Research and analysis

Working as a driving instructor survey: June 2021 results

Published 25 January 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Introduction

This report summarises research carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) about working as an approved driving instructor (ADI).

It aims to:

  • find out how important things are changing over time
  • get views on topical issues

Driving lessons had been suspended because of COVID-19 during winter and spring 2021. Lessons were allowed to restart in April 2021.

We sent the survey to ADIs on 11 June 2021. The survey closed on 25 June 2021.

At the end of June 2021, there were 38,365 ADIs. Overall, there were 5,554 responses to this survey - 14.5% of all ADIs.

It’s the first time we have carried out this ADI survey.

Summary of findings

Summary of findings from June 2021

This report shows that:

  • more than three-quaters of businesses (77.7%) are now fully operational following the COVID-19 pandemic
  • more than half of ADIs (64.7%) now charge £21 to £30 for a one-hour driving lesson

The report also shows that:

  • on average, each fully operational ADI is currently training 24 learner drivers
  • more than 4 in 5 ADIs (81.9%) currently have a waiting list for new pupils
  • most ADIs with a waiting list (58.4%) have 10 or fewer new pupils waiting to start lessons
  • more than half of ADIs (57.4%) expect to have a waiting list for 6 months or less

About the driving instructor’s business

Business type and status

Where in Great Britain do you conduct most of your business?

Answer Response rate
England 85.9%
Scotland 9.1%
Wales 5.0%

What kind of trainer you are?

Answer Response rate
Independent instructor 69.4%
Local driving school franchise 17.4%
National driving school 11.4%
Other 1.8%

Since driving lessons have been allowed to restart in 2021, which of the following best describes your business?

Answer Response rate
Fully operational and open for business 77.7%
Partially operational (for example, at reduced hours) 20.5%
Not operating at all yet, but expecting to in the future 1.3%
Not operating at all and not expecting to 1.1%

Price charged for driving lessons

Can you indicate the average price you charge for a 1-hour standard lesson?

Average lesson price Response rate
Less than £20 0.4%
£21 to £30 64.7%
£31 to £40 33.4%
£41 to £50 1.1%
£51 or more 0.4%

Driving lessons

Number of learner drivers being taught

Approximately how many learners are you actively training at this time?

Business status Average number of learners being actively trained
Fully operational 24.5
Partially operational 13.8

Would you say this is more or less than your pre-pandemic average?

Fully operational driving instructors

Answer Response rate
I’m currently training more learners than normal 52.7%
I’m currently training about the same level as normal 40.2%
I’m currently training fewer learners than normal 7.2%

Partially operational businesses

Answer Response rate
I’m currently training more learners than normal 8.3%
I’m currently training about the same level as normal 17.5%
I’m currently training fewer learners than normal 74.1%

Driving instructors who were not operational but planning to return to work

You have told us that you are not currently operational but expect to be in the future, can you say when you expect to resume training learners?

Answer Response rate
1 to 3 months from now 45.8%
3 to 6 months from now 18.8%
More than 6 months from now 12.5%
I’m not sure 22.9%

Progress of learner drivers

Learner’s progress Average number of learners per instructor
Learners who are actively being trained who have a theory test pass 13
Learners who are actively being trained who have a driving test booked 8

We appreciate this may be difficult to predict, but can you estimate how many of your candidates you think are likely to be ready for their practical driving test in the next 6 months?

Number of candidates Response rate
1 to 5 12.4%
6 to 10 30.2%
11 to 20 38.3%
21 to 30 14.4%
31 or more 4.6%

Availability for new pupils and waiting lists

We understand some ADIs currently have a waiting list for learners, do you?

Answer Response rate
Yes 81.9%
No 18.1%

You have told us you have a waiting list of learners, can you say how many you have waiting to start lessons?

Answer Response rate
1 to 5 27.7%
6 to 10 30.7%
11 to 20 20.9%
More than 20 20.8%

How long do you expect to have a waiting list of learners?

Answer Response rate
Up to 3 months 27.4%
Up to 6 months 30.0%
Up to 9 months 12.2%
Up to a year 10.6%
Over a year 10.3%
Not sure 9.4%

Guidance and resources published by DVSA

Top 10 reasons for failing the driving test

We published new guidance about the top 10 reasons people fail the car driving test on 19 April 2021.

Are you aware of our newly-published top 10 reasons for failing the driving test guidance?

