It’s a question that lots of people ask us and it’s a valid question to ask.
There are lots of factors that you’ll need to take into account when we answer this question. Where you are in the UK, the skill and additional training of your driving instructor, maintenance of the driving instructor’s car and the general cost of living at the time. It could also be the costs of the franchise or company the driving instructor works for that has a large influence on costs.
Where about you live
This is a large factor in the cost of learning to drive. For instance, if you live in a densely populated area, London or Birmingham for example. Then the cost of your driving lessons will likely be less as there will be more driving instructors servicing your area and they will be also travelling less between clients which will help to keep their costs down. If you live in a less populated area Oban in the highlands of Scotland for instance you will likely pay more for your driving lessons as there will be less driving instructors covering the area and they will possibly have to travel much further between clients and perhaps have further to travel to suitable training areas, making their cost per lesson more expensive and sadly that might mean your lessons are more expensive.
Skills your driving instructor has
So just becoming a driving instructor is a pretty big achievement but sadly some instructors just leave it at that. However, lots of driving instructors or driving schools will charge a little more than their peers so they can reinvest that money into their own CPD – Continual Professional Development and help to to provide a better service to you the client with the intention that it should take you less sessions to reach the required standard to be a safe driver.
Maintenance and fuel
Just like when you have passed your test and have a car, your driving instructor’s vehicle will require regular maintenance and repairs to ensure that their car is safe for you to drive and that it is available for your driving lessons. To put into context for the car that I use to teach driving lessons, the clutch cost £1,300 and the alternator was £750. Thankfully these didn’t happen at the same time. Even basic servicing costs are higher, if the car has a 10,000 mile service interval it will need 3 services a year.
Fuel is also a factor and as I write this we are seeing record prices at the pumps for both diesel and petrol. This isn’t a huge cost centre but is a factor that influences the cost of a driving lesson. Also now, more than ever the cost of the car you’re going to be doing your driving lessons in has increased so much. This expensive car also loses value faster because of two factors. 1 it’s a driving instructor’s car and 2. it will have a lot of miles on.
Most of our driving instructors will do around 30,000 miles a year. Compared to the UK average of under 7,000 miles of driving a year.
General cost of living
The cost of living crisis has had a huge impact for everyone including driving instructors. The instructor needs to earn a wage on top of all the other associated costs of being a driving instructor. The higher price the instructor has to pay where they live for the essentials of living then the higher the price of lessons is going to be.
Finally the cost of belonging to a business network (The AA or RED for example) have implications as these companies can charge a large weekly fee and this is passed on to the client. This isn’t to say these companies don’t have great instructors but regardless of skill level or additional skills they might or might not possess they will often be amongst the more expensive in your area. This isn’t to say do not use their instructors, just ask why they are worth that little bit more.
For us at Revolution, we’re probably a little more expensive than other driving schools but we provide excellent value for money, all our instructors attend regular CPD and maintain many good business practices to ensure that our clients get the expert tuition they deserve all the time.
Generally, I think as a rule anywhere from £35-£40 per hour depending on the above factors is not an unreasonable price to pay for high quality driving lessons.
There is also the travel time between lessons typically you could be travelling 15-30 minutes between sessions and this makes a working day incredibly long with huge chunks potentially unpaid. Imagine you go to work and every 90 minutes or so, have to have an unpaid 30 minute break and you still have to work 8 hours in a day. That turns your 8 hour day into a 10.5 hour day of which 2.5 hours is unpaid. Actually in an instructor’s life the 2.5 hours also incurs costs for fuel and wear and tear on the vehicle.
Just remember to ask why someone is really cheap and someone is more expensive. Their living costs will be roughly the same as other instructors in the area.
If they make up the amount they need by doing 60 paid hours a week that is a lot of hours and if you book, how much of a quality driving lesson will you be getting? I know I’d be falling asleep.
Not all driving instructors are the same!
As we’ve said before, the best instructors will be developing their skills all the time. Reading books to enhance their skills, watching/listening/reading DVSA Publications to help them help you. Many instructors are required to attend CPD as part of their contract with a driving school to operate using their name. Sadly lots, and by lots, I mean most, driving instructors only look at developing their skills when they have a DVSA check test coming up. These could be 6-8 years apart. The check test is an assessment by the DVSA making sure the instructors are doing the job properly.
Just so you know, Revolution Driving Instructors MUST complete a minimum of 6 hrs CPD per year.
So in conclusion how much a driving lesson will cost will really depend on a number of things. There really isn’t a right amount to pay for your driving lessons but it’s more about getting the right value, weighing up the various benefits you’ll get against the amount of money it’ll cost you.
Don’t be scared to ask some questions other than how much it is. Be happy to ask why it costs what it costs, at both ends of the price scale. But ultimately make sure you’re happy with the value you’re going to get for the price you’re going to be paying.
Revolution offers experienced driving instructors who are experts in what they do, getting you passed. We strive to ensure you’re not just ready to pass the driving test but also to be equipped to drive in the real world.
We have driving instructors covering the Mansfield, Sutton-In-Ashfield, Kirkby-In-Ashfield, Hucknall, Alfreton and Matlock areas, click here to find out more about our driving lessons and current prices.