Job Opportunities and Your Options

After your training you may want to gain further experience and operate on a trainee instructor licence. In order to do this you will have to work with a
driving school where the ratio must be one fully qualified Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) to every Potential Driving Instructor (PDI or trainee)

With most of the larger schools, a majority do offer franchises to trainee instructors. When deciding which school to go with, you ideally want to find
a school that won't overload you with pupils as you will need to allocate time for working on lesson planning and briefings.

Questions to ask before taking a franchise

Before committing yourself to a franchise you may want to find out the following information as there are a number of unscrupulous driving schools.

  • How much is the franchise?
  • What start up deal is there?
  • What is included in the franchise? (E.g Advertising, call centre, business cards, stationary etc)
  • Who supplies the pupils?
  • Is there a pupil introduction charge? (Can be the case with a cheaper franchise)
  • Is the car supplied? (If no, there are some specialist car hire firms who hire dual controlled cars at a sensible cost . See the link page)
  • Is there a spare car available?
  • Are there any limitations imposed on out of hours usage or excess mileage charges imposed?
  • How much do you charge the pupils?
  • If there are any special offers, who bears the cost?(E.g. First 5 lessons £50.00 or first lesson free)
  • Is there sickness/ accident insurance provided?
  • What PDI support is there? (Some of the better schools will provide a mentor or supply some additional training)
  • If yes is there an additional charge?
  • What notice is needed to terminate the franchise?*

* You do not ever want to sign a franchise agreement that is going to lock you in for a long period of time. A good
driving school will expect one months notice which is fair enough. However, some schools might require 3
months notice. Be aware that should you terminate such a franchise, they will probably starve you of pupils for
that 1 to 3 month notice period.

There are even some unscrupulous driving schools who will lock you into a one or two year contract that will
require you to pay the full term should you decide to leave. Please be aware of such contracts.

If you choose not to go on a trainee licence, once you have qualified,  you may want to start your own driving school or you may choose to run a
franchise with an established school (*please read the above) in order to get a feel of the driving school industry. It could be useful to try to talk to a
few driving instructors or go on a few driving instructor forums. Whatever you choose to do, help and advice will be at hand. Please feel free to
contact me if you wish any advice.
Teach-2-Drive  > 01904 700 106                                
Driver Instructor Training Information