You have reached the ripe old age of seventeen and want to start to drive (UK). It is costly and you want to be as certain as you can that the money you spend on the driving lessons is not wasted. You first need to locate a driving instructor and then ask suitable questions of him/her.
There are lots of directories on the web that have listings of driving schools and driving instructors. The largest I have found is the Driving Schools Directory who literally cover many thousands of UK towns. Enter your home town in the ‘search box’ and you will be presented with a list of schools that cover your area. Take notes of those that sound interesting to you.
When you make contact, 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 hold. A fully qualified driving instructor will have a green octagonal licence showing in heir car whereas a trainee will have a pink triangular licence.
Most driving instructors will offer a discount for booking multiple 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 deals.
Realise though that cheap isn’t always the best and you could end up taking more driving lessons than needed, thereby costing you more money in the long run. So, once you start your training, do not be afraid to change or try out another driving 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.
Remember, you are spending a lot of money and should therefore expect a top service.