How to Find a Driving Instructor Who is a Good Fit For Your Learning Style

17 Jul How to Find a Driving Instructor Who is a Good Fit For Your Learning Style

Contrary to popular belief, choosing the right driving instructor is about more than impressive pass rates and irresistibly low prices. The simple fact of the matter is that if you don’t ‘click’ with your instructor, you are in for a rough ride.

What’s important to remember is that you’re a paying customer. And just as would be the case when buying anything else, you are well within your rights to be as selective as possible.

You wouldn’t purchase a product that clearly wasn’t right for you, so why settle for an instructor you can’t bear being in the company of?
This is why it is important to conduct a few basic checks, before signing up for a course of lessons. In specific, the following 8 checks and considerations will help you find the perfect driving instructor to suit your learning style:

1. DVSA Licensed
Before going any further, you’ll want to ensure that they are actually legit. It’s rare to come across someone offering driver tuition without full DVSA approval, but it does happen. Hence, you’ll want to tick this rather important box, before moving on to the more negotiable factors.

2. Experience
Even if you’re hitting the road for the very first time, it’s hard to put your trust in a driving instructor that lacks experience. If they themselves are fairly new to the whole thing, you’ll wonder whether or not they’re steering you in the right direction. It’s not to say that all newly-qualified driving instructors are incapable, but there’s something about long-term experience that’s undeniably reassuring.

3. Attitude
You’ll quickly gauge the attitude of your instructor as you head out and about. Are they patient, or do they have unrealistic expectations? Do they stay cool and calm when things go wrong, or do they get all red-faced and angry? Driver tuition is only beneficial when it’s comfortable and enjoyable, so don’t settle for an instructor who makes you nervous.

4. Personality
The same also goes for their personality in general – does it click with yours? Does their sense of humour generally entertain you, or make you cringe? Are they chatty and personable, or do they make the whole thing as formal as an exam? Some learners prefer to keep things more formal than friendly, so it’s entirely up to you which way you go.

5. Accommodating
This is where your own preferred learning style comes in. Some learners genuinely like to be thrown in at the deep end and can’t wait to test themselves on the open road. For others, sticking to quiet car parks and country lanes for quite some time is the preferred option. You should have plenty of say in how things play out, rather than feeling you are being dictated to and ignored.

6. Good Communication Skills
Speaking of which, communication skills are an absolute must for successful driver tuition. After all, the vast majority of their time will be spent telling you what to do, what not to do and how you are doing. Are they clear in their expectations? Do they provide you with genuinely helpful feedback? Are they happy to answer your questions – even those which may seem fairly rudimentary?

7. Recommendations
Irrespective of your preferred learning style, it’s essential to seek an instructor with an established and wholly positive reputation. Feedback and recommendations from other learners will usually tell you all you need to know about their capabilities, their personality and how they approach the whole thing. The occasional disgruntled learner is largely inevitable, but if the general consensus points to a safe bet, that’s probably what you’re looking at!