Can a driving instructor yell at you?

My Driving Instructor sometimes raises his voice at me

Is it acceptable of your driving instructor to continually raise his voice at you?

Of course not. We all know it shouldn’t happen but it happens from time to me. And in my experience there are reasons why your instructor may shout at you.

1- Because they have an impatient personality OR

2- Because they feel under pressure to make a difference

The first is simply a personality issue. In my view anyone who can’t accept people’s mistakes should not be a teacher. But the issue about being under pressure to perform is an interesting one for me.

You see, a lot of driving instructors are trying so hard to help you. And when they see that you are not making the progress they expect, they put more pressure on you to learn.

If nothing happens, the whole thing turns into a one way communication involving shouting and yelling. They resort to telling you exactly what to do because its easier. But that’s not teaching.

But Why Do They Feel Under Pressure To Perform?

In my experience, its because they feel that they don’t have enough time to teach you the things that you want to learn.

Its either because the lessons are too short for them to explain what to do and leave you with enough time to practice, OR

Because you have a test coming up and they feel that you have a lot to learn before you are ready.

So what Can you do about it?

FIRST, as soon as you see that your instructor regularly shouts at you – and doesn’t accept you and your mistakes dump them and try someone else.

This type of instructor was never meant to be a teacher and they should not be teaching you.

ON OTHER HAND, if your instructor used to be good… but now they’re getting impatient and frustrated, its because they see that you are not making the progress that they think you should.

In their eyes you started off well.

..You made initial progress.

..But now progress is slow.

..You seem to be doing the same things week after week.

..They feel that they’re saying everything they say to everyone.

..But for some reason, you’re still making mistakes.

This is mainly because you don’t drive enough. You’re taking one hour lessons, and you miss lessons on a regular basis.

A lot of driving instructors hate this.

I hate it too because I never spend enough time with you. What for? To explain things and to allow enough time to practice them.

And if you have a test booked and you’re missing lessons or continuing to take one or 1.5 hour lessons you’re not helping yourself.

What’s the Solution?

Your solution is a very simple one. Don’t start taking driving lessons unless you have the finances and the commitment to see it through to the end.

And if you do, you’ll be wasting your time and money. But more important than that, you’ll never be a safe and confident driver, good enough to pass a test.

And if you were lucky enough to fluke it and pass, you’ll still remain a nervous and an indecisive driver for the rest of your life.

The reason why intensive driving lessons are so good its because they give the driving instructor a enough hours in a day or week to work with you.

This makes them calm and it takes pressure off you to perform. For example if you don’t understand a certain manoeuvre, you can do it over and over again until you’re happy.

No shouting and yelling. Just a peaceful time for you to learn what you need to learn.

Finally..

Whatever instructor you choose to go with, you MUST take at least a 2.0 hour lesson at a time. And ideally you should take two, 2.0 hour lessons per week.

In our school students are expected to take two, 2.0 hour lessons per week without fail. And if there not committed to this, we don’t take them on.

Thanks for reading

I am Your Instructor

We are a driving school in East London, offering:

Driving Lessons In Ilford, Driving Lessons in Chigwell, Driving Lessons in Woodford and Driving Lessons in Walthamstow.

We pride ourselves for teaching students from beginner to test standard in 8 weeks or less. And we achieve this by doing only two 2.0hr lessons per week.

If you already have some driving experience you could be ready in just a few weeks. And we find and book you an early test.

We also allow you to try us for one lessons at a reduced rate. And we give a full refund if you don’t like the lesson.

Fees & Passes

Although an entrance fee is required to enter Yellowstone National Park, vehicle reservations are not needed. Find out more about entrance passes below.

Entering Through South Entrance

Visitors entering Yellowstone National Park’s South Entrance will be traveling through Grand Teton National Park first. Note that separate entrance fees are charged for each park.

