While it may be true to say that finding a driving school in Oxford has never been easier, finding the very best driving instructor to suit your own needs is a different story entirely. There have never been more driving instructors and schools on the market vying for the business of tens of thousands of new drivers up and down the UK. In one sense this is of course a great thing as availability has never been higher and prices are consistently being pushed lower all the time. But at the same time, it also leads to a situation wherein standards vary considerably and not all tutors and schools are up to the same standard.
This is precisely why it is of the utmost importance never to take things for granted and to be sure to ask all the right questions before going ahead. After all, this is the kind of individual that will play a rather important role in your life in general as learning to drive is undoubtedly one of life’s most crucial rites of passage.
So with this in mind, here’s a quick look at perhaps the five most important questions to ask before going ahead with any course of driving lessons:
How long have you been Working as a Driving Instructor?
Never fall into the trap of thinking that this is either a rude question, or none of your business, as in reality it is totally your business and in your best interests to find out. The simple fact of the matter is that while some driving instructors will be newly qualified and putting their skills into practice for the first time, others may well have been teaching your parents or even your grandparents to drive many decades ago. Now, it isn’t to say that experience alone either guarantees or rules out high-quality tuition. There is far more to it than this, though more often than not those with experience tend to make the better instructors.
Why did you Choose to Become a Driving Instructor?
Again, this is the kind of question that some will naturally assume is a little on the prying side and will be hesitant to ask. Nevertheless, any driving instructor that got into the industry due to their genuine passion and dedication will be more than happy to tell you why they became an instructor. By contrast, those that are just in it for the money or found themselves doing it by accident are less likely to be liberal with the truth and are also the kinds of instructors that are less likely to instill quality driving skills in the shortest possible period of time.
What’s your Pass Rate Amongst your Students?
Just to clarify, there is no such thing as a driving instructor with a pass rate of 100% – anyone that tries to tell you differently is quite simply lying to you. Nevertheless, any good instructor should know exactly what their own pass rate is for their own students and should be more than willing to tell this to you. That is of course unless they are somewhat ashamed of their rather pathetic pass rate in which case they might prefer to keep the information from you. What you should be looking for is not only an answer in the form of a number, but also an explanation and a clear sense of pride.
There are Cheaper Driving Instructors Out there, why should I choose you?
Again, it might sound a little cheeky on the surface, but never forget that you are the customer and technically it should be the provider that is trying to win your business no matter what it takes. As such, feel free to ask them to lay it on the line when it comes to exactly why you should choose them and why they are worth the money when there are other driving instructors out there who may be offering cheaper prices. That is of course unless you have tracked down the single cheapest driving school in the United Kingdom, though to be honest paying bargain basement rates for driving tuition rarely turns out to be a wise investment.
What Method do you Use to Teach your Students?
Last but not least, this is an important question to ask as you really need to gauge your compatibility with the driving instructor. For example, some instructors will take the approach of well and truly throwing their students in at the deep end in order to have them learn as quickly as possible by having no other choice. Others will take a softer approach, and then there are those that like to cover the theory of everything before putting things into practice. In any and all cases, it is a good idea to find out how they do things in order to make sure it is a method you are happy with prior to getting started.