What's the cost of driving instructor training?

A good starting point is deciding how much you can afford to spend ...

How much can you afford to spend?If the answer to this question is "less than £2000", forget it! Exam and registration fees alone add up to over £500 leaving only £1500 for training ...

There are driving instructor training companies who will claim that you can qualify at this price, however, you must remember that more people fail than pass and while there are no statistics, it's a fair guess that those who buy 'bargain basement' training make up many of the people who don't get through - you cannot earn your money back if you don't qualify.

It's typical to for salespeople to be vague about the cost of qualification - certainly you can get started (in training) for a few hundred pounds; but that is only the beginning and often used as a 'taster' for 'pay as you go' courses and are often tied in to a franchise deal - the company will probably insist that you take out a trainee licence which might leave you earning virtually nothing after paying monthly training and franchise fees.

There are also courses which claim to train you for free, but you will pay dearly later on when tied to a restrictive franchise deal which could well leave you earning less than the UK minimum hourly pay rate.

Pay as you go courses allow you to pay in installments - but work out the cost! £2500 will take two-years to pay at around £26 per week - that's two years to qualify!

Can you reduce the costs?

It is possible to reduce your training and other costs (exams, study materials, registration fees) to as little as £1200, but only if you do a lot for yourself and spend your 'practical training money' wisely.

Good, professional trainers work for anything between £30 and £50 per hour - do the sums!

If someone offers to train you for £1500 it only leaves around £900 for training fees after the exams and fees are paid; if they don't include all the study books and DVD's etc., that will be another £150.

This would only leave enough for around 20 hours training with a good trainer (or 14 hours with the best trainers!)

When you consider that the DSA require 60 hours training for Part-Three alone if you intend to operate a Trainee Licence you can see that bargain basement training might simply be a waste of time and money.

John FarlamSmartDriving's John Farlam (right), and other trainers in the UK who use the methods that he has developed, have seen many students on 'rescue' courses who have thrown 'good money after bad' trying to qualify cheaply. After wasting thousands of pounds on ineffective training it can then cost them anything up to £1000 to 'sort out the mess'.

The old saying 'you get what you pay for' is as true in the driver instructor training business as it is anywhere else - equally true is the latin 'caveat emptor' which means 'buyer beware'!

Get as much detail as you can from at least three driving instructor training companies before making a decision to go ahead.

Realistic 'all in' estimate - £2200 to £3500

If you expect to pay in the region of £2200 to £3500 in total, including exam and registration fees, to gain your driving instructor's qualification and you won't be far wrong. If you can't afford it, wait until you can or run the risk of losing all of your investment.

Do beware, however, that the most expensive courses are not necessarily the best.

The Instructor Training CompanyWe believe that the best value driving instructor training currently available is offered by The Instructor Training Company simply because it uses the most modern, accelerated learning methods to ensure that every minute of training is time well spent. But remember, we have a vested interest as we are affiliated to the company, you must make your own decisions about where and how to train.

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