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Is your current instructor qualified?
It is illegal to charge for driving lessons unless your instructor is registered with the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) as an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) or a Potential Driving Instructor (PDI). The qualifying exams to get on the ADI register are very tough with less than a 30% pass rate for the final exam. It is estimated that for every 100 people that start to train as an instructor, only 5 will qualify.
If your instructor is qualified, and registered, he or she will display a green badge in the windscreen with a green octagon on the front and photo ID on the back.
Trainee instructors are allowed to register as a Potential Driving Instructor (PDI) and can register for a 6 month trainee license to charge for lessons. These instructors must display a badge with a pink triangle in the windscreen.
If your instructor is not displaying one of these badges, and is charging for your lesson, they are breaking the law.
You should also check the expiry date of the license, pink licenses only last for 6 months, green licenses last for 4 years. The expiry date of the license should be clearly printed on the front of the license.
Some driving schools abuse the trainee system by using a very high percentage of trainees, most of these will never qualify so there is a high turnover of instructors. The quality of instruction should also be questioned. This does not mean all trainees give poor quality instruction, as not all qualified instructors give good quality instruction. But as a general trend, the quality will not be as good.
We have had one pupil come to us from another Big School of Motoring after losing her THIRD trainee and being asked if she wanted another. Quite rightly she said no.
So next time you have a lesson, look at the badge in the windscreen -
