Richard Spiers Driving School

Driving Instructors in Talgarth

Ok, so just what exactly what are driving instructors? Or to be geographically correct, what are driving instructors in Talgarth? Without insulting your intelligence, I just want to give you a very quick broad-brush overview on the job of a driving instructor.

Firstly, a driving instructor has to go through a very rigorous training program. These training programs are delivered by specialist driver training companies such as ourselves. The driver training company will have specialist staff who are trained to a high standard and have probably undergone lots of continued professional development. So, a driving instructors training program will consist of training an individual to prepare them to pass three qualifying exams. In the industry, these are called Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Once a person has successfully passed all three exams, they can then apply to the DVSA to have their name put on a register of Approved Driving Instructors, hence where the initials ADI come from. A driving instructor can either work for a company such as Richard Spiers Driving School or they can set up independently and work for themselves. It’s absolutely their choice. Many driving instructors choose to work for a company for their first year or so once they first qualify, learning the ropes as so to speak.

Training to become a driving instructor can in some cases take up to two years but most generally do it sooner that this. The training consists of theory and hazard perception tests, a driving test whereby a very high standard of driving is required and then the third and final exam is the ability to instruct exam. Check out our driving instructor training page for more information on this.

If a potential driving instructor successfully passes the first and second exam, then once they’ve completed a minimum of 40 hours worth of training they can then apply for a trainee teaching licence.

A trainee licence gives the potential instructor an opportunity to practice their craft but with real life students. This is a very useful way for a driving instructor to gain the experience and to get valuable practice time for their third and final exam. Their are many trainee driving instructors who are better than actual driving instructors. Some of the reasons for this could be because their training is fresh and up-to-date. Not only that, a trainee driving instructor could have other valuable skills, for example, it’s not uncommon for a police officer or a teacher to train to become a driving instructor.

The majority of driving instructors would have gone down the trainee licence route – some see it as a natural stepping stone to their career. At Richard Spiers Driving School, we will on the odd occasion use a trainee driving instructor as we have to keep the industry turning and due to the fact that we are an ORDIT registered training provider, our trainee driving instructors are probably better than some driving instructors who have been doing the job for many years.

Driving Schools in Talgarth

In essence, all driving schools in Talgarth or driving instructors to be precise, is a person who has passed the DVSA qualifying exams to become a driving instructor and has committed to run a business whereby teaching people how to drive. A driving school can be either a single person or a group of people. For example, if you have a look at some driving instructors in Talgarth you will probably see individual school cars with their name on a roof box. Or you may see a group of cars such as BSM floating around the town.

A driving school will generally teach people to drive to pass their driving test but they could also have students who can already drive for example foreign students who can already drive but just need to exchange their driving licence for a UK one.

The first big driving school and professional Driver training began as a business in the United Kingdom in 1909-1910. The British School of Motoring (BSM) was founded in 1910 in South London by Hugh Stanley Roberts. It offered hands-on training and courses in driving skills (managing the controls and road aptitude) and repair. It also offered vehicles to drivers who wished to practice. Over a century later there’s probably in the region of 40,000 driving instructors in the United Kingdom.

A lot of driving schools can offer a variety of courses such as intensive driving courses or sometimes known as crash driving courses. I’m not too sure the “crash driving” is the most appropriate wording but hey ho. It seems to have picked up this nickname from somewhere and stuck.

Driving Lessons in Talgarth

Your driving lessons in Talgarth will have a set time length such as one hour. It could be more but this all depends on the offerings of the driving school. Some driving schools in Talgarth offer intensive driving courses and some driving schools can also offer refresher driving lessons too.

In a nutshell, a driving lesson will have  a prearranged start and finish time. It should also have some structure to it, so for example a start, a middle and an end. The overall objective of a driving lesson is to educate, inform and up-skill the student. It’s also important to mention that value for money should be given too. If none of the above are part of a driving lesson then its very unlikely that any learning will take place. In some cases, driving schools can lose clients if this is the case.

Learning to drive has changed over time and now it’s leaning towards client centred learning. This is where the driving instructor will place the student at the centre of their own learning. This has proved to be popular throughout the education centre so driving instructors have been guided and sometimes re-trained to adopt a client centred approach. Coaching is also a strong element in giving driving tuition and can be part of your driving lessons.