Information on Driving Lessons.

Quite recently there has been a very intensive T.V. advertising campaign suggesting working as a driving instructor can generate earnings of up to £30,000 and a nice flexible job that works around you and your family life.

As a driving instructor with 15 years teaching experience working on my own, and for other schools. I'd like to tell the truth about working as a driving instructor and how much you can potentially earn. I have nothing to gain or lose from giving the following information, I'd just like to try and make people aware how hard it is to get qualified and run a driving school before they fall into the trap of spending £1000's of pounds of their savings or redundancy money on chasing a dream which for most will never materialise. I'm not trying to shatter any illusions but the actual reality of working as an instructor is quite different to the promise of earning up to £30,000 with a totally flexible job that works around you and your family life.

The figures below are approximate weekly costs (unless otherwise stated) for running a driving school, the figures are approximate but in my experience not far from fact.

A franchise is how most driving schools operate and basically works by you as the driving instructor paying the driving school a set amount each week, the figures in the table below are based on a relatively cheap franchise of £175 per week and a lesson price of £20 per hour. I have seen franchise's as much as £320 per week although this is normally combined with a higher hourly lesson price. Under franchise the driving school provide you with a car and the pupils (if they can get them), and normally but not always will insure and service the car for you, although some franchise's will make you pay for the tyres, and some will charge you an excess if the car is returned with any damage, scratches or dents.

Franchise's do suit some instructors but they can have down sides, although some driving schools will give you 2-3 franchise free weeks a year, a lot of the cheaper franchise's are 52 week a year arrangements and the driving school will want their franchise fee wether they give you enough work to pay it or not, and regardless of any work you might lose through cancellations or adverse weather conditions or mechanical failure. If your car does break down most frachise's will supply you with a car whilst yours is being repaired although this can take a half day or so to organise and you will probably lose this half day's money.

So working 27 hours a week under a modest franchise as a driving instructor with a lesson price of £20 per hour puts you on less than the national minimum wage. Oh and remember these figures don't account for anybody cancelling a lesson (after 15 years as an instructor I still get at least 2 a week) or for bad weather causing lessons to be cancelled, or you having to charge less than £20 per hour for a lesson, or for your driving schools introductory offer of "1st lesson FREE" then 5 for £55 deal! losing you another £65 for every new customer you take on.

I'm sure you will be a good driving instructor getting people through the test 1st time, oh! but that will leave spaces in your diary, hmmm and what if the pupil that just passed was doing 4 hours a week? that means you need to find 4 new pupils straight away, all of them able to fit into your empty time slots. Providing you can manage to do that then you still lose another £65 X 4 for the new pupil introductory offers.

Most people want lessons when they want lessons, not when you can fit them into your diary, and most people work so you'll have to fit them in on evenings and weekends, does that work flexibly around your family life?

O.K. lets see if we can get the earnings as a driving instructor nearer £30,000 like the T.V. adverts claim.

So now we are nearer £30,000 you only need to work 60 hours a week, that's 12 hours a day if you like working a 5 day week or only 10 hours a day if you like working 6 days a week. Remember though you will have 3 weeks a year off.

To make it work you really must have a full diary 49 weeks a year, so bear in mind, as I mentioned before you really can't have any body pass a test unless you can fill the time in your diary instantly or any bad weather which could put you out of work, or anybody cancel, or rearrange a lesson (because you cant afford it). Oh and there is those introductory offers again costing you another £65 per new pupil. 1 lost hour of work a week is equal to £1000 a year in lost turnover.

I hear you say 1 hour gained work is equal to £1000 a year turnover? Yes it is, but turnover isn't profit and you're already working 60 hours a week, how many hours can you work or more realistically how much work can you get. Remember the market is currently flooded with companies using inexperienced and trainee driving instructors who are all too easily prepared to undercut you to get work. I have a family life to work around and yes being a driving instructor is flexible, but I'd find it very, very hard to fit 60 working hours in a week and make time for my family.

There is only so much work a community can generate for a driving instructor and the more competitors you have then the less work you will have.

As well as considering the above be aware that a training course to be a driving instructor can cost 1000's of pounds and the exams are not easy at all. You are only allowed 3 attempts at the second 2 exams if you fail either of these 3 times then you can't apply to retake the exams for 2 years, this could mean lots of money wasted.

Being a driving instructor can be very rewarding, but don't let anybody tell you that its easy money for little work it's a very, very hard job!