FIND OUT MORE

• Free Entrance Days
• America the Beautiful Passes
• Your Fee Dollars at Work

You are required to pay an entrance fee in order to access Yellowstone National Park. Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, national parks keep 80% of all fees collected and use that money to fund critical projects that improve services and protect resources. In Yellowstone, entrance fee revenue provides $8.8 million a year for accessibility improvements, campgrounds, infrastructure, roads, native fish restoration, aquatic invasive species mitigation, and more. Thank you for your support!

Whether you’re planning a single visit or coming back multiple times a year, enjoy the convenience of purchasing a Yellowstone National Park site-specific digital pass online before you arrive. You have immediate access to your digital pass and can easily download it on your phone or tablet. Your pass will also be emailed as a PDF and can be printed out for display when you arrive.

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Seven-day Entrance Passes

An entrance pass is required to enter Yellowstone National Park. All entrance passes are valid for unlimited entry for seven consecutive days, beginning on the date of purchase. Entrance passes may be purchased online or at any entrance station. If you are visiting other federal recreation areas consider purchasing an America the Beautiful Interagency Annual or Lifetime Pass (see below) when you arrive at the park. Only purchase a Yellowstone Entrance Pass if you do not plan to use another pass to cover the entrance fee. The following passes are available:

• Yellowstone Entrance Pass — Single Vehicle (Private): $35 Unlimited entry for one vehicle and all passengers for seven consecutive days, beginning on the day of purchase. Vehicles must be private, non-commercial, and with a seating capacity of 15 or less.
• Yellowstone Entrance Pass — Buses/Vans (Private): $20 per person Non-commercial group (e.g. church groups, scouts) traveling in a vehicle with a capacity of 16 or more people. Unlimited entry for one vehicle and all passengers for seven consecutive days, beginning on the day of purchase.
• Yellowstone Entrance Pass — Single Motorcycle/Snowmobile: $30 Entry for one motorcycle or snowmobile and one passenger for seven consecutive days, beginning on the day of purchase.
• Yellowstone Entrance Pass — Individual Person: $20 Entry for visitors on foot, bicycle, ski, etc., when 16 years of age or older. Children 15 years and younger are admitted for free. Anyone traveling through the park for business or commercial purposes needs a commercial travel permit.

Annual Passes

For all annual passes, the pass holder must be present with identification for entry into Yellowstone National Park. We cannot look up information if your pass is lost or stolen and cannot accept receipts or pictures of the pass in lieu of the actual pass. On a snowmobile, annual passes admit the signer(s). When traveling by snowcoach or shuttle, they admit a signer and up to three additional adults. Children under 16 are admitted for free and are not included in these totals. The following annual passes are available:

• Yellowstone Annual Pass: $70 Provides unlimited entry for one year (valid through the month of purchase) to the pass holder and passengers in the same vehicle, or pass holder and up to three persons where per person fees are charged. Purchase online or at any entrance station.

• America the Beautiful — Annual Pass: $80 Covers entrance fees at all national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees (day use fees) at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A pass covers entrance, standard amenity fees and day use fees for a driver and all passengers in a personal vehicle. Children age 15 or under are admitted free. Purchase online or at any of our entrance stations.

• America the Beautiful — Annual Senior Pass: $20 Available for all U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over. An America the Beautiful — Lifetime Senior Pass is also available. Covers entrance fees at all national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees (day use fees) at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Senior Pass may provide a 50 percent discount on some amenity fees charged for facilities and services, such as camping. Purchase online or at any of our entrance stations.

• America the Beautiful — Military Pass: Free Available for current U.S. military members and their dependents in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force, as well as Reserve and National Guard members. Covers entrance fees at over 2,000 federal recreation sites. Must be obtained in person at one of our entrance stations by showing a Common Access Card (CAC) or Military ID (Form 1173). Learn more about the annual Military Pass

• America the Beautiful — Volunteer Pass: Free Available for volunteers with 250 service hours with federal agencies that participate in the Interagency Pass Program. Covers entrance fees at over 2,000 federal recreation sites. Learn more about the Volunteer Pass or how to become a volunteer.

