I've been very fortunate recently to get to know the owner of a very successful local driving school and it blew me away with what he told. Did you know that you can work your own hours, be your own boss and get paid £ 50k per year to be a driving instructor here in the UK?
I did either!
I honestly thought it was just another job where you worked all the hours God sent and got paid around £ 25k per year which is about average.
I'm going to summarise this for you now and give you a link to find out more at the bottom of this article, the company are actually currently hiring too so find out if they are hiring in your local area – they are increasing expanding throughout the UK so it's worth looking!
So the first thing to do really is to find a driving school that will take you on as a trainee and then support you after you qualify.
The reason for this is because it is too difficult to go it alone if you are just starting out, you COULD in theory but it isn't recommended.
Some schools even refund your training costs which is incredible as the average training is in the region of £ 2500 once everything is paid out for, the actual exams are a local cheaper but there is all the costs of the car etc to consider.
So once you have an approved school backing you there are three parts to a test you will have to fulfill to become an ADI.
Part 1 – The Theory Test.
This is similar to a test that people learning to drive will have to pass except that this time you have to know your stuff inside and out because you will be the go to guide later on.
Part 2 – A Practical Driving Test
You must be a great driver! That does mean that you know how to donuts in the local car park because you can control a car, it means that you are a safe and competent driver and you have the ability to be able to influence others to be like you when they are on the road.
Part 3 – Instructional Ability Test
This is where the metal hits the road – have you got what it takes? If you simply cannot teach other people then this is where you will find out, however this is also the part of the course where you are TAUGHT to TEACH.
Some people are natural teachers and love influencing other people actions for the better and some are too different to be able to have such an effect on other people, this sounds a bit contrite but in essence if you are a loner who doesn't like meeting people or if you are too boisterous and often inconsiderate or lack empathy then you won't make a good instructor.
An ideal instructor enjoys being around other people, has empathy, patience and the ability to explain things calmly and clearly to other people.
There is a lot more to the whole process and no doubt you will have a million questions, just follow the link below and you will have all the answers that you ever want, who know you may just decide to become an ADI after all!
