RA Dunk

got paid off 6 weeks ago, had a second interview today to be a driving instructor at a cost of ........4K with a guaranteed job on completion of the courses, was kind of thinking to go for it just to get back into work again ASAP, anybody here an driving instructor or any ex ones?

The Chief

Corradoboy is or was a driving instructor.

The Chief

Hold on a minute after re-reading your post please dont tell me its 'Red' driving schools????


It was on the TV its a big feckin' con.

RA Dunk

as a matter of fact it is/was whats the con with them?

The Chief

Honestly mate stay well clear, it was on watchdog or something similar - loads of people had shelled out 4k and the majority earnt nowhere near 30k a year.

Its a scam and i'd advise to invest your money in something with a bit more return.

Training to be a driving instructor or not? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

type in google 'red driving school scam'

RA Dunk

ive just spent the last two hours surfing various sites and forums with people complaining about the service (or lack of it from RED), thanks for the heads up, i honestly was thinking about it!

corradoboy

Somebody mention my name

If you are genuinely interested in the job then you can do much better than RED, or as they used to be known 'The Instructor College'. £4k is a rip-off, as others have said.

The ADI test comprises of three parts.

Part 1 is the same hazard and theory test sat by learners, but with 100 questions, and a higher pass rate in both. Read the Highway Code cover to cover, then practise a few times on one of the DVD's you can get in supermarkets or from Amazon etc. For the hazard clips, just get so you understand the way the game works, but don't labour over it as it isn't very hard.

Part 2 is simply a driving test, but it lasts one hour and you are only permitted 6 minor faults. This you can train for yourself by reading 'DSA - The Driving Essentials', which is the bible for how you are required to drive in a test. Pay a Grade 6 instructor, or ideally a Grade 6 ORDIT trainer to observe you for a few hours prior to the test to make sure you have everything down to a fine art.

After passing Pt 1 & 2 you can apply for a PDI license which allows you to train on paying clients for 6 months (or longer if you know the tricks ). This is where you need to pay someone for tuition in how to teach the way the DSA require, and how they will expect you to teach in the part 3 test, and any subsequent 'check-test'. You will also need to be sponsored by a qualified ADI, so this is where you need to sign up to be with a driving school, but avoid the big names. Call a few of your local smaller firms whom advertise that the train instructors. Ask them what grade their ORDIT trainer is, insisting on a 6. To give you an idea what it may cost THIS is who I work for.

Please consider the fact that only 1/3 of all those applying go on to become fully qualified. You only get 3 chances at any of the parts, and after that you must wait 2 years to re-apply. You will also be periodically checked in a 'check-test' where your regional senior examiner will sit in on a 1 hour lesson and update your grade. A 4, 5 or 6 is OK, but you can be marked down and after 3 tests scoring a 3 or less you will be struck off the register. Check-tests are roughly every 2-3 years if you get a 4, 3-5 years for a 5, and up to 10 years on a postcode lottery if you manage a 6.

Getting back to RED and the other big schools such as AA or Go. These guys provide you with a car, insurance, all documentation and feed you clients, but for this they relieve you up to £390/wk out of your earnings, and then you need fuel (maybe another £60/wk in a small engined petrol car). At £25/hr you'd work the first 18 hours before you got anything for yourself. My franchise fee is £35/wk full time, or £20 part time (I'm part time), and I have my own car. Do the math !

Once you qualify, depending on any contract you sign during your PDI training you can go freelance, but attracting clients isn't as easy as you may think. You'll need some good marketing and a website which gets you a high listing on Google. Personally I just pay the £20 and send them a text when I have an opening for a new client.

stilover

I looked at becoming a driving instructor. Looked into it twice now.

Just couldn't get the numbers to ever add up. You seem to have to work 7 days a week, 8 hours or more a day, just to get a decent wage.

HankScorpio

Have a read in here as well, this was where stilover asked once and I'd looked into it.

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...tors-here.html

Leslie

4K!

They don't sell themselves short do they?