• Annual Fourth Grade Pass: Free Available for all U.S. 4th graders (including home-schooled and free-choice learners 10 years of age) with a valid Every Kid Outdoors paper pass, and valid for the duration of the 4th grade school year though the following summer (September-August). Paper passes can be obtained by visiting the Every Kid Outdoors website.

Lifetime Passes

For all lifetime passes, the pass holder must be present with identification for entry into Yellowstone National Park. We cannot look up information if your pass is lost or stolen and cannot accept receipts or pictures of the pass in lieu of the actual pass. On a snowmobile, lifetime passes admit the signer. When traveling by snowcoach or shuttle, they admit a signer and up to three additional adults. Children under 16 are admitted for free and are not included in these totals. The following lifetime passes are available:

• America the Beautiful — Lifetime Senior Pass — $80 Available for all U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over. An America the Beautiful — Annual Senior Pass is also available. Covers entrance fees at all national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees (day use fees) at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Senior Pass may provide a 50 percent discount on some amenity fees charged for facilities and services, such as camping. Purchase online or at any Yellowstone National Park entrance station.

• America the Beautiful — Lifetime Access Pass — Free Available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability (does not have to be a 100% disability). Provides entrance or access to pass owner and accompanying passengers in a single, private, non-commercial vehicle at federally-operated recreation sites across the country. You must provide additional documentation to obtain this pass. The Access Pass may provide a 50 percent discount on some amenity fees charged for facilities and services, such as camping. Purchase online or at any Yellowstone National Park entrance station.

• Military Veterans and Gold Star Family Access Pass — Free Available to Gold Star Families and U.S. military veterans. Covers entrance fees at all national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees (day use fees) at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation. Find out more information about the Military Veterans and Gold Star Family Free Access Program.

Seven-day Entrance Passes — Commercial

A commercial tour is defined as consisting of one or more persons traveling on an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or sold for leisure or recreational purposes by an organization that realizes financial gain through the provision of the service. Commercial passes must be purchased in person at one of our entrance stations. Pass is good for seven days as long as it’s the same passenger group. The following commercial entrance passes are available:

• Yellowstone Entrance Pass — Commercial Sedan (1-6 Seats): $25 + $20 per person

• Yellowstone Entrance Fee — Commercial Van (7-15 Passengers): $125 Based upon the total capacity of a vehicle that can carry 7-15 passengers, regardless of the actual number of passengers.

• Yellowstone Entrance Fee — Commercial Tour (16-25 Passengers): $200 Based upon the total capacity of a vehicle that can carry 16-25 passengers, regardless of the actual number of passengers.
• Yellowstone Entrance Fee — Commercial Tour (26+ Passengers): $300 Based upon the total capacity of a vehicle that can carry 26 or more passengers, regardless of the actual number of passengers.

All commercial operators are independently responsible for understanding and complying with the most current applicable laws, regulations, orders, ordinances and other requirements and for conducting their operations in a manner that is safe and protects the health of employees, customers and the public.

The following list outlines some (but not all) applicable laws, public health orders, and guidance commercial tour bus operators must follow:

• NPS Requirements and Guidance: Public Health Information for the Park Partner Community (U.S. National Park Service)
• NPS Office of Public Health: A message to Yellowstone CUA Partners
• CDC Requirements and Guidance: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidance

If you are a Road-Based Commercial Tour operator and would like to receive communication from the park about operational changes, please email us your business name, contact name, address, phone number, and email address.

Academic Fee Waivers

School groups and other approved academic institutions can obtain a waiver of entrance fees, provided the group is visiting for educational purposes and the resources the group intends to use support those purposes. Learn more about academic fee waivers.

