Bedford Driving Lessons

Up to 27,000 extra driving tests have been failed in the last year by learners taught by trainee instructors – while most pupils did not even know their instructor was learning on the job, AA investigations reveal. Much lower pass rates among those taught by trainee instructors have cost learners over £1.7 million in additional test fees over the past 12 months, with millions more believed to have been spent on extra lessons needed to reach test standard. The AA findings follow an expose by BBC One’s Rip Off Britain revealing that some major driving schools are charging pupils full-price for lessons without telling them their instructor is a trainee. Few learners realise that trainee instructors are allowed to give lessons unsupervised without having passed an exam on their ability to instruct. Yet the number of trainee instructors has soared in recent years – more than doubling in two years, to more than 7,600 by June 2010 – according to Driving Standards Agency data. This means one in seven instructors is now a trainee. A major government study 10 years ago found that learners taught by trainee instructors are 25% less likely to pass their driving test. It found that learners had little idea their instructor could be a trainee, yet they were generally charged full price. The study called for a major campaign to raise awareness about trainee instructors and their lower pupil pass rates. Yet a recent request by the AA for up-to-date pass rates for trainee instructors was declined by the DSA on the basis that it would take weeks of work to create the necessary database. More