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So you are thinking of becoming an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor)? It is a worthy and rewarding career ... but may not be as easy as you think. Out of every 100 people who initially apply to be a driving instructor, only about 6 will actually qualify.
If you really enjoy driving and you are a good driver...you have some of the qualities needed to be an instructor. But, more importantly, you have to enjoy teaching. You have to be able to convey information in different ways, tailor your teaching methods to suit different pupils, understand how others learn, and assess other people’s performance. You must have good communication and interpersonal skills. Obviously, you must have a lot of patience. You must know everything there is to know about driving and be able to answer any question you might get asked! Ideally you’d be a calm person, with a sense of humour. A warm and friendly person; someone a nervous pupil will feel at ease with.
To begin with, you must apply to join the ‘Register of approved driving instructors’. You have to provide 2 references. To apply for the register, you must meet the following criteria:
• Have held a full UK or European driving licence for at least four years, and not been disqualified during this period.
• Be a ‘fit and proper’ person. (They will take into account motoring and non-
Ideally you would have no points on your licence, but three may be OK.
Once you have been accepted onto the register, the fun begins! There are three exams to pass successfully in order to qualify to be an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI).
Once you have passed the first exam, which you can attempt as many times as you need, you have a two year period to pass the other two. The other two exams can only be attempted three times. If you fail either exam three times you have to wait two years and then, if you wish, you may take all 3 exams again, starting from the first.
Click HERE to apply to become an ADI online now, or continue reading for more information about the exams, trainee licenses, your work options when you pass, and the cost of training to become an ADI.
ABOUT THE DRIVING INSTRUCTOR EXAMS: ADI PART 1, PART 2, PART 3
There are three exams you must pass in order to become a driving instructor.
ADI PART 1
The first is an advanced theory and hazard-
ADI PART 2
The second exam is an advanced driving test. You must show you can drive to a very
high standard. You are expected to perform a ‘brisk, business-
You must pass all parts of the part 2 test at the same time. You can take this test a maximum of three times in any two year period, after having passed the theory exam in that same period. About 44% of people who take the part 2 test pass.
ADI PART 3
The third exam is a test of your instructional ability. The examiner will test this
by role-
The exercises are taken from the following:
~ Controls. Safety precautions & explanation of the controls.
~ Moving off and stopping.
~ Approaching junctions and turning corners.
~ Emerging and dealing with road junctions.
~ Dealing with crossroads.
~ Pedestrian crossings and use of signals.
~ Judgment of speed, making progress, road positioning, hesitancy.
~ Overtaking, meeting and crossing the path of others, adequate clearance, anticipation.
~ Emergency stop and the use of mirrors.
~ Reversing around a corner.
~ Reverse park.
~ Turn in the road.
You must be able to give detailed and clear briefings on all of these subjects at
the beginning of the lesson, and, more importantly, be able to teach them to the
‘pupil’ depending on what their experience is and what sort of personality they have.
At first a beginner ‘pupil’ might need a demonstration and a full talk-
For rules for the examiners conducting the Part 2 and Part 3 tests, CLICK HERE
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ABOUT TRAINEE LICENSES
Once you have passed your Part 2, you can if you wish apply for a PDI (potential driving instructor) trainee licence. They are pink in colour. You must be sponsored by an ADI to do this (there must be 1 ADI in the driving school who sponsor you for every PDI they sponsor), and it will mean you can then instruct learners, and gain experience for your Part 3 exam. You can also be paid for teaching, (you must display your pink badge while teaching), but a trainee licence only lasts six months and usually only one will be granted in a two year qualifying period. If you fail three attempts at part 3 while the licence is still valid, it will expire and may not be used to teach. If you choose to apply for a trainee licence, there are conditions:
• You may only instruct pupils who belong to the school who have sponsored you
• You must not advertise yourself as a qualified instructor
And most importantly:
• You must receive 40 hours practical training by an ADI. It is your responsibility to ensure you receive training in all of the areas of the subject matter.
If you do not apply for a trainee licence, you do not need to receive a set number of hours of tuition. This means you could take the Part 3 test with no training if you wanted, although this is certainly not recommended!
The truth is the exams will require a lot of hard work, but they are passable if you receive the correct training. Trainee licenses can help.
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SHOULD YOU JOIN A DRIVING FRANCHISE OR WORK FOR YOURSELF?
Once you have passed your three exams and are on the register of approved driving instructors, you can look forward to a rewarding career. You will be your own boss, you can work for yourself, and decide on your own hours. You have several options:
If you were sponsored by a driving school on a trainee licence, you may wish to continue working for them, or, you can work for yourself. There are many adverts at the moment promising a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, they fail to tell the whole story.
