Driving Instructor Training (Part 3) - Toni's Journey

After all my hard work passing my parts 1 and 2 tests towards becoming a qualified driving instructor, I was ready to begin my training to become a driving instructor (part 3), which is undoubtedly the toughest element.

This part of the journey comes in 3 parts: the initial 40 hours of training, getting a trainee licence, and finally, the test. Let the hard work begin!

To obtain a trainee licence (which enables you to charge for teaching pupils) you need to have at least 40 hours of training with an approved driving instructor (ADI) or an ORDIT trainer. As I have Ady at home, I could use him as my teacher, as well as having training with Steve at SGS Training. This enabled me to get my 40 hours completed sooner, as I was doing this training alongside working full time in a school and having 3 children at home! 

Learning how to provide directions, watch for faults and do Q&A (Question and Answer) all at the same time was something I never thought I’d be able to do! Ady and I worked on my directing, with Ady role-playing as a pupil. We even began introducing random Q&A when Ady was driving on our road trips, which helped a lot. I also began sitting in on Ady’s driving lessons in Great Yarmouth during the school holidays to see how lessons were structured. 

Initially, my lessons with Steve began in Norwich, but we gradually drifted into Great Yarmouth and eventually Lowestoft, where my local test centre is based.

My first lesson with Steve in July 2024 was focused on Q&A, which is an area many trainee instructors find challenging. Q&A is used to highlight upcoming hazards to the learner and for the instructor to find out how the pupil is going to react to them, or for the instructor to understand the pupil’s knowledge and understanding around certain aspects of the environment, such as road signs and markings. So, off me and Steve went to see how I would do with my Q&A.

We drove down a rural road with many hazards: blind dips, sharp bends with a side road coming off them, narrow and low bridges, and a few speed limit changes.

My problem here with my questioning, which I continued to struggle with for quite some time, was the vagueness of my questions. I was not highlighting the specific hazard to get the pupil to look at and think about that specific hazard. 

For the next 6 months, I worked hard on my lessons with Steve and, in my spare time, with Ady. Watching various YouTube videos of other instructors conducting mock tests also helped me understand the faults I was looking for when watching students, but these were carefully selected by Ady as there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Ady also took me out to help with how to teach subjects to my pupils. He would always play the role of the pupil (which he always did realistically to help me get used to what they may do) and I would be the instructor. Although very challenging, this helped prepare me for the ‘real world’, as things certainly don’t always go to plan.

Come September 2024, I was getting to where I was almost up to a standard of knowledge where I could apply for my trainee licence to teach pupils for payment.

So then I had to decide about my full-time job I was holding down. Could I juggle both, or will I need to reduce my hours at work? I would need at least 4 or 5 pupils to get enough practice, meaning I would need at least 2 full days a week to be an instructor. However, I didn’t want to leave my other job as you only get (up-to) three chances to pass the Part 3 test, and if I failed all 3, I would then have no job at all! 

After lots of discussions between Ady and me, I applied for a flexible working contract, requesting to cut my days down from 5 to 2 days a week. This was a stressful time as there were many points that I didn’t feel like they were going to accept my request. I also had to wait for them to recruit another member of staff to take my place on the other 3 days. Luckily, they found a suitable applicant just in time! 

So, in December 2024, I applied for my first trainee licence, and it arrived within a couple of weeks. Then came the anxiety and stress! Was I ready? Could I do this? Everyone around me was telling me I could, but I just didn’t feel it myself!

Toni

Driving Instructor, Great Yarmouth