One of the biggest decisions you will have to make when learning to drive is to find the right driving instructor for you. Driving instructors are responsible for your safety when learning to drive and for teaching you how to be a safe driver at all times. This is a big responsibility, and choosing a driving instructor who can work with you to teach you how to drive safely is vital.
So what do you need to know when choosing the right driving instructor?
-
Table of Contents
Ask Peers
The best way to find a good reliable driving instructor is to ask around others who have passed their driving test. Everyone is different and responds to different teaching methods, so getting anecdotal feedback about how others found their own driving instructors and what they did and didn’t like about them can help you cut through the noise and abundance of driving instructors in your area.
-
Check Qualifications
While you are perfectly fine to learn to drive with family and friends who meet the criteria – persons over the age of 21 who have held a full EU or UK driving licence for over 3 years – you cannot pay anyone except a qualified driving instructor for driving lessons.
You can check the government register to see if an instructor is legitimate: only qualified professionals who have passed the relevant exams will appear here. You can also read our guide on how to check if your instructor is DVSA-approved. During all lessons, your instructor must also clearly display their driving instructor’s licence on the windscreen. This can be green or pink, but it must be current.
-
Ask questions
When looking around for driving instructors, it is important to ask a few questions about their teaching style and how they approach different obstacles learner drivers face. They need to be flexible and adaptable to maximise the potential of a diverse client-base. Ask about their experience and their pass rate, along with the typical time it takes their learners to pass.
-
Ask About The Car
How old is the car? How big/small is the car? How does it perform on faster roads? What is the plan in the event of breakdowns Is it similar to a car you have been driving before?
-
Ask About Practicalities
How long are their lessons exactly, what do they typically cover during an hour or two-hour session, and the rules regarding pickups and or offs, such as picking you up from school or college or dropping you at work. This will help you assess how well they will fit into your schedule and what is expected on lesson days.
Each driving instructor will have different rules and theories regarding the best way to teach people how to drive and assess their compatibility. Instead of picking the cheapest driving instructor from the phone book will serve you well on your journey to passing your driving test.
