Driving Instructor Training during COVID-19

A. YES! Since driving lessons resumed on the 4th July, our instructors are currently busier than they have ever been! The combination of our extensive marketing efforts, 210,000 driving tests having been cancelled over the lockdown, thousands of learners turning 17 but unable to start their driving lessons and a baby boom in 2003/2004 (meaning a lot more new learners in 2020!) has meant that at this moment in time, Bill Plant Driving School has over 60% of its Driving Instructors fully booked, with hundreds more reporting very busy diaries! We have broken our record number of bookings 5 times since driving lessons restarted – there has never been a better time to enter the industry!

A. YES! While many industries are seeing significant declines and high levels of uncertainty due to the pandemic, those who have trained with Bill Plant Driving School and begun their teaching have experienced a huge increase in demand for their services, with thousands of students looking to learn to drive with a trusted driving school. For more information on levels of demand in your area, please speak with your recruitment manager directly.

A. Rest assured; you can be safe in the knowledge that the DVSA allows you a full 2 years to complete your Driving Instructor Training from the day you have passed your Part 1 Exam (all your Part 1 Training can be completed from the comfort of your own home!). If you are booked on an in-car training aspect of the course (Part 2 or Part 3 Training) and the country goes into a full lockdown, we would simply reschedule this for when training resumes at a mutually agreed time and date.

A. YES! We have had confirmation from both the DVSA and local councils that at this stage, trainees in Tier 3 locations can continue all aspects of their driving instructor training (driving lessons have also been permitted to continue). Our Trainers take great care to ensure that all in-car training is conducted in a COVID-secure environment, through the relevant use of PPE and ensuring training vehicles are always kept clean.

A. YES! Your Part 1 training can be completed at home with telephone and email support from our market-leading training support team! This is an excellent time to start practising for the Theory & Hazard perception – experts suggest if you put your full focus onto these parts of the course, you’ll have mastered them within a couple of weeks. We will thereafter be restarting in-car training as soon as the “circuit breaker” is over (based on availability).

A. Firstly, great news if you are thinking about kick-starting your new career as a Driving Instructor with Bill Plant Driving School! We are always here to support our Driving Instructors and we would aim to help you as best we can. It’s important to note that our Driving Instructors were permitted to continue teaching key workers we supplied them during the national lockdown (March – July) and had full use of their fully insured tuition vehicles for personal use, whereas other industries had come to a complete standstill.

Alongside record levels of investment in pupil marketing spend, the removal of the driving lesson price cap and first hour free offer, full use of our Instructor Support Team and the implementation of a new prepayment system that has substantially increased our instructor’s earnings, our support measures successfully ensured every single Bill Plant Driving School instructor had the best chance to make their business a success upon resuming! Other new initiatives were set up such as online theory training to learners, to help keep our driving instructors earning too!