Choosing A Driving School |
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Tim HillerbyMorgan
16 September 2009
Learning to drive has become something of a rite of passage in this country.
Your driving licence is almost a badge of freedom from your parents.
It is true that learning to drive is one of the first projects that you will complete as an adult. You have to apply for a provisional licence, find the money and find a driving school.
This article looks at finding a driving school. We all want great lessons at a good price when we learn to drive. We also need an driving instructor that we can trust to get us through our driving test. How do you find a driving school that offers great driving lessons at a great price?
You could try asking friends and family who taught them to drive. This does work - if your cousin liked the instructor, you might like the instructor. It might not work. I started with the same instructor who taught my elder brothers. They didn't mind being shouted at and sworn at. I wasted nearly a year of lesson, before I changed to an instructor who treated me as a learner.
Recommendations work, but be prepared to change your instructor.
You could try the internet and adverts in the local paper.
Make a list of instructors and call them on the phone. At this stage, I just want you to ask their price per hour. Sort this list by prices. You now have a list of driving instructors and their prices.
Lets reduce that down to likely candidates. Cross off the cheapest three or four. Can they really make a living at that rate? Cross out anyone who gave you a special offer price. What is the price after the offer ends? Ignore the most expensive - nobody's that good. That should leave you with the mid-price instructors. These are the ones that are good enough to make a living teaching people to drive and not so good that they are charging a fortune.
That raises an important question. How do I know if they are any good? Well, here are a few questions to ask and our answers to them.
1. Are you a fully qualified ADI? An instructor must be on the DSA register of driving instructors to teach. There are two levels on this list. PDI or trainee, and ADI. PDI's can teach you to drive - but still have to pass their final examination. There is nothing wrong with being taught by a PDI if you can trust the driving school.
2. What grade are you? Instructors are regularly inspected by the DSA. A specially trained examiner will watch an instructor teach a driving lesson every couple of years. Grades 1, 2 and 3 are considered to be in need of retraining. Look for grades 4, 5 or 6.
3. What is your approximate pass rate? This tells you how successful that instructor is. The national average pass rate floats between 40 and 45 %. You can find the pass rate for your test centre online. Try to get an instructor with a pass rate higher than your local test centre. Some instructors will refuse to discuss their pass rate. They don't have to tell you. Some will claim a rate higher than 70% - doubt these claims
4. Did I like the instructor when I spoke to them?