Driving Instructor

Some Advice when searching for a Driving Instructor …. Remember that often paying less will get you less

Here are the top ten qualities your Driving Instructor should demonstrate to ensure that your Driving Lessons are a success.

  1. Patience: – It is imperative that your Driving Instructor is patient with you, you will need somebody that can put up with the mistakes that you will inevitably make whilst learning to drive.
  2. Reliability: – Your Driving Instructor is not your friend. You should expect your Driving Instructor to arrive on time, in a suitable vehicle and in a reasonable frame of mind for your Driving Lesson.
  3. Punctuality: – Very Important, you want a full Driving Lesson. It is very frustrating if your Driving Instructor constantly arrives late for your Driving Lessons.
  4. Honesty: – You will in some cases pay in advance for your Driving Lessons. You must be able to trust your Driving Instructor to deliver those Driving Lessons once you have paid for them.
  5. Opinionated: – Defined in the dictionary as being, ‘obstinate in your opinions’. This is clearly a positive character type for an approved Driving Instructor. There would be no value having a Driving Instructor who wavered in their opinion and at the end of your Driving Lesson when you are being debriefed by your Driving Instructor you will need open and honest feedback as to what you stronger Driving skills and the worst Driving faults are. Your Driving Lessons are not a democracy. You are here to learn to drive.
  6. Diplomacy: – Your Driving Instructor has to offer a good balance; if they keep upsetting you during the course of your Driving Lesson you will feel unhappy and frustrated. You need positive reinforcement and encouragement throughout you course of Driving Lessons with them.
  7. Studiousness: – A good Driving Instructor is always on the lookout for ways to improve their performance. Including; better maybe, or different ways to explain things to you through to totally new approaches to age old problems. This is an evolving subject area where you and your Driving Instructor will learn some things together.
  8. Restraint: – Your Driving Instructor will need to demonstrate this. You are young and clever and your Driving Instructor knows nothing, you know more than he or she. Your Driving Instructors opinions on things other than your Driving Lessons and you learning to Drive, do not matter
  9. Self control: – Your Driving Instructor has dual controls, they should not keep their feet twitching above them all the time this will unsettle you and make you feel that you are having wasted Driving Lesson. Caution is good but they should not overdo it.
  10. Discipline: – Your Driving Instructor should demonstrate a level of personal discipline in making certain that the car and themselves are always ready for your Driving Lessons. They should show professional discipline by making sure that they always give you the best quality Driving Instruction they can give you even when they don’t feel like it no matter how good the reason.

When asking any Driving School for their prices, please remember to also ask the following questions:

  • How reliable is the Driving Instructor? Will he or she turn up on time every time?
  • What is the Pass Rate of the Driving instructor?
  • Is their licence current and valid? And can they produce it for you to see?
  • All fully qualified DSA registered instructors are periodically required to renew their registration with the DSA. The expiry date is clearly shown on their licence. There are many people out there instructing illegally…. please make sure you check!
  • Will you be fully insured whilst driving?
  • Is the Driving Instructor fully insured to allow Provisional Driving Licence holders to drive their car? Can he/she produce an insurance certificate to prove this?
  • If your Driving School Car breaks down what arrangements are there in place to ensure your Driving Lessons or Driving Test are not affected?
  • Do they piggy back? – Some Driving Instructors use part of a pupil’s Driving Lesson to collect their next pupil.  - Do you really want to be a taxi driver?
  • How much time will you spend parked up listening to your instructor talk (or watching him/her smoke)?
  • Can the instructor produce for you confirmation that he/she has had a Criminal Records Bureau check carried out on them? – This is for your protection. The DSA insist that all instructors are subject to a CRB check in order to verify their suitability to being a driving instructor.