Camping Fees

Camping fees are separate from your entrance fee to Yellowstone National Park. Holders of Interagency Senior and Access passess are eligible for a 50% discount on their camping fee at all campgrounds except for Fishing Bridge RV Park. Please be prepared to present your pass along with a photo ID. If reserving a site online through Recreation.gov, your pass information must be provided at the time the reservation is made to receive the discount. Learn more about camping in Yellowstone National Park.

Other Fee and Pass Regulations

• Passes are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• Passes may be used for entry as defined on the back of the pass.
• All snowmobiles must be on a guided tour or have a current permit.

As a driving instructor, should I increase my hourly rate?

It’s always tough to know when is the right time to increase your lesson price. What should I charge? What will my pupils say? Am I worth that much? Trust us, you are and this guide will show you how to successfully raise your lesson prices.

It’s the start of 2021 and driving lessons haven’t resumed yet, but before they do, perhaps it’s time to increase your lesson rates. Being an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) is an extremely long and challenging job. You’re wearing many hats, and you’re teaching a valuable skill that lasts a life time — you have to ensure that you are being compensated correctly.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pent-up demand that it has created, this is the time to increase your prices. If you lose a pupil, there will be another one around the corner. You are, for a lack of a better phrase (really really sorry for this pun) in the driving seat.

Step 1: It’s time to work backwards

When setting any goal, we find it best to work out where you want to end up. What is the end goal for you? And like all goals, having a measurable and realistic value will help ensure you can track how you are progressing. You can read about SMART Goals on this blog here.

So the question is, what is your annual salary you want to earn in the next 12 months?

Several different sources cite £34,000 is the average salary of an ADI. This data is from 2018, so by taking inflation into consideration and any additional costs due to COVID-19 and Brexit, we should be looking at raising this figure.

If you wanted to to earn £37,000 per year, what would that look like?

First, you have to look at the maths — how does that salary breakdown? Well, take 5 hours of teaching each day, 5 times per week, accounting for 6 weeks off (which you won’t be paid for). This would mean to hit £37,000 you would need to earn £32 per driving lesson.

This may or may not be what you charge now, however, all over the country numerous instructors charge this and more.

We have built this tool for driving instructors so you can figure out a working pattern is best for you.

Driving Instructor Salary Tool

No. Lessons per Day:
No. Days per Week:
No. Weeks per Year:
Hourly Rate:

We estimate your annual salary as a driving instructor works out at as:

£36,685

There is an error with your Lessons per Day value, please ensure it is between 0 and 11

There is an error with your Days per Week value, please ensure it is between 1 and 7

There is an error with your Weeks per Year value, please ensure it is between 25 and 52

There is an error with your hourly rate, please ensure it is between 15 and 60

If the widget does not work, try refreshing your browser.

It’s up to you to work out what is your goal, and how much you wish to work. Remember to consider, lesson packages and block bookings (we cover this later). Also, your quality of life is an important factor — remember to take time with your family and friends into account.

Actions:

• Write down what you want your annual salary to be.
• Ask yourself why, you want that to be your salary — what will you do with the money. Write this down.
• Work backwards on how you can realistically achieve this goal in terms of hours work, number of pupils and even how much time off you will give yourself.
• Don’t forget tax! You can use Listen To the Tax — a great tool to work out how much tax you will need to pay on your business.
• Think Value Add! Electric Vehicles and Automatic instructor charge more and they are even more in demand. You can boost your business by jumping on the bandwagon!

Step 2: What are your outgoings?

Now that you know what you want your end goal to be, it’s time to analyse your outgoings and realise how much money you will have at the end of each month.

Listing all your outgoings on a sheet of paper or a spreadsheet is a great way to visual how much you are spending. It’s so easy to forget what we are spending our money on, we often overlook it.

Your business expenses like the cost of your vehicle, road tax, insurance, you standards check (even though this is once every 3 years, divide the cost by 3 then by 12 to get that monthly cost). How much does your website cost? Your spend on Yell.com. Facebook Ads. Any instructor apps that you may use too.

Split these into Essential, Nice to Have and Can Do Without.

