Do driving instructors make good money? Here's how to tell!

[@1stdrive]

This video is not meant to put you off becoming or being a driving instructor. I have enjoyed the job for many years and it's great to meet people and share their journey of learning over the months or even years. I have many fond memories of the people I've met and the crazy adventures I've had but this video focuses on the financial side of the job. Many driving instructors are deluded and in denial as to what they're really earning. I know because I was one of them. It's easy to be fooled by marketing claims of having a new car every year (which you don't own) and earning the headline rates of £40+ an hour (which you don't earn because of discounts and regional variations). The truth is that however you look at it, driving instructors can only earn good money by working long hours, often six or seven days a week. It's horses for courses and if you're happy with that then that's fine.

[@WansbeckBikecam]

Just watched the whole video. All very true and is just what I experienced when I was an instructor. Qualified in 2000. Did it for approx 5 years then gave up as couldn't make any real income at it. I had a second job also as a gigging musician so was never at home! I was charging £15 an hour then and it should have been more like £25. Did 80,000 miles in the first 2 years in a new car. The school I was with wre giving an introductory offer of first 2 hours for free. Do a few of them in a week and you're working for nothing! Plus as I said before I only had about 2 pupils who actually took it seriously and wanted to learn how to be a good driver. The majority just want to pass their test and then drive any way they want. Question : do you think the standard of driving has deteriorated in the last 20 years or am I just turning into a grumpy old man? Thanks for the content. 👍👍👍

[@julianday]

No , you’re right. I was teaching in the 70 s through to the 00 s and it’s all about box ticking on a computer screen now. There really is only one way to learn to drive and that is lots of behind the wheel time in all types of traffic and road conditions. Kids today just don’t have the money for that commitment anymore with soaring prices. Glad I’m out of it !

[@Riz1786]

Very useful and realistic for someone looking to become a instructor ..thanks for this

[@1stdrive]

Thanks. It's not a bad job overall so don't let this put you off if you really want to do it, just don't believe the earnings figures they give you.

[@kevintaws5936]

Nice to hear someone telling the truth about some driving schools. I got caught out myself. I’d also recommend any one joining a franchise. Before signing up.. tell them that you would like to take the contract to a solicitor to get checked out.. probably be the best £250 you’ll ever spend.. Definitely worth doing your homework. Also don’t ask anyone who works for the company about how it’s going.. Because in their contract agreement they they are not allowed to slate the company so will speak highly about them.

[@1stdrive]

I joined a school where the contract said you agree not to teach within five miles of any of their branches after you've left. I'd love to see them enforce that.

[@Drivingexplorer]

Spot on excellent video as a independent driving instructor I agree with you

[@shaunmatthews3791]

i wish someone had told me all of this before i decided to do the training, it was in the late 90's but i agree with all that was said, you never earn that much, then with all the costs taken out you were lucky to get very much at all and as for a full day i very rarely had more than 5 hours in one day, then after all the 'messing you about people' cancelling ect and the other idiots on the road i gave up in 2014 and have not regreted it one bit.

[@1stdrive]

You only needed to hop in a time machine and watch this video.

[@mikeharding1949]

Excellent content and most of all someone telling it like it is. 👍

[@julianday]

One trainee instructor at BSM in Bradford told the management that the moment he paid them more than he was earning then he would throw his keys on the desk , sure enough , a few days later his keys were on the desk. These people should tell a trainee instructor how much they will never earn which would be nearer the truth.

[@1stdrive]

I trained at a school and only a month after starting a girl left her car keys in the office with a note saying she could make more money wiping people's arses. I don't know if she went on to do that.

[@julianday]

@@1stdrive just goes to show the job has gone to 💩now.

[@alexcallery5246]

Surely you can earn more than £25,000 if you are independent and doing 30 hours regularly a week?

[@dmliddle]

Can I ask why anyone would put themselves through a 6 day week to clear minimum wage or less than is feasible to make a basic living ? I am in the process of training with my part 2 test shortly. I consider myself fairly worldly wise and a fairly sceptical person, therefore if i was fortuate to fully qualify I never thought it was going to be a big money job, but equally would have never thought it was as financially unviable to make a living at as your video suggests. Maybe I'm missing something, but this video has dampened any enthusiasm i had for continuing with the training and subsequent career ☹️.

[@1stdrive]

People do it because they won't realise how little they're earning for years. They fall for the advertising hype and claims of earning large amounts of money but it'll take a few years before they realise it's not going to happen. They might add up what they're earning as they go but they always think it'll get better next week...next month...next year...oh dear, it isn't working. This is why there's such a huge turnover of instructors. When I worked at a large school, 60% of their instructors would leave each year and they said that was one of the highest retention rates in the industry! Other reports have shown that 95% of people who start training as an instructor will have left the industry within two years due to either failing exams or failing in business. I've seen proof of this over the years from seeing independent driving schools pop up and be gone within weeks. Driving instructors often go from one school to another thinking that the new school will be better. They're chasing the shiny object and thinking the grass will be greener on the other side. The trouble is, other instructors follow them once the word gets around of this magic school with all the work. Due to everyone chasing the work and going to the same place, the pupils get spread so thinly that nobody makes anything. Then they leave that school, go solo, fail within weeks and are back to doing the rounds at schools...It's a cycle that goes on and on. Pupils will do the same; they'll take the first few lessons cheap at one school and then go to the next one making a stupid offer and you're left earning £5 an hour most of the time (and that's before you've paid for your car, fuel etc.) The schools do these deals so they can get in tons of work and boast about how many pupils they have, which is why the instructors run to them. See how it works? The only winners in this industry are the instructor trainers and schools. They take thousands of pounds off people being sold a dream but given a nightmare. Then the failed and duped instructors realise this, become trainers themselves and we're left in the situation we have now: thousands of poorly trained instructors all failing and then churning out more terrible instructors themselves to get their money back! The cycle goes round and round, being a race to the bottom to see who can do the cheapest lessons. It's a great job to do part-time but it's very hard to make a good living from this full-time. Even if the hours stack up on paper and it all works out on your calculator, go and do it for real and see what happens. It can be good but you're going to have to be exceptional to stand out from the thousands of other instructors all shouting "FIVE LESSONS FOR A FIVER!" to get work. Watch this video for some tips on how to succeed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpOshJyoarRnfck

[@WansbeckBikecam]

Not enough!

[@1stdrive]

But how much is enough?

[@WansbeckBikecam]

@@1stdrive I don't think you'll ever earn what your worth if you do it properly. There's always someone who will be cheaper and most people don't want to learn to drive they just want to pass their test as cheaply as possible. That was my experience anyway.