How Much Do Driving Instructors Earn - Hourly, Weekly, While Training, and Earnings Calculator?
An Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) is someone who is licensed within Great Britain to take payment for teaching other people to drive.
An ADI is able to work from anything between 10 and 50 hours per week, earning an annual gross income of £14,640 to £78,000 per year.
The following table shows the average hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annual incomes of all driving instructors in different regions of the UK:
| UK | Greater London | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | £32 to £34 | £34 to £36 | |
| Daily | £192 to £204 | £204 to £216 | 6 hour-long lessons / day |
| Weekly | £960 to £1,020 | £1,020 to £1,080 | 5 days / week |
| Monthly | £3,840 to £4,080 | £4,080 to £4,320 | |
| Annually | £46,080 to £48,960 | £48,960 to £51,840 | 48 weeks / year |
Table of Contents
Which Factors Affect How Much a Driving Instructor is Able to Earn?
As a flexible profession, the amount of money a driving instructor is able to earn depends on 7 main factors, which are listed in the bullet points below.
- The price that is charged for each lesson
- The number of learners the driving instructor decides to teach
- The number of hours the ADI chooses to work
- The region in which the instructor is teaching
- Whether the ADI chooses to target a specific niche audience for driving instruction. Examples include automatic only, nervous learners and disabled drivers.
- How efficiently the instructor completes business administration and overhead tasks. Such tasks include record keeping, diary management and driving between lesson appointments.
- Business expenses, such as marketing costs and fuel.
A full-time driving instructor typically teaches for 30-35 hours per week, although it is possible to work for as many as 50 hours. Part-time instructors typically teach for between 10 and 25 hours per week.
Are Driving Instructors Able to Make a Lot of Money?
According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (April 2023), the median weekly pay for employed people in full-time jobs is £670.
As the tables below demonstrate, a driving instructor teaching 40 hours per week with Surepass is able to earn a gross income of £1,280.
However, given that an ADI must also spend some unpaid hours per week administering their driving instructor business, a comparison with a 30 to 35-hour teaching week is more realistic.
Once again, however, the comparison is favourable. Surepass driving instructors are able to earn £960 for a 30-hour week, and £1,120 for a 35-hour working week – this is 70% higher than the national average.
How Are ADIs Able to Maintain High Earnings?
The flexibility of working as a driving instructor means that there are 5 main ways in which an ADI is able to maintain high earnings, which are:
- Increase the number of lessons they teach.
- Focus teaching on a region that attracts higher average lesson prices.
- Improve marketing and advertising.
- Set up a website, blog and social media accounts to attract online traffic and followers.
- Boost their reputation in the local community, encouraging former learners to recommend the ADI’s services.
The more that an ADI is able to establish a good name for themselves, the higher the demand for their services will be. Higher demand, in turn, means that an ADI is able to charge more for each lesson they give.
What are the Weekly, Monthly and Annual Earnings for a Driving Instructor with Surepass?
What Is The Average Weekly Income For A Driving Instructor?
With Surepass, an ADI is able to earn the following, weekly gross income depending upon the number of hours they choose to work*:
| Weekly Teaching Hours | Weekly Gross Income |
| 10 | £320 |
| 15 | £480 |
| 20 | £640 |
| 25 | £800 |
| 30 | £960 |
| 35 | £1,120 |
| 40 | £1,280 |
| 45 | £1,440 |
| 50 | £1,600 |
What Is The Average Monthly Income For A Driving Instructor?
The monthly average income for a driving instructor with Surepass is shown in the table below, based on the number of hours they choose to work*:
| Weekly Teaching Hours | Monthly Gross Income |
| 10 | £1,280 |
| 15 | £1,920 |
| 20 | £2,560 |
| 25 | £3,200 |
| 30 | £3,840 |
| 35 | £4,480 |
| 40 | £5,120 |
| 45 | £5,760 |
| 50 | £6,400 |
What Is The Typical Annual Salary For A Driving Instructor?
THe annual income for a driving instructor with Surepass is shown below, calcuated from their weekly lessons and a 48-week working year*:
| Weekly Teaching Hours | Annual Gross Income |
| 10 | £15,360 |
| 15 | £23,040 |
| 20 | £30,720 |
| 25 | £38,400 |
| 30 | £46,080 |
| 35 | £53,760 |
| 40 | £61,440 |
| 45 | £69,120 |
| 50 | £76,800 |
*Based on a 48-week working year, with the typical lesson price of £32 offered by Surepass. Regional variations apply.
How Much is a Provisional Driving Instructor Able to Earn While They Are Training?
With a trainee driving instructor’s licence, a trainee studying to take ADI Part Three is able to earn money by teaching learners to drive.
Any holder of a trainee licence must give lessons through an established driving school. Trainees cannot operate independently.
A trainee instructor’s earnings are therefore determined by:
- The typical lesson fee of the driving school.
- The number of hours the trainee is able to commit to teaching, in conjunction with the number of pupils the driving school is able to offer.
- The supervision fee of the driving school.
The majority of trainee instructors continue to earn money from another occupation. Therefore, the most they are normally able to teach under their trainee licence is 20 hours a week. However, should they decide to work full-time as a PDI while training, the PDI (trainee instructor) has the option of working full time until they qualify as an ADI. The PDI licence is required for this.
