Calling All Driving Instructors!

rls1973

Hello

not sure if this should be here or in 'up your income'
anyhow....

I'm sure you've all seen , there are loads of ads, on tv, local press etc. for 'train to be a driving instructor with us' etc.

now this is something i've always fancied, right back to when i was taking my own lessons, and now with children it would be ideal to fit round school etc. choose my own hours etc.

so, anyone out there who is, or knows, a driving instructor:

1. are these ads a scam, how much roughly should i be expected to spend on training ?

2. what is it really like as a job, what are people's experiences genuinely?!

3. is there really a real job at the end of the training? or is it better to set up on your own anyway?

i'd love to hear anyones' experience etc.


thanks in advance
x

kitchen_buff

It will cost you to go to one of those schools. You then get a placement when you pass. The hours can be long and bear in mind you need to be there when the client wants you, so picking and choosing might not fit in as well as you think. You will also be self assesed on tax and the insurance is quite high.

rls1973

any good things about it, kitchen buff? lol

but when i had lessons, i had to fit in with my instructors diary! e.g., when it was his 3-week holiday just when i was ready for my test, i just had to wait,lol, (have times changed that much, am i that old, was it that long ago)

davetrousers

Why not contact a reputable driving school and ask them about becoming a driving instructor?

rls1973

davetrousers wrote: »

Why not contact a reputable driving school and ask them about becoming a driving instructor?

well that's just it, i dont know which are reputable and which arent.

also, i think if i contact them direct , they will simply say what they want to say to 'sell' the course, that's why i thought here would be a better place to get some facts first

before contacting them later when i've got more info, mse usually a good place to do that

Donedoingdebt

I don't think the ads are a scam, however the stated expected earnings, in my opinion, are over stated. In order to achieve these sorts of figures, you would need to be working around 30/35 lessons (hours) per week, not forgetting the spaces between lessons which of course, you don't get paid for.
If you end up working for one of the major Driving schools, you're usually taken on on a franchise basis where you will end up paying several hundred £s a week in fees.
If you start up by yourself, then inevitably you'll have to reduce your fees to try & attract clients from the known schools in your area.
In my experience, Driving Instructors are their own worse enemies, all cutting their own fees so low to attract potential clients, that it becomes difficult to make a decent living.
I would estimate that training costs are in the region of £1,500 these days.
It's not a bad job as long as you're calm & VERY patient & are prepared to work a lot of evenings & weekends as that's when the majority of your clients will be available.
It's not all bad. My now Wife of 5 years was once my pupil & I've been paying back her fees many times over!
ADI 1986 to 1994.

Jarvissa

My Dad was a driving instructor up until about 8 years ago... his advice would be DON"T DO IT!!

He now has a bad back and heart problems, and he attributes them both to doing the driving school (bad back from sitting so long in one position in passenger seat, and heart trouble from the stress... which apparently was immense.) He knew many of the other driving instructors on the "circuit" and they seemed to drop like flies (guys as young as 35 having fatal heart attacks)

Of course, I know none of this can be fully substantiated!

But don't believe the inflated earnings these courses promise you. Yes, you probably could earn £30,000 IF you sold ALL your hours... which you won't. Simply, there aren't enough pupils to do that. Also, you have to factor in driving to and from pickups (they don't come to you) so for every 4 hours tuition you sell, you're probably looking at another unpaid hour travelling to and fro.

And of course, there's the overheads: Supremely high insurance premiums, purchase and maintenance of a suitable vehicle (that literally, is put through hell), fuel (ever increasing) and a fee of over £200 (this was 10years ago so probably double/triple now) payable to the DVLA every 4 years just to be allowed to practice as a DI.

If you work for a Driving school (as opposed to setting up your own and being self-employed) you will have to pay a percentage of your earnings (x number of pounds per lesson sold) TO the driving school.

After all this expenditure, you're not left with much at all... certainly not the fortunes these TV ads promise.

Jarvissa

oops, I've been beaten to it by donedoingdebt... I type too slowly!

Donedoingdebt

Jarvissa wrote: »

oops, I've been beaten to it by donedoingdebt... I type too slowly!

You must have been too busy checking your mirror, signalling & manoeuvring to type any quicker!

rls1973

hmmm....well thanks for the honest opinions, it seems like it's good and bad but mostly erring on the side of bad, tbh!

but then i suppose you would say that about most jobs, it it wasn't they would be hobbies not jobs, if that makes sense (i've never yet had a job i liked, i'm a miserable cow)

i have heard the £30k figure mentioned, obviously that's massively overstating and if you worked 24/7....mine would be a part-time venture.

as for the health thing mentioned by jarvissa....crikey! but sitting too long in one position...er, let's all get off the computer shall we:D

lots to think about there then <goes away with tail between legs. dammit, i will have to write the next harry potter style blockbuster instead>

one more question for driving instructors though: when it comes down to it, when all your expenses etc are taken out, roughly what do you think is an hourly rate?


thanks again mse'rs:A

Donedoingdebt

I would very roughly estimate that if you're charging around the £15 to £20 per hour lesson, then you're unlikely to see much more than half of it & then what's left will be subject to your normal tax & NI. Don't forget, fuel is rocketing up at the moment with no sign of slowing down. As I said earlier, this is a rough educated guess based on my experiences in the 90s.