Blog page - In-Tuition Driver Training

In-Tuition Driver Training

Very little changes!

26/6/2024

I can't believe its almost mid year already and we've only just got some decent weather. I think I've used the air conditioning so much less this year but this week I finally had to turn it on.
Demand for lessons has not slowed down and waiting times for most instructors is around 2-3 months with the 'automatic' instructors telling me they are 3-4 months. One guy said he'd struggle to get people started this side of Christmas. Just crazy!
And test waiting times are still way too long with a 8-12 week wait for Scarborough test centre. It makes teaching somebody and predicting when they will be ready a crystal ball gazing exercise.
Still, it keeps me out of mischief.
As I said in my last blog, I changed my Citroen DS3 for a C3 back in September 23 and my customers love it but I'm not sure the car is fully up to the task of driving tuition. So far I've had to fit 4 new tyres, new discs and pads and in the last few weeks it needed a new Catalytic Converter at a cost of £1,550. Add to that, it eats oil and its proving to be an expensive car to use. It might be a case of lets get rid and move to something else... but what?
In May i hit official retirement age and I looked at packing it all in, but then I thought, what on earth would i do with my time if i did. I've got a full diary, am pretty healthy and my wife doesn't retire for another 6 years! On the plus side, I've got myself a bus pass that I'll probably never use, but there have to be some perks to hitting this age.

It's time.

14/9/2023

It seems in the blink of an eye autumn 2023 is upon us. I swear every year goes faster and faster. To say it's been a busy year would be an understatement with waiting lists becoming the norm once again since the end of Covid lockdowns. Not only waiting lists for lessons but also long waits for tests with sometimes months rather than weeks being a regular thing. Enquiries have been coming in from as far afield as London and Plymouth from people booking a test in Scarborough and desperate for help to take it. I was offered £1,000 from a doctor in London for 4 hours tuition and the use of my car for his test at Scarborough DTC. Just crazy!
It seems people are desperate to get a full UK licence and this is driving up the waiting lists around the country. Unscrupulous sellers have been buying up blocks of tests and selling them on social media sites like Facebook for crazy prices to those people desperate enough to pay. I've never known a time like it.
And talking of time, it's finally time for me to part with 'Nexy Snooze', my tuition car of the past 5 years. The mileage is racking up and so are the niggling faults so I've decided it's time to move her on and get something newer before the Winter sets in. New car availability is pretty poor at the moment and used car prices are going up on a weekly basis, it seems. I've managed to secure myself a nice Citroen C3 with quite low mileage to see me through the next three years and I'm hoping because its from the same Citroen stable that my customers will find it easy to adjust too after the DS3. I'll miss 'Nexy' but the time is right for a new start.
I've posted a picture below of the replacement. Once it's got the roof sign on and some snazzy decals I think it will stand out.

Spring 2022

3/4/2022

Almost Easter 2022 and the year is flying by once again.
The winter has been kind weather wise, and demand for driving lessons is still very high with most instructors I know having a wait list for lessons.
The waiting time for driving tests still remains artificially high with August the current offering but earlier appointments are available if you keep checking. The rules about wearing face coverings in car have also been removed for tests, but examiners are still wearing theirs, which is understandable.
The driving test centre is moving this year to a site on Seamer Road inside the Falsgrave Community Centre. It's not an ideal placing for it but apparently its the best the DVSA could find in the town. Could be interesting during the peak Summer months with heavy traffic on Seamer Road. I can see the test 'timings' being severely strained especially during the school holidays. We shall see.
I've had to increase my lesson price by £2 per hour due to the recent drastic increase in petrol costs. Its heading for £7 a gallon now which is just crazy. Might need to look at electric in the future, although there needs to be a much better range on the batteries to tempt me.
Well its time to get the wash leather and vacuum out to sort the car for next week.
Safe driving everyone!

