to record this vital data. But you can find out by researching the information from whatever he / she publishes in their advertising or website. There are numerous schools of motoring, some of them household brands, which train potential driving instructors. Whilst ‘best practice’ might suggest that anyone going on a Trainee License should have had at least one attempt at part 3, the reality is that some of these major players in the industry don’t! The business model is based on Trainees paying over the odds to rent their cars and brand exposure from all those cars on the road. Thus the first rule: A Market Leading brand doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be getting quality instruction! ADI’s are Graded. How does this affect me? Check tests – What are they? Even though the DSA has the wherewithal to monitor the performance of every ADI, it chooses not to extract the data. Instead, the DSA periodically performs check-tests on instructors and allocates them a grade. These tests are normally done with a Senior Examiner sitting in the back of the car observing a lesson in progress. Grades 1, 2 and 3 are ‘unsatisfactory’ and instructors attracting these grades will have a remedial training programme to bring then back above the line. The vast majority of instructors in the UK are Grade 4 – and thus deemed ‘adequate’ to ply their trade. An instructor graded at 5 or 6 will by definition be good. Road Safety Departments use ADI’s on Speed Awareness and Driver Improvement Schemes. They demand the best and require a minimum Grade 5 before considering employing ADI’s on these schemes. There is a message in this! The corporate driver training market is much more complicated than teaching basic roadcraft and car control processes to learners. Consequently, Grade 5 is normally seen as the entry threshold to further qualifications such as the DSA’s fleet training register. An ADI on the Fleet Register will be check tested with an experienced driver where the ‘lesson’ is, by definition harder to manage as there are more variables. Thus, there are very few Grade 6 Fleet Instructors. Professional Development If you are working in business or education, I’m sure that you have a system to deliver CPD – continuous professional development. Would it surprise you that few ADI’s have done anything to develop themselves to keep up to date since qualifying? That’s a sad - but true - fact. Advanced Qualifications There are four primary organisations that offer ‘Advanced’ tests: the DIA, IAM, BTEC and RoSPA. The RoSPA Diploma is probably the highest civilian qualification for teaching Advanced Driving. Ask yourself if your instructor of choice has taken their art further than the basic ADI qualification. I use some of the Advanced syllabus for learner drivers – because it’s relevant and helps them develop into competent, safe drivers! Taught to Drive – or just pass the L Test? I am often sought out to deliver pass plus courses. Pass Plus is a course taken after the L Test and is designed to develop the novice driver’s experience in the real world. This includes Motorway tuition, night, foul weather driving as well as more work on dual carriageways, rural roads and driving in City’s – in heavy traffic. In an ideal world, these courses should be really challenging. And I make them just that – because people that have learned to drive will already have experienced a wide variety of road and traffic situations on roads that are not on the L test routes. Yes – I teach my clients to drive so that they will be able to encounter traffic situations in an alien environment – examples are given in the next paragraph. Yet, I’m shocked at the lack of experience that young people coming to me have. Often, they have never encountered a busy crossroads (if a Stevenage resident has never been taken out of the town, they won’t have!) Or (if, say, from Letchworth) they have little experience on multi lane / exit roundabouts. Or, they have never turned right across a busy national speed limit dual carriageway! Whilst these road phenomena might not be on L test routes, we all know that we will encounter them at some point and thus I feel it is vital that clients are given the skills to deal with them. That’s the difference between being taught to pass a test being taught to drive. Understanding the Pupil What does your instructor understand about psychology? Understanding an individuals’ learning style and adapting their teaching to suit can bring huge rewards which can help short cut the learning process. In an environment in which the DSA recommends a minimum of 40 hours professional tuition plus 20 hrs private practice, getting it right can have a big effect on the costs of learning to drive! When I started out on my new career as an ADI, I was concerned at the never ending series of advertisements to persuade me to part with my money to get trained. The obvious question being “is the market big enough to sustain us all?” The sage-like answer from my training guru was that “there is always enough work for the good ones”. I thought of this the other day when I was waiting for a client to return form her test. Of the five instructors there, one was moonlighting as a lorry driver, two were averaging 15 -20 hours work a week and the other two were turning work down. How and why can that be? Conclusion I hope you have found this article useful. If you take anything away, please remember that there are some metrics that you can use to evaluate your instructor. And there are lots of questions that you can ask to help you separate the wheat from the chafe. Getting your loved one to gain their licence will cost you around £1000. For that money, I, for one, would want to check out, or even meet, my shortlist of instructors before paying my money. I suggest you do the same! Back to “What I do” Page ...

To Contact Tony Clarke, call:  0800 781 3947

A1 Driver & Rider Training