Driving instruction

UK drivers kill themselves and others at the rate of nearly ten a day – that’s 3,400 a year. They put 1,000 people into hospital every day, with the cost of these accidents running into billions of pounds annually. One in five new drivers has an accident within a year of passing their test. Government targets are to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured by 40 per cent by 2010.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is illegal for anyone to charge money or ‘monies worth’ for instruction in driving a motor car unless either their name is on the register of Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) or they hold a Trainee Licence in accordance with the act. Qualified ADIs must display a green certificate on the windscreen of tuition vehicles, trainees show a pink one.

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is a Department for Transport agency that manages driving instruction on an annual turnover of £80 million. It also runs a register of inspected ADI training establishments. With traffic growth of 55 per cent in 14 years, the DSA carries out a number of driving tests each year:

- 1.1 million theory

- 1.2 million car

- 60,000 lorry and bus

- 110,000 motorcycle.

It employs 2,000 staff, of which 1,300 are driving examiners, and has 158 theory and 431 practical test centres, as well as an instructor training centre at Cardington in Bedfordshire. There are 30,000 people on the DSA’s compulsory Register of ADIs for car instruction, and 1,000 on its LGV Register (currently voluntary but likely to become compulsory soon).

Driving tests continue to evolve, with the screen-based theory element of multiple-choice questions now followed by a hazard perception test – a selection of 14 film clips showing real road scenes and potential problems. The pass mark for the multiple-choice element is 30 out of the 35 questions correct, and that for the hazard perception element 38 for car and motor cycle drivers and 44 for LGV and PCV drivers, out of a possible 75.

The pass mark for all levels of licence is being increased so that car and motorcycle licences will require 44 marks, lorry and bus drivers will need 50, and Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and LGV instructors will require 51.

The practical test for cars takes 40 minutes, with routes designed to include a range of road and traffic conditions. There is no quota for passing or failing either part of the test, but people must show that they have reached the appropriate standard to be allowed to drive unsupervised.

A recent development is the Driver’s Record: a log book filled in by both instructor and pupil, designed to show when the latter has demonstrated all the competencies required to pass the test and is judged to be ready to take it. Currently voluntary, although highly encouraged and only recently involved, it will soon be issued along with the provisional licence.

Around 60,000 company car drivers are injured in crashes each year – a likelihood of accident up to 50 per cent higher than that of private motorists. There are about 500 fleet driver trainers – specialists qualified to a higher level who teach more advanced driving, usually operating in the corporate market. Recent health and safety directives demand up to 100,000 fleet trainers, and the government intends to introduce minimum standards for this training, so there is currently a vast shortfall. There is a voluntary registration scheme in existence for people who have either passed a DSA exam or completed an accredited training course, or who have passed a similar course and worked in the sector.

Driving instruction in the Services

Each Service has its own driving instructors based at the Defence School of Transport, its satellite establishments, single-Service bases and with units – all of them trained and qualified to DSA standards. Some will be on the appropriate register, others may not be. However, virtually every motor transport pool is able to instruct people to drive the vehicles it manages. With the vast range of Service vehicles, there are people holding every conceivable licence and others who have trained them. There is a vast experience in this field.

Driving instructors do not need to be expert drivers, or to have the patience of a saint and nerves of steel; flexibility, imagination and commitment are much more important. A Service background, with its social interaction and self-discipline, is a very good preparation, with individuals generally being articulate and personable. The ability to teach is vital, as are a high level of driving skills, a knowledge of how people learn, an ability to assess the performance of others, and communication and inter-personal skills.

Qualifications and training

To join the ADI Register it is necessary to:

- hold a full UK (or EU) unrestricted car driving licence

- have not been disqualified from driving

- be a ‘fit and proper person’

- pass the Register qualifying exams

– Part 1 – a multiple-choice, touch-screen knowledge paper, taken at a DSA Theory Test Centre

– Part 2 – a driving test, scrutinised by a Supervising Examiner

– Part 3 – a teaching test, again scrutinised by a Supervising Examiner.

Part 1 takes 90 minutes and consists of 100 questions banded into four areas:

- road procedure

- traffic signs and signals, car control, pedestrians, mechanical knowledge

- driving test, disabilities, law

- publications, instructional techniques.

The overall pass mark is 85 per cent, with a minimum of 80 per cent in every area.

Parts 2 and 3 must be passed within two years of passing Part 1; each may be taken up to three times, but three failures in either means that the individual cannot restart the qualifying process until the two years are up. There are some other, complex, rules and an ongoing requirement to take check tests to remain qualified. The ADI qualification lasts four years and is renewed automatically provided the check tests are satisfactory.

PassPlus encourages better driving practices from new drivers by six extra lessons covering driving in and out of town, on motorways and dual carriageways, in all weathers and at night. For a payment, ADIs can obtain PassPlus packs from the DSA.

Motorcycle instructors may be trained directly by Approved Training Bodies (the only organisations that can teach the Compulsory Basic Training), and they will then need to complete a two-day assessment by examiners at the DSA’s establishment at Cardington. Further qualification is required to teach Direct Access courses.

LGV instructors who wish to be on DSA’s voluntary Register take a similar series of exams to those for ADIs. They can be certified for four years after which time they will need to re-register.

Lift Truck instructors should pass a course with a trainer accredited by the Health & Safety Executive.

Blue light vehicles (police, fire, ambulance and MoD) are now recognised as a specialist category for the training of drivers who are competent in emergency situations. The three core competencies are:

- assessing the need for an emergency response

- driving the vehicle safely to emergencies

- demonstrating the correct attitude when responding to emergencies.

Potential instructors should ensure that the training provider they use is reputable. The Register contains suitably qualified and inspected trainers and establishments, and anyone seeking ADI training can approach them knowing that they have achieved the required standards.

Many companies advertise in the press, and there is no requirement to be registered. Alternatively, people could contact a CTP Preferred Supplier.

It is possible to gain other qualifications in driving instruction – for example, the Diploma in Driving Instruction, the Cardington Special Test, the Diamond Advanced qualification, and perhaps a further education teaching certificate or even a degree.

Employment

Once qualified, there are several options:

- move into the profession gradually by fitting instruction around another employment

- launch immediately as a sole trader

- become a franchisee with a local or national school

- enter a partnership with other instructors and pool efforts.

The marketplace is very diverse. As well as training learner drivers to pass both the theory and practical elements of the test, there is the PassPlus Scheme, the Driver Improvement Scheme and retraining people who have fallen foul of motoring laws.

Case study ADI Aug 03 1

Jeff Hall

Senior Instructional Officer Jeff Hall is the Training Manager for Licence Division at the Defence School of Transport at Leconfield. Starting his Service career in the Royal Artillery, he transferred to the Army Air Corps and specialised as a signals and driving instructor on the basis of signals training and an HGV3 licence. He left in 1973 after 12 years and took his HGV1 licence at his own expense before working as a driver for a concreting company.

After three years, he answered an advertisement for a driving instructor job with the Junior Leader Battalion in Taunton as a civil servant. The training included a driving instructor course and he moved to the Army School of Transport in 1977, spending the next five years out on the road with trainees. Rotating through various departments in the School, he became a Higher Instructional Officer after 17 years and took over his present appointment three years later.

Hall sees his job as ‘a challenge involving reactive management because of the uncertainty of student numbers.’ As opposed to his time as a learner, when an HGV1 pass included an HGV2 licence, today’s students are in a more regulated regime with a car licence leading to C and then C+E licences.