jimbo started this topic @ 17:33 on 27/08/2004
Adverts in the press inviting people to train as driving instructors say you can earn £30K pa. So does the article on Driving Instructors on this website.
I appreciate being an instructor is hard work, with some evening/ weekend work, but it looks too good to be true.
Anyone got any experience in this area? Are the claims made legitimate?
I'd appreciate any thoughts people have on this matter.
Ray
RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
Adam | 27/08/2004 06:07 PM
Yes you can but you must put in the hours and it is a CAN not a guarantee.
I think it is now £20 an hour for a lesson. Assuming you work a tight patch you can do maybe 7 or 8 a day so lets say £160 a day, over a 5 day week is £800 or £40K a year. Less the repayments on the car and the bloody expensive car insurance (not for the value of the car but the chance of killing someone) and then the cost of advertising you may well have £30K a year but I think you would need to do a 55 hour week for that.
------------------------
www.youcangetit.co.uk - Business services and community. Do you get it?
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
rachael | 27/08/2004 07:24 PM
My old driving instructor is now driving taxis he used to do 7 days a week and work from early morning until late at night!!
there are so many driving instructors about now its going to be hard to mussle in on someones patch and just think of all that stress!!
------------------------
www.rpevents.co.uk - New site is LIVE!!!
www.craftybytes.co.uk
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
jimbo | 28/08/2004 09:34 AM
Thanks Adam and Rachael,
I am based in Greater Manchester. Would that influence peoples advice?
I have to admit that when I lived in London you used to see people getting lessons all over the place. Here, you don't see driving instructors nearly so often.
Ray
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
rachael | 28/08/2004 01:25 PM
have a quick scan through your yellow pages see how many there are! i know in my area there are hundreds!!!
------------------------
www.rpevents.co.uk - New site is LIVE!!!
www.craftybytes.co.uk
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
rachael | 28/08/2004 01:26 PM
If your really interested in it why not go through BSM or AA driving schools i'm sure they train up too and you've got a national brand behind you then 
------------------------
www.rpevents.co.uk - New site is LIVE!!!
www.craftybytes.co.uk
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
Mattd | 28/08/2004 03:45 PM
I am skeptical about driving instructors earning 30k myself. To me it seems like the entry barriers are too low (in other words all you need is a car with dual control, a driving licence and an instructors course) and I would think that the competition is too fierce.
Besides round me (South Wales) block booked driving lessons are as cheap as £10 a time. I guess it will be a bit different in Manchester but I can't imagine you charging £20 for every lesson.
I am always sketical when people offer you that much money for something. I presume that their motivation is to sell you a driving instructors course so they will usually put in the top figure that you could expect to earn in order to entice you.
You could always contact these people and ask them what they base their figures on, and if they do have that knowledge I am sure that they will be more than willing to explain it to you. (Then ask yourself whether they are realistic.)
On the other hand being a cynic to these kind of things I have probably let many 30k jobs pass me by, so I wouldn't be to put off until you look into it further.
Good luck
RE: RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
rachael | 28/08/2004 04:05 PM
matt, i'm from south wales too and my ex instructor was £12 per hour and that was the cheapest (mind you it was a while ago too). i think you have to think about what needs to be deducted from the hourly rate ie insurance, petrol, tax etc
------------------------
www.rpevents.co.uk - New site is LIVE!!!
www.craftybytes.co.uk
RE: Driving instructor - A licence to print money? I'm not so sure!
escapeeX | 21/09/2004 04:58 PM
I spent fifteen years has a driving instructor, working for a franchise and later running my own business.
It is not a high income line of business because of the running costs (don't forget advertising and accountants), the fierce market place and the unreliability of customers. Sometimes everyone turns up, sometimes you may waste half the day hanging around because of time wasters. You also have to work weekends and evenings because of demand and the phone rings at ALL times of day and night. Also remember a lesson takes you at least one and a quarter hours to do because of travelling time, so a 6 lesson day takes 8 hours or so.
Even if you're madly busy in the summer it never makes up for the quieter times due to Christmas, winter or whatever.
Sorry if I seem negative about driving instruction but I do feel that people are often misled into parting with their money for instructor training. Remember that the companies offering the training are out to make as much profit as possible and so may bend the truth somewhat to get more punters.
Instructor training is a nice and relatively cosy earner in a world where there aren’t really enough learners to make everyone happy. The instructor exams get progressively harder, with the final instructional ability test having a very low pass rate (30% I think I was told by a supervising examiner). You can also only take the last test three times. If you fail the first time you get quite stressed on the later attempts because you know that if you can fail once, you can fail again, and if you don’t get through you’ve blown your training fee! All of this exam failing is kind of convenient for the big franchises because it means they can confidently take the big fat training fee from as many wannabe's as possible without worrying about providing learners for everyone, since not everyone is going to be around very long.
Lastly, since the franchises charge a franchise fee, it is in their interest to have has many instructors on the go at one time as possible. Therefore any single instructor is not likely to be given enough work to earn these alluring amounts stated in the newspaper adverts.
