Shopping Around For DVSA ADI Training

Shopping Around For Training To Become A Driving Instructor, DVSA ADI

• There are many organisations offering to train you to be a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency Approved Driving Instructor, DVSA ADI
  • All offering the training in different ways
  • All charging different fees
  • All with enormously varying training standards
  • All offering extremely different value for money
• You are about to make an important decision
  • The cheap option can turn out to be very expensive
  • The expensive option might not be the best, just the best marketed!
• Do your research and find out what you are getting for your money
• Ensure that you compare like with like
  • Courses vary considerably

DVSA ADI Part 1

• A classroom course is very lucrative for a training organisation
  • Taking a large fee from 20 people is more profitable than 1 to 1 training
  • So some organisations will place the emphasis on their DVSA ADI Part 1 classroom course, and neglect DVSA ADI Part 2 and Part 3
• You do not usually gain a great benefit from a classroom course for DVSA ADI Part 1
  • There is such a large volume of material to cover, that it cannot be covered thoroughly in a short classroom course
  • You are trying to condense a large volume of learning in to such a short time, that you are very unlikely retain everything covered in class
  • You will still need to read all the material very thoroughly yourself
• Some DVSA ADI Part 1 courses consist of lots of questions to practice, but do not include the text books that you need to study
  • This keeps the cost down for the training organisation, but not always for you!
  • It also means that your learning might not be very effective
    • You may possibly pass DVSA ADI Part 1 by practising lots of questions
    • However, will you have the depth of knowledge to teach the subject when it comes to DVSA ADI Part 3?
    • Your pupils will be expecting their driving instructor to be an expert on their subject!

DVSA ADI Part 2 and Part 3

• At many training organisations in car training is often done with 2 or even 3 trainees to one trainer
  • Very lucrative for the training organisation charging each one for a full day of training!
  • But a full day might mean 2 hours of real training and the rest sitting in the back while somebody else has their turn
    • Not necessarily the most effective use of your time or money
    • But an extremely lucrative hourly rate for the training organisation
• Intensive courses help training organisations put a lot of clients through their system in a short time
  • They can appear a good thing, because you appear to be progressing through your training quickly
  • But do they give you time to consolidate properly the material you are trying to learn
  • An intensive course could put you under pressure if it is just before your test
  • An intensive course followed by a long wait for a test can give you time to forget and get out of practice
    • Is the timing and structure of the course for your benefit?
    • Or is it for the benefit of the training organisation?
• Some courses may not make it clear how much training you will get
  • In many cases it will not be enough training
  • You may then find it difficult to get more training, even though you have paid for a 'full course'
• Some training organisations will not use suitable trainers
  • Some courses will have trainers that are only familiar with teaching learner drivers
    • It is very different teaching experienced drivers to become Advanced Drivers
    • Would you ask a primary school teacher to teach a degree level course?
  • It is even more different teaching someone how to teach
    • Would you ask a primary school teacher to train you to become a teacher?
    • Or would you ask a specialist?
• Some courses offer a guaranteed job
  • Generally this is a meaningless offer, as jobs are readily available once you qualify
  • The job offer is likely to be a franchise, and you will be self employed
    • Not all sales material makes this clear

Do Your Research

• Find out exactly what you are getting on your course
• How will your course be structured?
• Is there any flexibility in the course structure?
• Who are the trainers and what experience and qualifications do they have?
• Will all of your training be from the same trainer?
• How much training will you be receive?
• What is the ratio of Trainers to Trainees?
• When you compare costs, compare like with like

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