Introduction

Forget the Radio and TV advertisements.  Forget the ads in the Newspapers. Remember the old saying "far of fields look green".  For those who are unfamiliar with this saying it basically means other peoples jobs always look appealing, well paid and easy.

FIRST A CHECK LIST:

If you don't like people, don't read on.

If you can't communicate well with others, don't read on.

If you have no patience, don't read on.

If you want set hours, don't read on.

If you want to earn lots of money, don't read on.

If you think it's EASY to teach people, don't read on.

HOWEVER:

If you are a "People Person", read on.

If you are able to teach and instruct others NOT just tell them what to do, read on.

If you believe you could remain calm even after a pupil has tried to KILL you, read on.

If you are prepared to work 6/7 days per week, evenings and during holiday periods, read on.

If you are willing to accept weeks with little or no wages, read on.

If you are keen to take on a huge challenge, definitely read on.

Driving Instructing can be a very rewarding occupation however it can also be a lonely and stressful one.  When you qualify you may chose to work as a sole instructor, you will be responsible for keeping your own diary,marketing, advertising, maintaining your own car including fuel & insurance etc, paying national insurance, paying income tax, paying a personal pension and you will have no holiday or sickness wages.  There is no guarantee you will attract enough pupils  to earn  a decent wage, you will be competing with existing driving schools and instructors in your area many of whom have been trading for years with a strong client base. If you have a car break down or accident you will have to deal with the situation and lost business.

Many enter the profession believing that they will be able to work the hours that suit them, unfortunately as a self employed person you must work the hours (usually unsocial ) that suit your pupils. You will also have to travel to pupils as they will not be 'around your corner ' or within a mile or two from your home.

Some qualified instructors chose to work with Driving Schools who can provide fully maintained cars, marketing, advertising but also support when breakdowns or accidents happen.  Of course these services come at a price usually known as as franchise fee.

One other benefit that you may gain if working with a Driving School is that while still self employed you have colleagues with whom to associate and discuss problems etc.

A Driving Instructor needs to be able to keep a diary, be punctual for appointments, well groomed, professional, a good communicator, a good listener, understanding and patient.  However as a new business owner there are very real risks, challenges and problems associated with the profession; such as pupils and instructors becoming overly familiar with each other, violent abusive unstable customers, nervous or elderly or disabled pupils, others who suddenly stop lessons for no apparent reasons, pupils who persistently cancel lessons with little or no notice and others who fail to pay!  All this and dealing with other impatient, dangerous and aggressive road users during driving  lessons.

If you have been used to a set wage at the end of the week or month and a structured system for paying your bills you will have to have a major rethink.  As a self employed person you have NO  GUARANTEE what you will earn in any day, week , month or year.  Many are attracted to the profession because they believe advertisements that suggest they will earn £30,000 per year.  Remember the fee you charge per lesson is not what you earn, from this figure you must deduct car repayments, fuel, car servicing including tyres, road tax, advertising, national insurance, income tax etc and possible lesson cancellations which could cost you £100 or more per week.  Your wage will therefore depend  on how many customers you can attract and how regular they are with their lessons.  Sometimes you will have good weeks other times very bad weeks so you can never rely on having a set wage at the end of each week or month.

If you have read this far you must be keen!

Becoming an ADI.

Anyone who charges for driving lessons must be a trainee (PDI) or registered ADI. You must have held a full category B license for 4 of the last 6 years. You must also be a fit and proper person to have your name entered in the register. This relates to convictions not spent under the 'rehabilitation of offenders act'. For further advice or clarification, you can contact the ADI section of the Driver Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Belfast. To become a fully qualified ADI you must pass the three qualifying exams. These exams must be passed within 2 years of first starting.  Information on each can be found by going to the services page with the relevant links for Parts I, II, & III.

The ADI exams are not easy.  For part I the pass rate in Northern Ireland is about 33%.  Part II is a little lower and part III is lower again at about 25%.

How much training will I require?

How long is a piece of string?  This will become your standard answer to pupils when they ask the very same question.

Everyone is different so you will need whatever training necessary to bring you to the high standard required to pass each of the three exams.

We offer a half day induction course where you will be able to ask questions, get additional information and meet other interested persons.  This will allow you to decide if this profession is really for you.  You will have the opportunity to then sign up for training and be allocated a MENTOR who will assist you with any problems during your part I study and who will be your trainer for the part II exam.

Part I, the good or bad news is that the exam can be studied for at home.  It comprises of 100 questions and a hazard perception test.

There is no necessity for classroom training as this is an unnecessary expense, it is however offered by some trainers for no good reason.

Part II, is very much how long is a piece of string?

Everyone thinks they are a good driver but a trainee has to be better than good, they must be excellent.   Most trainees will need between 10-20 hours to include their initial drive, assessment, fault analysis, instruction, training, demonstration as appropriate.  Additional drive with assessment etc.  Possibly another drive/s, assessment etc.  Familiarization with part II test routes.  Mock test.

A suitable car can be supplied in necessary for training and or the test.  It is preferable that trainees use their own car so they are familiar with it's handling and controls.

Part III, will take the most training in terms of hours.  It will include all aspects of teaching someone how to drive (not just PST training).

You will be taught how to teach lesson plans to learner drivers and get real experience watching qualified instructors teaching real pupils during actual lessons.   Many trainers cannot offer this facility as they have no learner pupils and none offer training experience with automatic and specially adapted cars for disabled pupils.

The Part III test lasts one hour with two half hour phases. There are 10 preset tests, each (PST) therefore lasts one hour.  To simply cover each test twice with no training would take 20 hours.  To have any chance passing this final exam you will need between 40/60 hours training.  Anything less will probably result in failure.

Many trainees try to cut corners with this training believing that as they have passed the other two exams that this final one will be easy.  They do not want to spend the necessary money but would rather try to pass with the minimum amount of effort.  The very low pass rate for this exam nationally proves that this course of action does not work and is false economy.

WARNING:

DO NOT HAND OVER LARGE SUMS OF MONEY FOR TRAINING.

BEWARE OF BARGAIN TRAINING COURSES.

If having read these comments you are still interested in training please go to our EXAM INFORMATION & SERVICES page.