Many people ask how to find a good driving instructor, but the answer isn’t as simple as you may think.
I’m going to share my experience of having met over 1,000 pupils who have told me all sorts of things about various driving schools and instructors.
After reading this page, you’ll be better placed to find a good driving instructor and avoid the many bad ones. Learn more about those on Signs of a bad driving instructor.
How To Find A Good Driving Instructor
Here we go with the best tips to find the best instructor for you.
Remember, there is no such thing as “the best instructor” because everyone has different requirements. Some pupils find it funny if an instructor swears and shouts, but other would be put off by that.
These tips will help you find a good instructor in general, but we’ll comeback to the point I just made a bit later.
The main point from each section is written in bold at the end of each section.
1. Choose a driving instructor, not a driving school
Can you see the difference?
Some people just go to a driving school thinking that they must only take on the best instructors, or they’d at least have to maintain high standards to work there. That isn’t how it works at all, and you might be surprised when you learn what really happens.
Driving schools make money by charging each of their instructors a weekly fee. They make nothing from pupils, so their aim is to take on as many driving instructors as possible.
Driving schools often just take on as many instructors as they can because they want to make more money. I’ve worked at big schools, and I’ve been in the offices with they have sales targets on the walls.
Many people are totally unaware of this and just blindly put their faith in the thinking that “It’s a big school, so they must have the best instructors.”
Please, stop thinking like that, because it’s nonsense.
This works on a subconscious belief that bigger is better because it’s safer. That beilef is an old safety mechanism from a time when humans would group together to avoid being hunted. It is not to help you find the best driving instructor!
The best driving instructors usually won’t work at a school because they don’t need to.
Hand pick an instructor – don’t just go to a driving school.
2. Check their social media
Anyone can use social media nowadays, and I’d be suspicious of driving instructors who don’t, because what are they hiding?
The old excuses of “I can’t use computers” and “I’m not online” don’t cut it anymore because it’s never been easier.
I’m not saying they have to be on every platform, have thousands of followers, or be making videos in 4K HDR with surround sound. It’s the fact they’ve made the effort to put something out there that matters.
There’s no better way of finding out how good you are than putting yourself online and letting the world watch you working. I started my YouTube channel in 2008, and I became all the better for it.
Isn’t it nice to see the exact instructor you’ll be meeting before…meeting? You can tell a lot about someone’s personality, temperament and much more by watching them work.
There are some great instructors who aren’t using social media, but I very much recommend finding someone who isn’t afraid to put themselves out there.
Look for a driving instructor who is active on social media.
Make sure they are not boasting about having crashes, knocking over cyclists, or exaggerating everything to get views. Sadly, many poor instructor resort to desperate measures like these to get attention.
3. Checking your licence
Driving instructors must check your provisional driving licence before letting you drive because without doing so, you may be driving illegally and might not be insured.
The sheer number of instructors that don’t run this simple check is incredible. I’ve had pupils who have been driving for months at other schools with no licence or insurance!
You can read more about this on my page Check a driving licence.
Make sure they check your driving licence.
4. Teaching by the book
Driving instructors must teach to the standards laid down in the book Driving: the essential skills and other publications such as The Highway Code.
Many teach by the Myway code instead: their own, made-up methods and ideas.
Guess what? The Myway code isn’t what driving test examiners are looking for! Nor is it likely to keep you safe after passing, and out of trouble with the law.
Examples of the Myway code are things like “You only have to check your mirrors in a driving test. Don’t bother after you’ve passed.” and “You only have to stick to speed limits if you’re on a road with speed cameras”. Those are things I have actually heard said in driving lessons.
I recommend anyone learning to drive reads Driving: the essential skills. Ask your instructor questions about that book to test their knowledge. You can also use it to check what they teach in lessons.
Make sure they’re teaching by the book.
5. Check they are a driving instructor!
People do work as driving instructors without holding the relevant qualifications.
Anyone taking money for driving tuition must, by law, pass three strict exams to become a driving instructor, and display a badge issued by the DVSA whenever they’re receiving payment for tuition. It will be pink/red for a PDI (Potential Driving Instructor) who has yet to pass all of their exams, and green for an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) who is fully qualified.
The picture above shows what a driving instructor’s badge looks like. By law, instructors must display it in the car windscreen whenever they are giving paid tuition. It’s illegal to teach for money without one of these, and you can go to prison for it, because it puts everyone at risk.
Ask to see their PDI or ADI badge.
That’s how to find a good driving instructor
Follow the points above, and you will have abetter chance of finding a good driving instructor.
Learn more about the signs of a bad driving instructor, or learn some driving school secrets.