Driving Instructors !

neral1

Hi
I had been to the presentation for becoming Driving Instructor. RED instructor college. Is there anyone who has had experience as to what they are claiming?
Please shed your opinions or share the experience.

Thanks

stuartw2009

Hi,

I qualified as an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) a couple of years ago but no longer do it.

First of all have a real think about what made you decide you wanted to become an ADI? Was it you've got a background in teaching? You want to teach people a life skill and do your bit to improve standards of driving? You've seen the TV adverts saying you can earn £30,000 a year working the hours you want and a new fully maintained car?

Many of the people who train have been made redundant and got a few thousand pounds redundancy money sitting around and this seems the perfect opportunity. Some see glossy TV and newspaper adverts saying 'earn £600 a week' (£30,000 a year) and think that sounds good. You said you've been to the sales talk (presentation) and they've probably told you about all the positives, flexible hours, work when you want, new car etc, if you're unlucky enough not to pass the tests they'll give you extra training for free.

The training is about £3500 upfront which once you've paid you've got no chance of getting back, whether you pass, fail or decide that it's not for you after a couple of weeks. (companies will tell you people don't pay it not to pass but thousands give up or don't pass). You can take out career development loans which you pay back in a couple of years time once you're earning (assuming you pass).

Some companies say there is a huge demand for driving lessons and it's virtually recession proof. The Driving Standards Agency are carrying out less tests as people are not taking lessons. There are tens of thousands of people working as ADIs and PDIs (trainee instructors) all fighting for work and the number has been increasing for years. Many are so desperate for work they charge something like £9.99 a lesson with no chance of making a profit and so no living (as you're self employed and running a business, usually responsible yourself for marketing, selling, admin, business planning oh and trying to teach!).

Thousands start training to be an ADI every year and many loose thousands of pounds. Yes you can work when you want, but many pupils are students who want lessons in the evenings, weekends etc. It can often be difficult to turn them down even if you've got other commitments as you need the money. Many instructors will tell you it takes a good 2-3 years to be working a regular 30 hours of lessons a week (don't forget travelling time between lessons, perhaps up to 30-40 minutes each so you could easily be out the house 8am-9pm) and it's rare everyone call fit their lessons 1 after the other during the day, ie 9-11am, 11.30-1.30pm, 2-4pm, you often have spare hours between lessons as it's the only time people can do them.

Don't forget you have to pay for fuel and the franchise fee (sometimes £250-£350 a week which you have to pay even if you have very few pupils).

If it's something you really want to do, look for independant trainers of driving instructors who are on the ORDIT register and offer training on a pay as you go basis, not pay all up-front. That way if it doesn't work out you probably won't loose thousands of pounds. If companies tell you they're the biggest trainer of ADIs in the country take it with a pinch of salt it means nothing. They may have the biggest advertising budget but that's all. About 1 in 20 people who start part 1 training (which you can do on your own) actually qualify. Of those who do, about 75% give up a year after qualifying.

If I had my time again, I'd save the £7,000 or so that I spent trying to realise 'the dream'. Some do make it very successfully others like myself give up and go and get a job where I know how much money I'll get paid at the end of the month.

If I can help further, please just ask.

Pssst

Red driving school were featured o the rado a few weeks back ISTR. A few punters who signed up with them to train as ADIs said it was all fantasy and they had to put lots of hours in and struggled to make a decent living.

mrs.maverick

In that way, it's similar to becoming a DEA (Domestic Energy Advisor) - lots of people doing the training, not many jobs when you've qualified!:mad:

Bean_Counter

My sister was a driving instructor full time, mostly six days per week. I did her tax returns so I knew what she was earning. This would be about £13,000 per annum after expenses but before tax.

toasterman

My sister does it (not via Red). Logistically, it's almost impossible to earn the income they suggest in TV adverts.
Take the £600 a week one.
If lessons are £20 per hour, that's 30 hours per week.
It doesn't sound like a lot, but you'll undoubtedly end up with hours without lessons, time spent traveling in between.

Plus the expense of keeping a car in what has to be pristine condition at all times, insurance, fuel, etc, and the cost of training in the first place.

As has been mentioned it's also a bit over saturated.

ShimSham

I keep seeing the ads more frequently, and always felt suspicious about them, it's good to know my fears weren't unfounded.

stuartw2009

There are ads everywhere for them, they need people to sign up to train as that's how they make their money and most of the people who do sign up either don't last, don't pass or give up after a year of teaching.

They say there's a shortage of instructors, not true, there may be a shortage of good instructors though.

Don't touch with a barge pole!