Year: 2021

Inclusive Driving is run by just one instructor: me. And I’m very sorry to direct you to this standard reply. But I receive up to ten enquiries per day and I simply cannot reply to everybody.

Can I book driving lessons with you?

I am currently fully booked for the foreseeable future. When I say “foreseeable future”, I really mean that; I simply do not know when I will next have a vacancy. When I take on a new learner, there is no way of knowing whether they will pass in a few months, or whether they will take over a year. This means that I cannot predict how long it will be before I will next have a vacancy to take a new student from the waiting list.

So you have a waiting list? Can I go on it?

Yes, I do have a waiting list. But it has become so long that I am not currently adding to it. If I added more people to it, I would be giving false hope. If I added you to the waiting list now, I’m afraid there would be no realistic prospect of you ever reaching the top.

I am working through the current waiting list person by person, and I am not adding new people to the list. Once the list is clear, I will no longer operate a waiting list system.

If there is no waiting list, how do I have lessons with you.

I’m afraid it will be luck of the draw. When the waiting list is clear, I will simply take on the next suitable enquiry who makes contact. To make things more manageable, I will only take on learners who have already passed their theory test.

I allocate approximately half of my available hours to teaching learners with various physical and learning disabilities. The remaining time is spent with full-licence holders needing rehabilitation lessons, and trainee driving instructors.

Has your driving instructor really let you down at the last minute? Honestly? Or have they told you that you are not yet at the required standard? There’s the difference.

On your side and our code of conduct

Firstly, if your instructor truly has dropped a bombshell on you at such short notice that you will lose your test fee, then I’m on your side. I’m still not going to let you use my car, and I highly doubt that any other instructor will let you use theirs either. But I will advise you to report the instructor to the DVSA. Our code of conduct states that we should give you enough notice that you can cancel or move your test without losing your test fee. And I think that is only fair on you.

However, our code of conduct also states that we should not take a learner to a test if we don’t believe they have met the required standard. We have a professional duty to be gatekeepers to the driving test, and we have a duty of safety to the examiners and the other road users. The DVSA will always support a driving instructor who does this, so long as it is done with enough time to move your test without losing your money. So, if this is what has happened, then quite simply there’s no point complaining to the DVSA: they won’t support you.

Difficult conversations

Advising a learner that they are not ready for a driving test is a very difficult conversation to have, and it is why my personal policy is that I do not take on students who have already booked a test; especially if that test is very soon. It’s just too awkward to assess your driving and then potentially have to burst your bubble. I simply avoid putting myself in that situation. You might be an amazing driver; in which case I could make a very easy few quid. But I’m not going to risk it. And I’m also not going to go to the trouble of rearranging my other lessons to fit you in. That’s an organisational nightmare that could take me well over an hour. I’m also quite sure that if you are an amazing driver then your current instructor would want to take you to your test: the DVSA track our pass rate, so if you are a guaranteed pass then I’m sure your existing instructor will take you!

Are you the problem?

How an instructor chooses to tell you that they are refusing to take you to your test, depends on how they think you will react. If they think you’ll be happy to listen to their advice and accept that you are not ready, then they’ll tell you. However, if you are the sort of person who thinks they know better than the instructor, and will be argumentative or aggressive, then it’s more likely the instructor will avoid confrontation and simply be “fully booked”.

Personally, I don’t let my learners get into this situation anyway. With on-going honest feedback during every lesson, and with my policy of only booking a test when you will be ready, there are never any unwanted conversations at the last minute.

So will you take me to my test?

If you have contacted me asking if I can take you for your driving test next week, then the following will happen.

1. I will be very sceptical when you tell me your instructor has “let you down at the last minute”.
2. I will not let you use my car. Why would I hand someone the keys to the most expensive thing I own when I’ve never seen their standard of driving.

What can you do? If you believe you are the required standard to take the driving test, then ask a family member to insure you on their car and take the test in it. If they say, “NO”, then ask them why not…it’ll probably be the same reason why I won’t let you use my car either.

When you are a new driving instructor, or are a trainee, you may find it difficult to work out how many hours you need to work to make a living. You need to pay the mortgage or rent, pay the bills, have enough money to eat. And then you’ve got to factor in your business expenses.

That’s relatively easy with a calculator and a notepad. But what about tax and national insurance? How do you factor that in to your calculations?

To help you, there is a free Excel spreadsheet which lets you work it out.

From there, the spreadsheet will perform some calculations on your living expenses and business expenses. Then it will estimate your tax bill for the year, look at your hourly rate and magically tell you how many hours per week you will need to work. Remember this is the number of hours of lessons: don’t forget to allow time for admin and travel.

You can download this spreadsheet for free.

Upgraded Version

You may also wish to take your forecast further. With this upgraded version you can factor in much more:

• Holiday weeks from your franchise and car lease payments
• Additional income sources such as pensions, partner’s wages, state benefits etc
• Forecast the effect of increasing your hourly rate!

