Becoming driving instructor

elainee

Hey im thinking of becoming a driving instructor.
got all the info from rsa it costs €800.which i think is quite good.
if anyone has done this would like some info please e.g how long it takes to complete..is it worth while ect..
any info would be great.

MascotDec85

It costs €800, payable to the ADI Unit for your 3 tests and your ADI Registration only.

Stage 1 Theory €150
Stage 2 Driving €200
Stage 3 Instruction Ability €200
ADI Registration €250

How long it takes is entirely dependant on whether or not you learn with a company who proves training or whether you try doing it yourself (I wouldn't recommend that) as well as waiting for test dates. A course will cost from €1800. My advice is not necessarily go for the cheapest.

I passed my last test exactly 4 months after beginning my course. I could have done it in just over 3 months but I had to cancel my Stage 3 Test.

Also, the initial process, Garda vetting can be quite slow. I sent away my forms at the end of April 09 and didn't get the all clear until the 3rd week in September.

Getting finance to get started is a different kettle of fish altogether :rolleyes:

DriveSkill

Hi,

The €800 to the RSA is the cost of the examination and registration costs only, there will be some additional costs for training - if you decide to do the 'self study' route then you are looking at perhaps €100-€200 for books, DVDs etc. You would also need to budget some cost to actually get your own driving assessed before the stage 2 and then look at getting an ADI to work with you for Stage 3 - all of this will cost extra. If you go for the intensive 1 weeks courses etc then you are looking around the €1500 - €1800 mark for that training and you still need to pay the €800 to the RSA for the exams.

Once you have all that done the main cost is the car itself obviously, will also need to have dual controls fitted, get a roof sign and perhaps other graphics on the car so could be anything from €300 to €1000 or more for all that depending on what you do. Also need to arrange for driving instructor insurance which is more expensive that private insurance and will depend on your own driving record.

Other costs will need to budget for are things like website, advertising, stationary, teaching aids etc.

Hard to put a full figure on the total start up costs but looking at around minimum of €4,000 - €5,000 excluding the price of whatever car you need to buy if you need to buy one. You could blow a couple of grand on advertising if you want so there is no upper limit :-)

As to whether it is worth it ? Well that is totally dependant on your own situation. As I've said on here before you need to have very realistic expectations of earnings for the first few years - ideally if you can keep another job then that allows you to get somewhat established and work from there. You need to be willing to work often unsocialable hours - evenings and weekends in order to get the business and really work hard and getting your name known. At the beginning you may only get a couple of hours a week at most and you still need to pay the bills! For example, I know of one instructor who was working for one of the national companies and he was only getting 9-10 hours work some weeks earlier this year - he has since given up completely so dont believe some of the posts here about instructors laughing all the way to the bank - a lot have gone out of business completely this year :-(

So, business in general is slow at the moment and average lesson prices have dropped but it depends where you are based. If you are in Dublin/Cork/Limerick any of the big cities then there are many many instructors - to be honest too many at the moment for the amount of business. However if you are in a smaller town or area where there is no other instructor then you have a much better chance of making a decent living.

The upside is if you enjoy working with people it can be a very rewarding job but you also need a lot of patience as you will have times when you get frustrated (as some pupil tries to force the gears on your new car while forgetting to put the clutch in etc ) but you have to try and keep it under control.

Feel free to PM me if you want any specific details.

MascotDec85

DS try First Ireland for insurance. Currently quoting around €550 for the year (Full no claims transferred over)

elainee

hi thanks for all the info above appreciate it.
if i decided to go the route of paying for a course
who should i choose what are my options?? thank you

MascotDec85

elainee wrote: »

hi thanks for all the info above appreciate it.
if i decided to go the route of paying for a course
who should i choose what are my options?? thank you

PM Sent

gu10

why do you need garda vetting to become a driving instructor? Tis not like you'll be working with children

DriveSkill

Well the legal age of an adult is 18 and so therefore its quite possible that an instructor will be dealing with 'children' of 16 (for certain classes of motorbike or work vehicle) or 17 for cars.

No offence meant to any 17 yr old

gu10

DriveSkill wrote: »

Well the legal age of an adult is 18 and so therefore its quite possible that an instructor will be dealing with 'children' of 16 (for certain classes of motorbike or work vehicle) or 17 for cars.

No offence meant to any 17 yr old

so if you wanted to be an instructor for a truck or bus driver you won't need vetting?

DriveSkill

gu10 wrote: »

so if you wanted to be an instructor for a truck or bus driver you won't need vetting?

To be honest I dont know. You would have to go back to the RSA with that one I think!

In practice most Cat C/D instructors would also be Cat B but you have a valid point if you only want C and D.

MascotDec85

gu10 wrote: »

why do you need garda vetting to become a driving instructor? Tis not like you'll be working with children

It's not simply about working with children.
You wouldn't want a convicted rapist teaching women or someone with a history of violence etc etc teaching people to drive.