i'd like to be a driving instructor, whats it pay and cost to learn?

melie3

hi all,
this is a job ive had in my mind since i past my test (15 yrs ago). i like the thought of how flexible with young children i could be for me, and as i would only be wanting to do it part time, not reliant on how much i earn per week. ive not researched it at all, dont know how much to outlay, have NO MONEY whatsoever to outlay anyway, but i have a sunday job which i would be still doing. Im not in a good financial position right now, but this job is something i see myself doing when my youngest starts school. does anyone know what it could cost to get going with a company, if id need to have money put by to train, and how much i could earn per week part time??

kindest regards melie

Daz1

Haven't done it myself, but spoke to a colleague who looked into it, did the training and then decided it wasn't for him. I believe you have to pay for your own training. Also, to earn the £30-000 a year they claim, he calculated he would be doing it full time, every weekday, all day. Not sure how much you need to earn, but that was his requirement and he ultimately realised it wasn't all that rosy (by his expectations anyway)

melie3

Daz1 wrote: »

Haven't done it myself, but spoke to a colleague who looked into it, did the training and then decided it wasn't for him. I believe you have to pay for your own training. Also, to earn the £30-000 a year they claim, he calculated he would be doing it full time, every weekday, all day. Not sure how much you need to earn, but that was his requirement and he ultimately realised it wasn't all that rosy (by his expectations anyway)

hi
my BIL worked for BSM for a while, but didnt earn enough money each week, so gave it up. he put me off doing it, but im not the breadwinner in my house so not totally dependant on what i earn, obviously cant do it for nothing, but i doubt id give up my sunday job unless i would earn more. id like to earn maybe £100 p/w, not sure how many hours id have to put in to earn that amount after petrol, car etc been paid though.

mrsfrench

I used to work in one of the driving test booking offices and had a lot of contact with driving instructors. I know that there were some very successful (comfortable) ADIs but the majority did complain that they weren't! When I attended open days at test centres some of the instructors who came along were working for a large chain of driving schools. They were saying that they had to work evenings and weekends just to pay for the car and other fees (usually booking service through the office).

There is more information regarding what is required to become a driving instructor on the site below.

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/drivertrainers/becomingadrivinginstructor/becomingadrivinginstructor.htm


Some training establishments:

http://www.bsm.co.uk/instructor-centre/bsm-instructor-training/how-much-does-it-cost.htm
http://www.theinstructorcollege.co.uk/
http://www.learnerdriver.co.uk/train/index.htm
http://www.theaa.com/drivingschool/howto_become_instructor.html
http://www.drivinginstructorcollege.co.uk/

HTH

Morag

Inactive

Remember, you cannot pick and choose your hours, you have to fall in with your customers needs.

To be honest, it is so competetive, that it is hardly worth thinking about.

blue_haddock

Also out of the 30k a year they say you can earn you have to deduct the cost of the car, fuel, maintenance, insurance, training costs and any fees to the driving school you are part of.

After paying these i really do not think it would be a feasable part time job.

autismmum

it costs 3k to train, or it did, if you buy your own car and add dual controls ( not expensive) you can do it, especially if you are happy to pic up your students at college nd drive then drop home, its amazind how many want this, insurance is high so choose a vehicle thats low like the aygo ( also easy to turn in the road.) im an advanced driver, thats good for impressing clients.
good luck.

richt71

I trained to be a driving instructor with BSM about 10 years ago but found it hard so moved on. It cost me £2.5K to train with BSM and then they take a fairly large chunk of your fees in exchange for a car and getting bookings for you via the local office. They advertise like the AA you can earn £30k a year but knowing someone that drives for BSM now to earn that sort of fee you'll need to be super flexible in terms of days, nights and weekends. On the flipside it can be very rewarding (unless you get someone trying to go from 3rd gear to 1st at 70mph like I had).

RaksP_2

I am sure i read somewhere the government will help with training costs if you are unemployed on a low wage etc.

However there are a lot of instructors about now in most towns so it is not as lucrative as it used to be.

Also if you are going to buy a new car and go independent a lot of car manufacturers offer discounts for driving instructors so thats worth looking into.

jessicamb

I would advise anyone against doing this part time - you would need a minimum of 25 hours to make this business work (and that wont make you rich). 30+ teaching hours (excluding travelling time) is probably the ideal. Its a very competitive industry too so you have to factor in cut price introductory offers and so on.

stephen77

Not sure if you can do this.

But when not doing lessons. Can you set yourself up as a taxi driver or courier. So this way your always making money even if not got many lessons for that day.

Some one i know employs taxi drivers for his courier service. So when he only calls them when he needs them. Could help fill in low learning time.