Subject to regional variations, therefore, the typical trainee is able to earn £640 for a 20-hour week, or up to £1,280 for a 40-hour week.
How is a Driving Instructor Able to Earn More Money?
1. Teach Only Local Students to Drive
Operating a driving instructor business over a wider area means that an ADI is able to tap into a larger customer base. However, the downside is that an ADI must spend more time travelling between each lesson appointment.
Any additional, unpaid travelling time eats into the total amount of available lesson time. Reducing the gap between each appointment is, therefore, a critical factor in maximising earnings.
One solution is for an ADI to focus their business on a densely populated area that promises an eager source of demand without having to travel too far.
2. Specialise in a Driving Instructor Niche
Driving instructors who specialise in teaching certain types of learner are often able to attract a premium.
Among the options from which an ADI is able to choose are:
- Older learners
- Nervous learners
- “Fast track” or intensive learners
- Learners with a disability
- Automatic vehicles
- Electric vehicles
- Offering lessons in a foreign language
To increase demand, an ADI must ensure that they have the additional skills and equipment necessary to cater to the niche in question.
For instance, teaching disabled learners requires a specially adapted vehicle. In addition, lessons are likely to include giving detailed advice on how the learner is able to accommodate their disability while driving a vehicle safely.
However, not all specialties are equally demanded everywhere.
Automatic-only learning, for instance, is generally more popular in urban areas. The greater number of traffic lights, intersections, roundabouts and denser traffic all require more frequent changes of gear, for which automatic vehicles are more convenient.
Further, lessons in a foreign language are in higher demand in areas with a large immigrant population.
Finally, female instructors have the option of catering to learners who – for reasons of religion, culture or personal comfort – prefer to learn with a female.
As only 1 in 4 registered ADIs are female, it is possible to attract a premium.
3. Maintain High Driving Instructor Standards
Word-of-mouth recommendations from former learners is a significant source of free advertising for ADIs.
An ADI must therefore maintain the highest standards at all times:
- Dress tidily and act professionally.
- Arrive for appointments promptly.
- Ensure the vehicle is clean and tidy both inside and out. If necessary, refresh the vehicle after each lesson by wiping down the steering wheel and gear stick, vacuuming the seat, and opening the windows.
Further, ADIs must keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date with continuous professional development:
- Participate in driving instructor training courses.
- Research matters related to driving instruction.
- Network with driver trainers.
- Attend meetings or seminars.
- Develop business skills.
- Research new vehicles and equipment.
4. Franchise with Surepass for Prepaid Pupils
Administrative needs exert significant pressure on a driving instructor’s business.
In particular, when operating independently, an ADI needs to maintain clear ledgers of all lesson appointments, the costs of each lesson, plus when and how much a learner paid for their lessons.
Nothing is likely to sink a driving instructor’s business faster than harassing a learner for money they do not owe, or forgetting to chase a learner with an outstanding bill.
With a Surepass franchise, however, all of these details are taken care of, allowing an ADI to focus their efforts on what they do best: teaching people to drive.
How Many Hours Does A Driving Instructor Work?
How Many Hours Does A Driving Instructor Work Per Week?
As a self-employed individual, a driving instructor is able to work for as little as 10 and for as many as 50 paid hours of teaching per week.
This makes driving instruction suitable for anyone looking for extra income, a part-time job, or a full-time career.
Further, an ADI is also able to vary their hours easily either with the season or to make adjustments to their lifestyle.
What Determines How Many Hours a Driving Instructor Works?
There are three major factors which contribute to the total number of hours that a driving instructor works:
- The number of lessons taught
- The time spent travelling between each lesson
- The time devoted to administrative and operational activities (e.g. accounting, arranging maintenance, etc.)
Of these three, an ADI receives income only for the lessons they teach.
While driving instructors have the freedom to increase the number of hours they teach, time spent on travelling and administration necessarily eats into the number of teaching hours. It is therefore best to try and keep this time to a minimum:
- Remain highly organised, setting aside some time each day, week or month to stay on top of administrative needs. Avoid especially the build-up of backlogs which eventually become too difficult to tackle easily.
- Ensure that all key contracts – e.g. vehicle hire, insurance, etc. – are up to date, with renewal and rollover dates prepared for.
- Make sure that sufficient funds are available to pay all obligations in full and on time.
- Focus on giving lessons only in a local area to reduce the time spent travelling between each lesson.
Generally, however, the number of hours an ADI ends up working is always down to their own, personal choice. Each ADI must decide how much teaching is suitable for their preferred work/life balance.
Do Driving Instructors Work In The Evening?
The precise hours an ADI decides to work are entirely their own choice. However, most learners have work and educational commitments of their own during the day, restricting the times in which they are free to take a driving lesson.
This means that evening lesson slots are often more highly demanded than slots offered during office hours, leading to the potential for charging premium lesson prices for evening work.
Generally, the more flexible an ADI is prepared to be in order to meet the needs of their customers, the more money they are likely to earn.
Do Driving Instructors Work At The Weekend?
For the same reasons that evening lesson slots are more popular, an ADI is able to attract a premium by teaching on the weekend.
However, even when teaching activities are concentrated during regular office hours, an ADI has business and administrative tasks to complete. Such tasks are liable to consume time in the evenings and at weekends.