Next to each of the expenses, work out the price and calculate your monthly cost of running your driving school. Then ask yourself, how does this compare to your monthly revenue after tax. How much does this leave left over? Is that enough for your cost of living? Enough for your goals in life? For your holiday or hobbies? If not, revisit Step 1 and increase your price per lesson again.

Actions:

• List out all your costs and how much they cost you each month.
• Ensure you have enough left over for your lifestyle, and if not look at increasing your hourly rate.
• Split your costs into Essentials, Nice to Haves and Can Do Withouts.

Step 3: What are your local market rates?

Ever wondered what Bob from down the road is charging? Or wonder to yourself «I can’t believe she charges this much! We were taught by the same trainer!» when you see someone else charging more than you? That’s fine — everyone has been there in many different careers.

It’s important not to compare yourself to others, you are on your own journey. However, looking at the market rate objectively is a data gathering exercise and must be done at least every 12 months.

How do you research local market rates? You can look on what driving instructors are charging on their Facebook pages, or their websites too.

Although GoRoadie hasn’t launched all over the UK, you could use us to get a good idea of how much instructors in your area charge.

Enter your postcode to see what instructors charge in your area:
Search Driving Instructors Search

We couldn’t recognise that postcode — please check and try again

Actions:

• Research how much local driving instructors in your area are charging. Write down the values from the lowest to the highest.
• If you see anyone offering 10 lessons for £100, ignore it and simply realise that is an outlier. We are here to focus on achieving your goals not fixating on others cash-flow.
• If you are already at the top-tier, there is no any harm increasing your prices further, remember this is time for price increase.

Step 4: Figure out your packages and block discounts!

This is where you need to be cautious. Learners like packages because like all of us, they like a good deal. This entire exercise is all about increasing your hourly rate — so what you don’t want is to throw that away by giving huge discounts.

In Step 1, we picked what our annual salary would be, now by adding discounts you will be reducing this value — perhaps by 2% to 5%. This means, when setting your lessons prices, you need to build in a 2% to 5% margin, so ensure that you earn your ideal yearly salary.

Actions:

• Ensure that your yearly salary has a 2% or 5% margin for block discounts.

Step 5: Reduce your costs, where it makes sense.

The last step we have today is to look at your costs — all your costs and analyse the benefits.

Do you have a website? If so, how much value do you get from that website? To work out your customer acquisition cost, you have to understand how much it costs to run. Write down how much it cost to build (if that is your own time, then write down your hourly rate), if you are using Wix or SquareSpace, note down the monthly cost associated with it. If you have a private company hosting your website, how much that cost. Do you use Yell.com or GoogleAds to give yourself a boost, these costs need to be factored in.

Once you have your total costs per month, analyse how many pupil leads this generates. On average how many emails or enquiries do you receive per month. Once you have this figure, you must work out how many of them convert to a paying pupil in your car. Use this last figure, and you can then work out your customer acquisition cost. And now ask yourself, is that worth it for attaining new business.

You can then do this with other outgoings too.

Actions:

• Work out your customer acquisition costs for your Website, Facebook Ads, or Yell pages.
• Look at other monthly subscriptions you have, and ensure you understand their value.

Optional: Price increase for new students only

We received some feedback from ADIs across the UK and here is a piece of advice we heard numerous times that we agree with.

Steven Cranfield, ADI, suggests «Whenever I have raised my prices I usually do for new starters only which can take awhile for everyone to be on the new rate»

This means you could keep your prices the same for existing pupils and any new pupils that start, would start paying your new rate.

Ready to prepare your business to attract new pupils?

Join the 1,000+ ADIs and start your free online profile, today:

• Free to sign up
• Free profile, forever

• Accept only the pupils you want
• Full control your pricing, discounts and availability

We have no hidden charges and every pupils request you accept comes with our popular bums-in-seats guarantee — if the pupil never gets in your car, your next pupil is free.

There’s absolutely no risk, so try us out today!