This upgraded version is available to purchase and you will be able to download it straight away. If you can increase your hourly rate by £1, this might be the best £10 you spend.

Inclusive Driving is proud to work with the top support companies as awarded by Intelligent Instructor.

Each year, the Intelligent Instructor takes votes on the best companies and service providers for Driving Instructors. Our chosen partners have claimed the Top Three places in the awards. You can be sure that with Inclusive Driving, you are being supported by the very best!

We couldn’t be the driving school we are, without a little help from these three companies.

The way we provide your free theory practice is changing

We will continue to offer you free theory training by using the phone app from the same company: it is now called Driving Test Success Theory 4-in-1. Look for it in your Apple or Google app store. Make sure you download the correct app: Driving Test Success Theory 4-in-1

Initially, this app will cost you £4.99 but we will refund this amount when you complete your driving journey and take your practical driving test. The app does not expire and always contains the latest practice questions, video clips, and other information.

Pass Guarantee

The Driving Test Success 4-in-1 app includes a unique Pass Guarantee offer that sees your £23 test fee refunded if you fail your theory test! It’s a built-in insurance policy, which ensures you’re fully prepared to pass. We think this provides brilliant value for money.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3

1. Link the apps

Purchase the Driving Test Success 4-in-1 app (£4.99) then link it to MyDriveTime via the Student App.

(This will be refunded on the day of your driving test by reducing the lesson fee by £4.99)

2. Practice & prepare

Work through the full DVSA question bank and hazard clips, taking mock tests until you are ready.

3. Monitor your progress

Your instructor can view your activity and performance in real-time via the MyDriveTime student record to keep track of your progress and support you during lessons with anything you are finding more difficult.

Access to the existing DTS Anytime platform will be removed in March.

Many learners have found that during Lockdowns 1,2 and 3, their theory certificates have expired, and for many Inclusive Driving customers, it wasn’t easy to gain your certificate in the first place. Unfortunately, there are no government plans to extend them, as this would require a change in legislation.

We will pay for your theory test

But it’s good news for Inclusive Driving customers: if your Theory Test Certificate expired between 23rd March 2020 and 11th April 2021, we will subsidise the cost of taking your next theory test.

Show your original (expired) and new theory test certificates, and we will subtract the cost of retaking your theory test (£23) from the cost of your lesson on the day of your practical driving test.

Terms

To qualify for this offer you must satisfy all of the following:

1. You must have been an active Inclusive Driving customer prior to 23rd March 2020
2. You must have had a practical driving test booked and cancelled between 23rd March 2020 and 11th April 2021
3. Your theory test certificate must have expired between 23rd March 2020 and 11th April 2021
4. You must retake your theory test before 11th October 2021
5. You must take your subsequent practical driving test before 31st December 2021

Inclusive Driving will reimburse the cost of your first attempt at retaking your theory test by subtracting £23 from the cost of your driving lesson on the day of your driving test.

Going Auto in June 2021

Inclusive Driving has decided to make the switch to automatic, and has ordered a new car for June 2021: a Toyota Corolla Hybrid. Had we not experienced a 3-month lockdown in March 2020, we would have been switching next week.

Not an inferior option

It used to be that Automatic was the inferior option. Automatics were less reliable, less fuel-efficient and, when you passed your test you were severely restricted in your choice of car. While passing your driving test in an automatic will still mean you cannot drive a car with a manual gearbox, it is no longer as big a deal as people think. Even Driving Instructors are clinging to manual cars, as though it is somehow better.

Fuel-efficient driving

We are excited: automatic fits in with our environmental policy. We would love to go fully electric but at the moment, logistics at home for effective recharging, make it impractical at the moment. Our plan is to be electric, with 100% renewable energy by 2023: still, seven years before the UK government makes it compulsory.

Testing times

Sadly, multiple periods of lockdown due to Covid-19 means that the transition to auto will not be as smooth as we had originally planned; and for those of you who particularly want to pass the driving test in a manual car, there is now a bit of time pressure.

Driving lessons are provisionally due to resume on 12th April 2021, giving a window of about seven weeks to take a test in the current Ford Fiesta manual before we make the switch.

We will do everything we can to support you before this deadline arrives. And no need to worry … I have a number of very instructor colleagues who will still be offering manual lessons after this date, and I trust them implicitly.

Disability

Secretly, we wanted to go auto two years ago when Inclusive Driving was born, as auto is also superior when it comes to learning to drive with dyslexia, dyspraxia, and many other disabilities … and that’s what Inclusive Driving is all about. It was again, down to purely practical matters surrounding leaving a national driving school and setting up our own company that kept us teaching manual.

As always, if you have any questions then please do contact me. I really look forward to supporting you and, as we approach the 2nd anniversary of Inclusive Driving being a thing, here’s to the next two years!