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No one was prepared for 2020! I was no exception, nor was I immune to the life shattering changes that it would bring with it. In March, I was an instructor, examiner and airline captain flying an Airbus A320 in South Africa. Skip forward a few crazy months... I’m a UK DVSA Approved Driving Instructor, achieving an insane 51/51 on my first attempt.
Like everyone else, I to assumed the madness wouldn’t last more than a few weeks. Eventually reality set in and it was time for a career change.
Everything fell into place quickly. I wrote my ADI Part 1 (Theory) on 14th September and passed my Part 2 (Advanced Driving Test) on the 28th September with only 2 driving faults.
My original plan had me testing for my Part 3 (Instructional Ability) at the end of October, but a little burnout, stress and some luck had me delay it by a week. Best decision I could have made. Finally testing on the 5th November, I passed my Part 3 with a clean sheet, 51/51. Hard work and perseverance definitely pays off!
When I first started enquiring about training, I contacted all the “big” names in the industry. Each one told me the same thing.... At least 6 to 9 months to qualify, and if I didn’t train with them, then I probably wouldn’t be able to join them as an instructor, through their franchise options.
Since I didn’t have 6 to 9 months, it was time to do my own research, structure my own training and set my own goals and my own timeline. I do have an advantage though, I have been training for 22 years, from teaching pilots to fly light aircraft to airline training.
With a solid vision, a structured training program and a dedicated instructor, it’s possible to complete your ADI in just a few weeks. You’ll need discipline, a dynamic outlook and the willingness to travel. Finding availability to test, especially during Covid, with the intermittent lockdowns and an unprecedented backlog was extremely challenging.
I booked my Part 1 within a week, 90 minutes drive away. Part 2 was 2 weeks later, allowing time to find an instructor, complete 5 sessions (10 hours) of training and some “area recon” since the test area was 2 hours away, and I’d never driven there.
Initially my Part 3 was booked for 4 weeks later at the same testing centre as Part 2, but I got lucky, a slot in my local area became available, just one week later. So I grabbed it. Part 3 is the most challenging, demonstrating your ability to teach in a “real” world environment with an actual learner.
You have two options when it comes to preparing for the test, you can either go the PDI (Potential Driving Instructor) route and get experience while being paid, or alternatively direct to the ADI test. I decided on the latter.
To prepare for the Part 3, I used a combination of YouTube videos, a dedicated Facebook group and an experienced “local” instructor. There are literally thousands of training videos out there. Some are barely average, some are ok and others are absolutely priceless. I highly recommend “How 2 Drive” with Howard on YouTube and “Lou’s PDI Group” on Facebook. My instructor was Toby from Streets Ahead Aberdeen. Links below..
In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing my experiences, my preparation and recommended techniques, as well as the process I used in preparing for each of the stages in becoming an Approved Driving Instructor.