I will be a driving instructor soon?

Paul K

Here we go...I guess you have been taken in by the TV ads?

Â£30k is not as straightforward as you might think.

If you take an average hourly rate of Â£23 per hour and work a 48 week year, you'd need to make Â£625 per week which works out at a little over 27 hours per week.

However, from that you have to pay for your fuel (approximately Â£180 per week) plus you will have to pay either a franchise fee or overheads for the cost of a car, insurance, tax, MOT and advertising or a combination of these things.

These additional costs will amount to a significant dent in that Â£30k.

Take a look at some of the online driving instructor forums...there's lots of great advice on them for people in your position.

Britbloke

You've had some pretty sensible replies so far. But, anyway, here's my twopence worth:

If you charge Â£25ph (and that's pretty much top money these days), you need to work 25 hours per week to make the 30k in a year. As someone said above, that assumes you take four weeks holiday in the year.

Sounds ok? Well here are some home truths:

To make that twenty five hours a week you must also allow for travelling time between each lesson, cancellations, dips in demand and the fact your diary seldom works to that 'perfect' ideal of going straight from one lesson to the next. If you take time spent on paperwork etc. into account, you are likely to be doing at least a 60 hour week.

Also, there's the irony of a pupil passing their test is then lost to you (which is a good thing, of course) and sometimes it's not always possible to fill that gap in your diary straight away.

You'll find, also, that pupils want to learn at a time that suits them, not you. This means that to make those 25 hours you'll almost certainly have to work evenings and weekends. Great job for a single person, lousy if you have a wife and kids.

Then, you must take from the 30k your fuel (maybe up to Â£100 - Â£150 per week) and either your car repayments/insurance/road tax/public liability insurance/professional indemnity insurance/and all other vehicle running costs OR, if you chose to join a large driving school, a franchise fee. Current AA franchise is around Â£200 per week.

So once you've deducted all those expenses, you then have to pay income tax on the balance. Your gross income before tax is going to be something in the region of 15-16k. And, believe me, you'll have worked long hours to do it.

That's the real world, I'm afraid and in the present economic climate, pupils are harder to come by. Depending on where you live, you might do well to get that Â£25ph.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that a 60 hour week these days isn't such a big deal. But, when you consider that it can take years to qualify and it's considered a 'profession', the money is lousy when you think a solicitor earns up to Â£300 per hour! That's why there are so many really sub-standard instructors - pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

mat118

You will need to charge a lot (well over Â£20 an hour) and do about 6 lessons a day. But remember that you will have cancellations and fuel prices, so you may not quite earn the 30k a year.

CDT

There are quite a few driving instructors who answer questions here but not that many for you to get much in the way of replies.

Consider joining one (or more) of the driver training industry website forums and ask LOTS of real ADIs and PDIs about what life as a driving instructor is REALLY like...as opposed to what the glossy TV adverts say ;)

I am a member of several ADI forums and this question crops up on ALL of them time and time again :)

Here are some suggestions for good places to find out more info;

Sid of Slough

This, and many other questions are answered on the following site. (though the short answer is you won't take home that much).

http://www.squidoo.com/driving_instructors

Superleague32

Hi, I am an ex driving instructor and can help you. If you work for a national school e.g RED then you will have to work a good 40 hours a week at least to earn 30k. I worked with BSM which was the biggest mistake of my life as they rob you blind so I would recommend you not to go with them. I had to stop instructing due to very bad back trouble. However I do have friends who are instructors and they are with the AA Driving School which in my opinion is the best there is. They offer you a fantastic franchise deal and really do look after you. Plus they have a fantastic reputation and will not rob you blind. If you are about to take your part 3 I wish you all the very best and with your career. James

dontpanicpikey

5 hours a day at Â£25 per hour = Â£125 per day
5 days a week = Â£625 per week
48 weeks (4 weeks holiday!) = Â£30,000 pa

so 25 hours a week

kelly

very good

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