High Demand

22/6/2021

It's the longest day of the year and June is proving to be a busy month.
Since the end of the lockdown restrictions in April, life and teaching has started to get back to some sort of normality, although in-car restrictions and social distancing are a constant reminder that we are still dealing with this damn virus.
I wasn't sure how much demand there would be when we restarted lessons but I have been pleasantly surprised by just how many people want to get started driving or to finally take their test. Getting a practical test is certainly easier said than done however, with over 460,000 tests backlogged from lockdown and more people adding to that number each day. Currently in the Scarborough area the waiting time is roughly 5-6 months which is the longest I've known since I started teaching in 1989. The wait for tests is not putting new drivers off learning though as this month has seen a marked demand for lessons with many instructors (including me) having a waiting list. I think this shows a renewed optimism that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us and the future is looking bright. I have had both my vaccinations now but still do twice weekly lateral flow tests to keep a check on the situation and many of my clients I know do the same.
So as we head into the late summer and autumn I'm hopeful that this coming winter will be kind to us weather wise, and that we can all keep earning a living doing what we love the most, helping people to learn new skills and opening up opportunities by passing their driving test and becoming safe drivers for life. And we just need some decent weather to help it along the way.

Good News (fingers crossed)

12/3/2021

The Prime minister Boris Johnson has revealed his road map out of lockdown with a staged recovery back to a normal way of life which means (as i write this) we can get back to teaching again on April 12th with driving tests resuming in late April.
I have started preparations to get my business ready for the return by having the car serviced and giving it a good clean and sanitising the interior, something which I will be continuing regularly when lessons resume.
I have had my first vaccination but I'm still very much aware of the chance of transmissibility within the close confines of the car so I will continue to wear a face covering during lessons and will ask my pupils to do the same unless they are exempt.
Back in January I raised my hourly lesson rate to £28 because of rising costs of fuel, servicing and a general increase in the cost of living. It's the first such rise since 2017 and brings my charge in line with the excepted industry standard. I aim to keep this rate for the foreseeable future while giving my pupils a high standard of service in a safe environment.
To say I am excited to be going back out teaching and seeing my customers again would be an understatement and I think we all have a great (but very different) future ahead post lockdown. I'm looking forward the the challenges of the new normal in 2021.
Now, where did I put those car keys?

Uncertain Times

21/1/2021

So, here we are into our second year with 'Covid 19' and as I type this we are under government lockdown No3 with no end in sight.
None of us could have foreseen at this time last year just what an unprecedented impact this virus would have on all our lives. I know many of my students are frustrated because time and time again their tests have been cancelled or moved and now the latest estimates are predicting a return to 'normal' by around May. We wait and will see what the uncertain future will bring us but our main focus must always be on keeping each other safe and preventing more deaths.
Once we are able to return to teaching and testing the in-car hygiene standards we have put into place will be maintained until everyone eligible has been vaccinated and there is some certainty about the reduction in transmissibility. Until then lets all do our best to reduce further infection by maintaining the government guidelines of hands, face and space and remember that we are not observers in this pandemic, we are participants and no matter what the government advises, it us and us alone that will defeat Covid.
Stay safe everybody!

2020 Vision

11/6/2020

So when you were singing Auld Lang Syne on New Years Eve, could you possibly have imagined what 2020 had in store for you? Me neither. In fact none of us could have foreseen what was about to happen to our lives and the world in general. Like most of you I have been staying indoors and obeying the governments Civid 19 guidelines, because one thing is for sure, we are not observers in this pandemic, we are all participants and we can all make a difference as to when things get back to normal.
'Back to normal' is a phrase that is heard in just about every conversation at the moment. Whether it's on the phone, in the street, on Zoom or Skype, we all want things to get back to normal. But we all know that normal is never going to be the same again post Covid, so we need to find a new way of making things as near normal as possible. Like all driving instructors, I am wanting to get back to work as soon as is possible, but there is much work and preparation still to do to make the environment in the car as safe as possible for both myself and my customers. Undoubtably we will, at first anyway, need to wear some form of PPE (personal protection equipment) and the car interior will need cleaning down between lessons to ensure it is safe for use. Lesson times will need to be changed and the time between lessons will need to be longer to allow for that cleaning process. At the time of writing this, the DVSA have still not announced when testing will resume in the UK and under what circumstances etc. Anyway, rest assured, if you are one of my customers or are thinking about learning to drive with me I will make sure every effort is made to make the post Covid experience a pleasant and safe one for us both.
The government seems to be hinting that a return to work in July will be possible so I'm planning on getting the roof sign back on then and getting back out there. I just hope i remember how to teach!
Stay safe and remember, the outcome of this pandemic is in our hands only.

