What's the best driving school -and the best deals?

Question

I'm turning 17 in October and have my provisional driving license - now all I need to know is what driving school is the best -and the deals as lessons seem so expensive!!! I don't know how I'll be driving - so what would the best school be for someone not so confident?

Answer 1

You need to decide whether you really are looking for "the best" or you're looking for "deals" as they are definitely not the same thing :)

Are you looking for quality or a cheap price?

If you are looking for quality, then you are not likely to find it, if you base your choice of a school or instructor too much on whether they offer very cheap "deals (I'm not talking about discounts of a pound or two off the normal lesson price for say students or if you pre-pay for a course of lessons because most driving instructors offer those sorts of discounts, I'm talking about offers such as "10 lessons for £50.00" etc - there is no way that ANY driving instructor can make a living charging those sorts of prices and you have to ask yourself how desperate they must be for work to be so cheap - why can't they get pupils to pay the market rate - there's undoubtedly a reason...)

The BEST driving instructors are BUSY, no matter how much they charge...why? Because they're good - and usually this sort of instructor will actually end up saving you money in the long run, because you're more likely to pass having taken fewer lessons than you would with an instructor offering "cheap deals"...(even "cheap" instructors have to make money somehow despite them seeming like a bargain and this is often done by spending lots of time sitting at the side of the road with the car not moving and the instructor talking for ages and/or by getting the pupil to take more lessons than they might need...).

The best way of finding a good driving instructor is to go by personal recommendation. have any of your friends or relatives learnt to drive recently? Ask them who they learnt with and what their experiences were.

Otherwise, ring up several instructors and go with a school or instructor that you like the sound of. Most instructors will offer you a reduced rate (and sometimes even free) introductory lesson so that you can meet the instructor, see how you get on and go through the basics of the controls etc and usually do some basic driving. Then once you're sure that you're going to get on OK, you can then book up more lessons and see whether the instructor offers discounts (most do, especially if you pay in advance for a course of lessons).

Virtually ALL driving instructors in the UK are self-employed, either working on their own as a "one-man/woman band" or as a franchisee of a larger school...they all work locally covering a particular geographical area, so it's therefore impossible to tell you who is the "best" - how would you work it out anyway? ;)

What I can tell you though is that most of the large, national driving schools (including the well-known market leader), use a VERY high proportion of trainee driving instructors. A trainee driving instructor can apply for a licence to teach for a period of 6 months - they have to have passed a Theory Test and an advanced driving test but they have NOT passed the very difficult exam in teaching ability...so you could end up paying money to someone who isn't very good at teachng you - and more often than not, trainees are allowed to get on with teaching with very minimal supervision...so it's worth asking whether you will be taught by a trainee instructor or a fully qualified one...

I've given you a link below to a website offering lots of helpful advice on how to choose a driving instructor;

Answer 2

There is never a best school as driving tuition is a partnership between the instructor and the pupil so one instructor may be fantastic for one pupil but no good at all for another. The best way to select an instructor is by personal recommendation but never be tempted to get a discount by booking a lot of lessons in advance until you have had a chance to find out how well you get on with the instructor.