thinking about becoming a driving instructor

hi there i'm thinking about becoming a Driving Instructor, went along to a meeting with the Instructor college, and they gave me the big sell which went on for 90 minutes. said i'd have to pay £3445 for the course, and nearly £200 for the tests. this seems a little steep and i've seen on another forum that someone wasnt happy with the service they were receiving from these people. just wondered if anyone else had any advice as price is a little steep and dont really have it to hand.

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  • Bean_Counter
    Bean_Counter Posts: 1,496
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    I would add to be wary about how much money they say that you can make as a driving instructor. A member of my family is one, and her income is a lot less than what she was led to believe at the outset.

    The major problem is of course that you only get paid for the hours you work. If you have only four lessons a day, then you are paid only four hours. Even that may well be net of the hefty fees if you with BSM or the like. Again you are not paid of you have a day off of course.

    It may seem obvious, but it is worth checking where the clients are going to come from.
    Today is the first day of the rest of your life
  • filigree_2
    filigree_2 Posts: 1,025 Forumite
    A friend of mine trained as an instructor part-time alongside his full-time job, then quit to work as a full-time instructor.

    His working hours were horrendous. He was with the AA school and the first 20 hours of teaching time each week went towards paying his concession fees. The next 5 hours went on expenses like petrol. Effectively you have to work 25 hours a week before you get a penny to keep for yourself. He had to work a seven day week, often early mornings and late evenings to accommodate learners who worked during the day. If you work independently you have to budget for advertising and spend time marketing yourself.

    The problem is that licences aren't limited, unlike say black cabs. Anyone who passes the course can set themself up in business and in some areas the market is already saturated and you'd struggle to find enough customers to make a living.

    I thought my friend was mad to take this on, but he kept it up because he enjoyed teaching, and enjoyed being self-employed. Each to their own I suppose.

    Sorry to sound too gloomy but you need to think about these things before parting with thousands of pounds on training courses. The training colleges are a private enterprise and exist to make money, and they don't have any incentive to be honest about your job prospects.
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