Post Test Blues

26/6/2019

It's always been the same, a student takes lessons, passes their test and disappears into the world to become (we hope) a good and safe driver.
The reality these days with rising fuel and insurance costs is that many newly passed drivers can't afford a car straight away or maybe they are going off to university etc so don't need to drive. Months or sometimes years can pass before they finally get back behind the wheel in a car of their own and consequently their ability levels and confidence have suffered in that time. A recent study found that 26% of drivers under 30 had spent 6 months or longer without driving after passing their test and over a quarter of them said they believed that time 'away' had contributed to them having an accident when re-starting driving. This makes sense, but what can be done to help the situation?
As a driving instructor most of my business is helping beginners to start driving and eventually pass their test, but I'm also here when people need help to get back behind the wheel and regain their confidence after a long period away. Refresher lessons are always available and are a great way to get that confidence back and improve the drivers skill levels either in their own car or a dual controlled car and of course motorway tuition or a Pass Plus course can also help.
The mantra 'Safe Driving For Life' is still as strong today as its always been and as instructors. we are always happy to help coach someone back up to full speed. Excuse the pun!

30 Years and still going strong.

10/5/2019

I think its fair to say, a lot of things have changed since I started teaching back in back in 1989.
The cars have changed an awful lot, the roads have changed and the drivers that use them have most certainly changed, not always for the better. The technology that we have in our pockets and in the cars that we drive have changed so much too.
Its good to know that even with all these 'advancements' some things are still as great to use today as they were back in the day. My little 'Dinky' tuition car has served me well for almost all of my teaching career and is still in my car glovebox today ready to show my learners which way to steer to achieve that perfect parallel park. And the 'illustrator' model that I bought back in 1990 is there as a back up to talk people through the mechanics of parking as well. A picture may speak a thousand words but my little toy car steering successfully into a pretend space still brings a smile to my customers faces even today.
It's all part of the modern learning experience, helped along it's way with a little bit of nostalgia and a toy car to make my learners safer drivers. You're never too old for toys!

Reflections

9/4/2019

2019 is well and truly underway and that means I'm into my 30th year of teaching and things have changed so much in that time.
I started my business with an old second hand Ford Fiesta that didn't have any dual controls. Imagine that! I soon added some after a few scary moments and have used them ever since. The driving test was still only 20 minutes with some theory questions and signs at the end. It all seems a world away from the current 40 minute test with its 20 minutes of independent driving with SatNav etc.
The theory test came along in 1996 and the hazard perception test was added in 2002 to make sure students were aware of the potential hazards on the roads. In 2003 the 'Show Me, Tell Me' questions were added to the practical test with moving questions added in 2017. The manoeuvre's in the test have changed too with the old turn in the road (three point turn) and the dreaded left hand reverse being removed back in December 2017 and replaced with forward bay parking and offside parking with its seemingly silly two car length reverse. I'll be honest and say I still question the value of such a manoeuvre and tell my students that it's still best practice to park on your own side of the road where safe.
So, a great many things have changed in my 30 years as an instructor, not always for the good, but one thing has stayed the same, and that's the pride get when one of my students passes their test, gets their full licence and takes to the roads on their own. Knowing that I have helped them achieve that is still the best feeling in the world and what got me into this job in the first place. When that feeling is no longer there then I know it will be time to hand in my ADI licence, but for now its a case of bring on the future, whatever it holds. Safe driving!