Les

RA Dunk

they told me there`s a serious shortage of driving instructors in the UK and the clients would be tripping over them selfs to start with me, after doing a bit of research ive found out this isnt the case at all, theres never been so much driving instructors in the UK, infact theres actually too much, they also told me it was a guaranteed pass with them (no mention of 3 go`s then having to wait two years to try again) it would be a guaranteed placement with them with a car the car would be free for the first month and 175 per week there after (again no mention of sky high franchise), the training would take around 16 weeks (after doing research i havent found anybody who has completed it with RED in that time try doubling it for those who have completed it) and 40 hour week would net me 30K, again bull$hit going by what i have seen

corradoboy

The specifics in my post were based on franchise offers made to me from 3 years ago, so maybe Red have bowed to market pressures and reduced their franchise fees. Back then, Red, Go and AA etc were all over £300/wk, but Bill Plant and most smaller locals were £135 an under. Obviously they weren't attracting many trainees to stay or ADI's to join so must have changed their pricing strategy.

GC8WRX

Sorry mate but open your eyes, of course its bullsh1t, any company of this ilk will be all bull****, the sales people will out and out lie to you to get your 4k.

Any company that wants 4k upfront is dodgy, just like the IT ones, they dont deliver on the promises made in the adverts. IMO they should be shut down!

Do what corrado boy has said, get yourself qualified!


175 per week for a corsa, you could buy one for 175 a month!

RA Dunk

well TBH after 22 years of working away from home i still quite like the idea of being a ADI, but after looking at the figures i think theres already enough of them in the UK with too much competition for work as is

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I think its all been said, When it fist came on TV I look into it because the figures didnt make sense to me.
40 hours of instruction a week can make you 30k a year, but then you have the driving from one session to another, overlap on appointments etc, we worked out its going to be more like 60 hours a week for 30k, McDonalds will give you 35k for 37 hours a week if you go in at management level.
Lidl will give you 47k for a 40 hour week.....

Its not good, steer well clear buddy.

RA Dunk

yup the decision has already been made to avoid, i just feel sorry for the people who have been stung by it all, going by some of the sites/forums i have read theres alot of very very pi$$ed off people looking to take this to court etc

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

I looked into RED about 2 years ago for my better half, like everyone on here has said it doesn't all add up and how they get away with it beats me.

The thing that got me was that you can't work in an area already covered by a franchise........and the nearest "free" area to carlisle was hundreds of miles away. All buried in the *very* small print.

Crooks IMHO

Shaun

SunnySideUp

Yeah, RED were on TV - rip-off.

£30k isn't a lot in any case ..... and to get that you need to work 7 days a week and about 60 hours - which is a bad return!

DYK

Another bunch of Scammers exposed probably why they called Red = Danger or Stay well Clear,wondered what happened to that Instructor college....

Jap Import

Remember, you only see/hear the complaints and problems people are having in online discussion forums.

Earning big money being a driving instructor is possible.
But it's down to the hours you put in, the area in which you serve and the amount of clients going through your books.

RA Dunk

yup i appreciate that, the general area seems to be over run with ADI`s/PDI`s just now, some are advertising on the local radio for £20 quid an hour when everybody else is charging £25-£26 quid an hour, seems to be quite cut throat TBH

corradoboy

If you charged £20/hr and worked 12 hours, allowing for 5x 2hr lessons and 1/2hr gap between (travel time, toilet, food/drink) then you get 10 hours paid per day, so £200 per day or if you work 4x full days to accrue 40 hours that's £800/wk, less franchise payments and fuel, maybe paying for your own car and insurances etc. It's quite easy to clear £5-600 in your hand, but then you'll have your tax to pay unless you wangle it cleverly. A guy I know cleared £48k in a good year with just £300 tax to pay

Small locals and independents charge around £20, the big companies more like £25. There are loads offering the first 5 hours for £55/60/70 or whatever, I do 10 hours for £160 too, but only once, and only for complete new starters. If they ask for the offer and have obviously driven before I will tailor the learning just as a new starter, this spoils it for those skipping from one intro offer to the next.