Answer Response rate
Yes 90.7%
No 9.3%

How useful is the guidance?

Answer Response rate
Extremely useful 33.7%
Very useful 35.2%
Somewhat useful 23.8%
Not so useful 3.6%
Not at all useful 3.6%

How regularly do you use or plan to use the guidance to help prepare your pupils for their tests?

Answer Response rate
With all my pupils 59.6%
With my pupils who have an upcoming test 27.6%
With my pupils who are not ready for their test 2.8%
I do not plan to use it 10.0%

Driving test report form for mock tests

We publish the driving test report form (sometimes called the DL25) to help driving instructors to carry out mock driving tests with their pupils.

Are you aware DVSA publishes the DL25 marking sheet for driving and riding tests that you can use for mock tests?

Answer Response rate
Yes 76.2%
No 23.8%

How regularly do you use or plan to use the form to help prepare your pupils for their tests?

Answer Response rate
With all my pupils 43.9%
With my pupils who have an upcoming test 41.9%
With my pupils who are not ready for their test 2.5%
I do not plan to use it 11.8%

Driving test results guidance

We published updated guidance to help learner drivers understand their driving test result on 21 April 2021.

Over half of ADIs were aware of the guidance, and most thought it was useful and plan to use it with their pupils.

Are you aware of our newly published driving test results guidance?

Answer Response rate
Yes 60.0%
No 40.0%

Have you encouraged your pupils who fail to read the driving test results guidance?

Answer Response rate
Yes 68.1%
No 12.6%
I plan to 19.2%

How regularly will you use the guidance to help your pupils who have failed their test to prepare for their next one?

Answer Response rate
All the time 54.6%
Often 29.6%
Sometimes 13.2%
Hardly ever 2.0%
Never 0.6%

How useful is the guidance?

Answer Response rate
Extremely useful 35.9%
Very useful 37.9%
Somewhat useful 23.7%
Not so useful 1.9%
Not at all useful 0.6%

Communication preferences

How useful did or do you find the following communication channels to get news and updates from DVSA? (select all that apply)

Channel Extremely useful Very useful Somewhat useful Not so useful Not at all useful I do not use this channel Total
Broadcast media 5.4% 10.0% 23.3% 15.7% 12.4% 33.1% 100%
DVSA social media channels 8.4% 14.7% 22.1% 9.9% 7.3% 37.5% 100%
Emails and DVSA Direct email alerts 29.8% 29.9% 27.1% 5.9% 4.7% 2.5% 100%
GOV.UK 21.6% 27.9% 31.1% 8.4% 5.6% 5.5% 100%
Group forums 10.2% 16.9% 20.8% 6.7% 4.8% 40.6% 100%
News releases and press briefings 16.8% 23.2% 31.0% 9.6% 7.7% 11.6% 100%
Phone calls 5.3% 7.8% 12.1% 7.7% 9.0% 58.0% 100%
Print news media 5.0% 9.7% 22.0% 14.3% 10.9% 38.1% 100%
Public webinars 4.2% 7.1% 12.8% 7.0% 4.9% 64.1% 100%
Test centre surgeries 7.5% 10.7% 12.5% 5.3% 7.3% 56.7% 100.0%
Video calls and meetings 2.9% 5.3% 8.2% 5.8% 5.4% 72.4% 100%

Which of the following channels are you most interested in using? (select all that apply)

Channel Very interested Might be interested Not at all interested Don’t know Total
Broadcast media 22.4% 35.6% 25.1% 16.8% 100%
DVSA podcasts 15.0% 35.1% 30.5% 19.4% 100%
DVSA social media channels 34.4% 33.2% 20.3% 12.0% 100%
Emails and DVSA Direct email alerts 82.9% 14.8% 1.2% 1.1% 100%
GOV.UK 60.1% 30.6% 5.2% 4.1% 100%
Group forums 23.8% 32.8% 27.3% 16.1% 100%
News releases and press briefings 47.1% 35.1% 11.0% 6.7% 100%
Phone calls 14.3% 26.3% 47.0% 12.4% 100%
Print news media 21.3% 30.4% 32.5% 15.7% 100%
Public webinars 13.7% 29.1% 36.3% 20.9% 100%
Test centre surgeries 41.1% 36.9% 12.2% 9.9% 100%
Video calls and meetings 11.6% 34.9% 39.3% 14.2% 100%