The trouble with most people is that they would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism

So, how has the spending review affected you? Good? Bad?

Or do you not care one bit?

One thing we all care about however is our own lives and in particular our families and the need to take control of our future.

I guess this has never been illustrated more perfectly than with the recent changes to the Driving Test and an emphasis on independent decision making and planning. How do you plan your progress? Can you follow the signs to a better life?

The one thing that will always be certain is that the need for expertly trained driving instructors will always be there and will increase this next year, especially for the millions of driving lessons delivered across the country every year, not to mention the drop in new trainee instructors and of course the test changes.

In fact one of the main reasons people come to us to become a driving instructor is to find a job and career that is secure and constant. Driving Instructors, Driving Instructor Training and Driving Schools will always be busy… as long as we keep driving and keep needing to react to the changes in life. In fact, how important is our driving license to us all, especially in the current climate?

But equally as important must be the company we choose to train us to achieve this control. You must make the right decision.

I guess all the main players must be considered: BSM have been providing lessons for Driving Instructors for generations and are a good driving school; so too are The AA. But don’t they just want you their driving schools and their expensive franchises? Well, to an extent yes, and their huge budgets need funding from somewhere but they are good schools. Maybe these should only be considered when you ARE A Driving Instructor?

So what about RED? RED driving School and RED Instructor Training have taken a lot of bad press recently following their recent takeover, and falling into administration has created lots of negativity and a hate campaign from hundreds of disgruntled customers. So much so, that this hatred has lead to the point where RED appeared on 3 (yes) 3 national TV shows for bad practice and poor standards! So is this criticism justified? There is no doubt many of RED ‘s staff are very dedicated and professional but to pay for HUGE, EXPENSIVE advertising campaigns, something must go, hence alleged poor training procedures and lack of support. RED also suffered from accusations of unscrupulous hard selling, and recruiting hundreds of people that frankly and little chance of finishing the training and accusations of not responding to help and requests for cancellation meant many customers accused them of creating a deliberately difficult learning environment which led to many simply dropping out. AND with RED ‘s course costing £2000 more than it really should, what is all this money going on? Well it couldn’t have been on training or the complaints would never have arisen! The TV advertising cant be cheap and then with those dropping out costing nothing to train suggests there is only one place the money could be!! Answers on a postcard! So this lead to administration and a subsequent buy out, and a change in direction from Driving Instructor Training to the driving school meaning harsh cost cutting and a ‘back to basics’ attitude; does this remind you of another large, false prophesying organisation now having to trim back, start again and spend years trying to repair the damage- namely Her Majesty’s Government?!

So who is out there to provide independent, impartial, proven, successful and value for money training? Well, you’ve already found this blog. Explore the site.

My thought for the day is this, from Dr. Norman Vincent Peel an american clergyman: “The trouble with most people is that they would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”.

Good luck with your chosen career, this IS a great industry for the right people. If you want any further information on it, or how it will help you, get in touch!

Yours,

SmartDriving