I nearly crashed my car when I heard those words on the radio as part of a job ad tonight for driving instructors, together with the stipulation that a UK or EC licence is required.
I've just checked the ad on line and it's true.
So you can learn to drive on the right and (apart from our Irish chums) not have English as your mother tongue, then get more than 6 points on your licence and you still might be OK to train others how to drive?
I'm trying not to sound like a mad bloke down the pub/Daily Mail reader but, you know........?
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You are missing a little point. You have to pass a lot of tests before becoming an ADI (driving instructor) and the pass rate is only 25%. 3/4 people who take the tests fail and are then around £3000 out of pocket.
You can in theory come from Poland and sit these tests, but the reality is unless you can pass an advanced style driving test in the UK, speak good english, pass a long written exam its not going to happen.
These adverts are quite missleading and the companies involved have sometimes got in trouble with the ASA.
Edit if only it was this hard for bus drivers, I believe you can pass a test in Poland then drive buses in the UK without any further training :eek. And this has actually killed people in the past as anybody from Manchester will remember.
Edited by Rattle on 17/11/2008 at 22:21
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I think there is a lot more money in the instructor training business than in the business of being an instructor. A lot of these training agencies seem to sail very close to the wind with their claims..
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I think there is an element of supply and demand at work here. We need bus drivers and a lot of UK citizens won't do the job for the salary offered. We don't really need any more driving instructors (or do we?)and so the standard can be set very high which is no bad thing in itself.
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Indeed, although there does seem to be a very noticable reduction of foreign bus drivers now.
And yep there is a lot more money in training instructor than learners. The claims of earning £30k are rubbish too, yes it is possible but you can also earn 30k as a computer repair engineer but I am on nothing like that much.
These ADI adds really really annoy me because I know how many people waste a fortune and fail. At least if you become a bus driver the company will usualy pay for the PSV licence training.
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Rattle -I too get wound up by these driving instructor ads! They say that you can break out from the 9 to 5 routine - some people like it! Who wants to give driving lessong until 9 at night on a Summer evening? Also, it is not clear whether the £30K is gross or nett. I think we should be told
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Who wants to give driving lessong until 9 at night on a Summer evening?
The reality of the situation is if you need to earn the cash you have to be prepared to do just that - many learners work 9-5, as a driving instructor you have to offer flexibility, if you don't you go bust.
My dad has done early mornings/late nights all year round for 20+years - his first lesson slot has been 7.30am, his last at 9pm - 50+ hours teaching a week were not uncommon, but he always tries to have Sunday off. He retires in February and has cut the number of learners dramatically so the ones he has now will probably be his last, but when I called him last Friday at 8pm he was out on his final lesson of the day.
Also it is not clear whether the £30K is gross or nett. I think we should be told
To be net you would need to be turning over £50k or so a year at £20 an hour thats 48 teaching hours per week every week - impossible. Even at £30k it's almost 30 hours per week teaching.
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Driving Instruction is one of those trades where the number of instructors goes up in a recession just as the number of learners is going down because people can't afford lessons. Thousands of people blow there redundancy payments every year in training fees and then find there is no work for them. I saw it happen during the early ninties, new names would be regularly appearing in brand new cars and then disappear again in a few months, sadder, wiser and a lot poorer.
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Thanks for those replies. I hadn't thought about it in those terms before and it's quite depressing that more than a few people will blow a pay-off on this kind of thing.
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