Some of the large driving schools at the moment charge around £340 per week franchise fees. You will sign a contract in which you must pay this amount weekly to them. In return you get hire of the car, servicing (in some cases), insurance (in some cases) and use of the company name. They usually supply things like stationary. You also of course benefit from their advertising, which could be TV/Radio/Yellow Pages. They do not usually guarantee you pupils. If they do supply you with pupils, they usually charge you a pupil generation fee (this could be £15/£20 per pupil). This, together with your petrol costs, may mean you have to work a lot of hours to make a profit. You really need to generate all the pupils you can yourself and not rely on the company to do this.
Remember: a good driving instructor never needs to advertise, they will, literally, have people queuing at their door, from word of mouth!
Another option is a franchise deal where you supply your own car/servicing/insurance etc, and the franchise fee just pays for use of the company’s advertising and name. They usually supply roof signs for the car. They may also charge pupil generation fees. These franchise fees will be a lot lower than ones where you hire a car through the school. It would depend on where you live etc, but you’re looking at about £70 a week for an established company with good advertising, (plus pupil generation fees of around £18 per pupil).
Another option is to set up on your own and work for yourself. This means it could be hard at first while you start up your advertising and word of mouth spreads. You will need to supply your own car, have dual controls fitted if you wish, have your own insurance, pay for your servicing costs, do your own advertising, supply your own stationary.. basically fund and set up everything yourself!
Different people go for different options depending on their circumstances and finances, so it is up to you to research well and look carefully at all the options. Always read the small print on a franchise agreement!
Some franchise schools supply you with the accounting/book-keeping records, but others
don’t. You will be self-employed so you must understand how to do your own accounts
for the tax-man.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF MY FRANCHISE!
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COST OF ADI TRAINING
There are many horror stories of people who pay a small fortune up-
• Do you want to be tied into staying with a company for a long period of time, even if you end
up being unhappy with their tuition?
• Do the company give more in-
• Do they give you one to one in car tuition, or is there more than one trainee in the car?
• How much are their fees, and do you pay for it all up-
A lot of companies charge you a set amount for tuition for each individual exam, or a set amount for training for all exams.
DETAILS OF MY INSTRUCTOR TRAINING
I offer driving instructor training in and around Bournemouth, Ringwood & Christchurch.
For PART 1 I do not charge. When you apply to be accepted onto the register of approved
driving instructors, they send you a theory question bank. This has all the questions
and answers in it. This, along with ‘The Highway Code’, ‘Driving the Essential Skills’
book, a Hazard Perception Test CD-rom, and any other learning aids you may find find
useful, should be enough for you to pass successfully. Of course, if you need any
help along the way, I would be happy to assist. Do avoid learning by ‘rote’, (simply
trying to remember all the answers from the question bank without understanding why).
You need to understand the information in the theory test for Parts 2 and 3, and
you will come unstuck if you don’t learn it properly at this stage. How can you ‘teach’
something that you don’t fully understand?
For PART 2 I charge £25 per hour, pay as you go. You will not be tied into any lengthy
contracts or have to pay for a certain amount of lessons up-front. You can do one
hour, one and a half, or two hour lessons, it’s up to you! Some of the lessons can
be carried out in Southampton as that is where the test takes place. If you are taking
Part 2 in your car, the lessons would be best taken in your car. If you start studying
for Part 3 at this time you will find the knowledge will greatly assist you with
your Part 2. You need to know the reasoning behind the rules of the road, as well
as having good hazard perception and forward planning skills.
For PART 3 I charge just £30 per hour. Some of the studying for the briefings can
be done by yourself at home free of charge! I can advise you of the best books and
study aids that you can purchase to help you. I will give you in-car lessons (to
be done in my car), at £30 per hour. You will learn to put the briefings into practice,
teach each lesson to different pupils successfully, and of course practice and get
used to the most important part of being an instructor - the core competencies. You
can practice and learn how to recognise driving faults, analyse why the fault happened,
and prevent it from happening again. I do not tie you into any contract or minimum
amount of lessons, or charge you up-front fees. It is just a simple hourly charge
and that is it!
*** I now offer driving instructor franchises. For details of my driving school franchise package, click here ***
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JUMP TO:
JOINING THE ADI REGISTER
ABOUT THE ADI QUALIFYING EXAMS PART 1, 2 & 3
ABOUT TRAINEE LICENSES
SHOULD YOU JOIN A DRIVING FRANCHISE OR WORK FOR YOURSELF?
COST OF ADI TRAINING
DETAILS OF MY INSTRUCTOR TRAINING
DETAILS OF MY FRANCHISE
ADI exams ~ ADI tuition ~ PDI tuition ~ Learn to be a driving instructor Bournemouth ~ Instructor training in Bournemouth, Ringwood & Christchurch
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