My Mirror Stop

You have arrived at the magic age of 17 and want to start to drive (United Kingdom). It is costly and you want to be as confident as you can that the money you spend on your driving lessons is not thrown away. You will want to locate a driving school and then ask suitable questions of him/her.

There are many directories on the internet that have listings of driving schools and driving instructors. The largest I have found is the Driving Schools Directory who cover so many towns in the UK, it's hard to believe. Enter your home town in the 'search box' and you will be presented with a listing schools that cover your area. Take notes of those that may be of interest to you.

When you contact them, you will want to be sure that they have full qualifications and not 'trainee' instructors. You can tell this by the type of badge (licence) they display in their car. A fully qualified driving instructor will have a green octagonal badge showing in heir car whereas a learner ADI will have a pink triangular licence.

Most instructors will offer a discount for booking a number of lessons or if you are a student. Some will also offer discounts based on your profession e.g. nurses. Be sure to ask about these discounts.

Realise though that cheap isn't always the best and could result in taking more driving lessons than required, thereby costing you more money in the long run. So, once you start your lessons, do not be afraid to change or try an alternative instructor if you are not delighted for whatever reason.

Some of these reasons could be a personality clash, shouting, turning up late, using the lesson time to stop off at shops/do errands, stopping to use their mobile (illegal whilst driving), a dirty (smelly!) car etc.

Don't forget, you are paying good money and should therefore expect a high level of service.