Hello and welcome to my Blog, this is my first so please bear with me as I get to grips with writing for an audience! (Writing has never really been one of my areas of strength)
I am a driving instructor delivering driving lessons in Burton-on-Trent and I wanted to share some useful information about learning to drive and associated topics.
This blog post will aim to cover the important issue of the cost of driving lessons. I will discuss how one should go about trying to strike the balance between the cost and the quality of lessons/driving instructors. So, how much do driving lessons cost? How should you choose a cost-effective driving instructor without having to compromise on quality? Stay with me as we navigate our way through this potential minefield!
As with most aspects of life, we don't want to pay over the odds for goods and services - most of us don't have an endless supply of money or generous parents who are willing to fund driving lessons. Learning to drive is a long-term commitment after all!
Cost of driving lessons: Should I choose the cheapest instructor?
Here in Burton-on-Trent, the cost of driving lessons varies from £20 to £30 per hour. Some instructors charge less and some charge more. The vast majority of instructors fall in the middle of the price range, or thereabouts. The cost of driving lessons will vary slightly from one region to another, however, prices are likely to be similar across most of the country.
Cheap and cheerful isn't the way to go with this one. I think we are all guilty of going for the cheapest option at some point in our lives, say, for example, toilet roll. Having to use a quarter of a roll of single-ply tissue every time nature calls is a great example of a false economy - driving lessons can be like buying single-ply toilet paper!
Cheap doesn't always mean poor quality, but you have to ask yourself why an instructor has placed themselves within the lowest price range in any particular area. Another aspect you should consider is that an instructor who charges the least for lessons is likely to be delivering a lot of lessons in a day - it's the only way they would be able to make a decent living when you're the cheapest. You may be wondering why I have mentioned this, I'll explain.
As a driving instructor, I can tell you that delivering driving lessons can be very mentally demanding, you can't switch off for even a second - I am sure you can imagine the consequences of doing so! Towards the end of the day and indeed the week, naturally, mental tiredness will mean that the quality of lessons will be lower than that at the beginning of the day/week. I don't deliver more than 5 or 6 lessons a day as I feel lesson quality can't be maintained. After delivering 30 or so lessons in a week I am incredibly tired and it's not unheard of for cheaper instructors to be delivering 40 lessons in a week!
In summary, a mentally fatigued instructor won't deliver the best quality lessons and in the long run, you will need more lessons to reach test standard. In addition to what I have mentioned, it isn't unheard of for certain instructors to take their time in getting you up to test standard - resulting in you needing more lessons.
It should be said though, as a disclaimer, I am not suggesting that all instructors who charge the least for lessons are guilty of this. This can happen across the board but I would suggest it's more likely to happen when lessons are on the cheaper end of the scale.
Strike the balance
Finding a good quality instructor who doesn't charge the Earth can be a challenging task but one which will be worth the effort. While you want your journey to attaining your license to be as cost-effective as possible, I would imagine that you will also want to ensure that you have a positive experience whilst learning to drive. You will be spending a significant amount of time with the instructor you select and having to change instructor midway can be very disruptive.
The devil is in the detail!
There isn't a watertight approach here, however, a little bit of research will help you to find a good quality instructor at a fair price. By using the Google search engine, you can find the instructors in your area by searching for key phrases such as driving instructors/driving lessons/driving schools in your area/town/city. You will see a list of all the driving school businesses in the Google Business listings for your area at the top of the page - let's start here.
With each business listing, you will see how many reviews each driving school has received and also a star rating which is an average of the total number of reviews. As a general rule, the more reviews the better as is the case for the star rating, but we need to dig deeper. Next, have a look at the detail in the reviews. What is it that most of the students have written in their reviews? Think about which characteristics you would want your ideal instructor to possess and see if those attributes appear in the reviews - patient, calm, friendly, etc. Do they have any negative reviews? If so, read the reviews carefully as some disgruntled students may have left a review in malice without just cause. If the review lacks detail or seems to be vague then take it with a pinch of salt and vice versa.
Another couple of great places to find driving instructors in your area is Yell.com and on Facebook. As with Google business listings, you will see a list of the driving schools and also customer reviews. Be aware that the businesses which appear at the top in Yell are paid listings for the specific key phrase which you used in your search query. Use the same principles as detailed above to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Instructor/Driving school profile
Whichever directory you have used, take a look at the detail in the profile. You can generally get a feel of the instructor by reading their Bio. You may also want to have a look at the pics uploaded by the driving school, most savvy driving instructors take a snap of their students holding their pass certificate aloft shortly after passing their practical test. Lastly, take a look at their website for additional information such as any special offers or promotions which the driving school may be offering. Generally, discounts may be available for block bookings or intensive driving courses. Do make sure you have a look at the standard hourly price of lessons, this is what you will pay once your block of lessons runs out (unless you purchase another block). By taking the above steps you would have been able to identify some good instructors and you would have also gained an idea of the price range in your area. The next step is to make a list.
Make a shortlist
Make a list of the instructors who fit your ideal price range and make initial contact. Most instructors can be contacted via email, phone, text and some instructors have a live chat feature on their website. You should also be able to contact them through messaging facilities within the Google Business listing, Yell, Facebook, etc. Be aware that busy instructors will most likely be on a lesson when you contact them and won't be able to reply straight away, you may get a reply shortly after or at the end of the day in some cases. I feel that either calling or requesting a call back is the best approach, you can tell a lot about a person just by having a quick chat over the phone. The only thing left to do is to make a choice. If you have done the groundwork that I have suggested, you would have fulfilled the purpose of this blog.
Summary
It's worth taking your time when choosing a driving instructor/driving school. Cheap and cheerful is likely to be a false economy - remember single-ply toilet paper! Don't make the cost the main deciding factor, try to strike a balance between cost and the quality of the driving instructor. I always tell my students, I want to help you to learn how to drive safely for life and not just to pass the test. The best instructors put a lot of effort into helping their students to understand the rationale behind what they are being taught. You are learning a skill for life, be the best driver that you can be! I hope that this blog article was useful to you. If you have enjoyed this blog please subscribe to my monthly blog and share it with friends and family. I look forward to publishing my next blog for you all very soon. Have a great day and good luck in your journey to achieving your driving license!
If you enojoyed this blog, you may want to also check out our other blogs - 5 Top tips tenjoyedo pass your driving test and Your driving test during the Covid-19 Pandemic.