Introduction
This report summarises research carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) about working as an approved driving instructor (ADI).
It aims to:
- find out how important things are changing over time
- get views on topical issues
We sent the survey to ADIs on 25 January 2022. The survey closed on 15 February 2022.
At the end of February 2022, there were 38,747 ADIs. Overall, there were 6,381 responses to this survey - 16.5% of all ADIs.
It’s the second time we have carried out this ADI survey. You can read the full June 2021 survey report.
Where the same question was asked in the previous survey, this report compares the changes over time.
Summary of findings
Summary of findings from January 2022
The report shows that:
- more businesses (80.5%) are now fully operational following the COVID-19 pandemic
- more than half of ADIs (52.4%) now charge £21 to £30 for a one-hour driving lesson
The report also shows that:
- the average number of people each ADI is training has reduced since June 2021
- most ADIs (72.1%) currently have a waiting list for new pupils
- most ADIs with a waiting list (68.4%) have 10 or fewer new pupils waiting to start lessons
- more than half of ADIs (64.6%) expect to have a waiting list for 6 months or less
About the driving instructor’s business
Business type and status
Where in Great Britain do you conduct most of your business?
| Survey |
England |
Scotland |
Wales |
Total |
| June 2021 |
85.9% |
9.1% |
5.0% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
86.0% |
9.5% |
4.6% |
100% |
What kind of trainer are you?
| Survey |
Independent |
Local driving school franchise |
National driving school |
Other |
Total |
| June 2021 |
69.4% |
17.4% |
11.4% |
1.8% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
70.8% |
16.9% |
11.1% |
1.3% |
100% |
Which of the following currently best describes your business?
| Answer |
Fully operational and open for business |
Partially operational (for example, at reduced hours) |
Not operating at all yet, but expecting to in the future |
Not operating at all and not expecting to |
Total |
| June 2021 |
77.7% |
20.5% |
1.3% |
1.1% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
80.5% |
17.5% |
0.9% |
1.1% |
100% |
Price charged for driving lessons
What is the average price that you charge for a standard 1 hour lesson?
| Survey |
Less than £20 |
£21 to £30 |
£31 to £40 |
£41 to £50 |
£51 or more |
Total |
| June 2021 |
0.4% |
64.7% |
33.4% |
1.1% |
0.4% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
0.2% |
52.4% |
45.6% |
1.5% |
0.2% |
100% |
Driving lessons
Number of learner drivers being taught
Approximately how many learners are you actively training at this time?
| Business status |
June 2021 |
January 2022 |
| Fully operational |
24.5 |
21.5 |
| Partially operational |
13.8 |
12.0 |
Would you say this is more or less than your pre-pandemic average?
Fully operational businesses
| Survey |
Training more learners than normal |
Training about the same level as normal |
Training fewer learners than normal |
Total |
| June 2021 |
52.7% |
40.2% |
7.2% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
31.3% |
55.4% |
13.3% |
100% |
Partially operational businesses
| Survey |
Training more learners than normal |
Training about the same level as normal |
Training fewer learners than normal |
Total |
| June 2021 |
8.3% |
17.5% |
74.1% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
7.3% |
30.8% |
61.9% |
100% |
Progress of learner drivers
Thinking about the learners that you are actively training, approximately how many have passed their theory test?
| Survey |
Number of learners |
| June 2021 |
13.0 |
| January 2022 |
12.3 |
Thinking about the learners that you are actively training, approximately how many have a practical test booked?
| Survey |
Number of learners |
| June 2021 |
8.0 |
| January 2022 |
7.9 |
Availability for new pupils and waiting lists
Do you currently have a waiting list for learners?
| Survey |
Yes |
No |
Total |
| June 2021 |
81.9% |
18.1% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
72.1% |
27.9% |
100% |
How many learners do you have waiting to start lessons?
| Answer |
1 to 5 |
6 to 10 |
11 to 20 |
More than 20 |
Total |
| June 2021 |
27.7% |
30.7% |
20.9% |
20.8% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
33.9% |
34.5% |
20.2% |
11.4% |
100% |
How long do you expect to have a waiting list of learners?
| Answer |
Up to 3 months |
Up to 6 months |
Up to 9 months |
Up to a year |
Over a year |
Not sure |
Total |
| June 2021 |
27.4% |
30.0% |
12.2% |
10.6% |
10.3% |
9.4% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
37.9% |
26.7% |
6.9% |
7.5% |
9.1% |
11.9% |
100% |
Guidance and resources published by DVSA
Top 10 reasons for failing a driving test guidance
Are you aware of our published top 10 reasons for failing a driving test guidance??
| Answer |
Yes |
No |
Total |
| June 2021 |
90.7% |
9.3% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
88.7% |
11.3% |
100% |
How useful is the guidance?
| Answer |
Extremely useful |
Very useful |
Somewhat useful |
Not so useful |
Not at all useful |
Total |
| June 2021 |
33.7% |
35.2% |
23.8% |
3.6% |
3.6% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
32.9% |
34.0% |
26.2% |
3.6% |
3.3% |
100% |
How regularly do you use or plan to use the guidance to help prepare your pupils for their tests?
| Answer |
With all my pupils |
With my pupils who have an upcoming test |
With my pupils who are not ready for their test |
I don’t plan to use it |
Total |
| June 2021 |
59.6% |
27.6% |
2.8% |
10.0% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
60.1% |
26.0% |
3.9% |
10.0% |
100% |
We publish the driving test report form (sometimes called the DL25) to help driving instructors to carry out mock driving tests with their pupils.
Are you aware DVSA publishes the DL25 marking sheet for driving and riding tests that you can use for mock tests?
| Answer |
Yes |
No |
Total |
| June 2021 |
76.2% |
23.8% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
76.5% |
23.5% |
100% |
| Answer |
With all my pupils |
With my pupils who have an upcoming test |
With my pupils who are not ready for their test |
I do not plan to use it |
Total |
| June 2021 |
43.9% |
41.9% |
2.5% |
11.8% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
46.7% |
37.9% |
3.6% |
11.8% |
100% |
Driving test results guidance
We published updated guidance to help learner drivers understand their driving test result on 21 April 2021.
Are you aware of our published driving test results guidance?
| Answer |
Yes |
No |
Total |
| June 2021 |
60.0% |
40.0% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
70.2% |
29.9% |
100% |
Have you encouraged your pupils who fail to read the driving test results guidance?
| Answer |
Yes |
No |
I plan to |
Total |
| June 2021 |
68.1% |
12.6% |
19.2% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
69.5% |
17.2% |
13.3% |
100% |
How regularly will you use the guidance to help your pupils who have failed their test to prepare for their next one?
| Survey |
All the time |
Often |
Sometimes |
Hardly ever |
Never |
Total |
| June 2021 |
54.6% |
29.6% |
13.2% |
2.0% |
0.6% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
51.5% |
31.7% |
13.4% |
2.5% |
0.9% |
100% |
How useful is the guidance?
| Survey |
Extremely useful |
Very useful |
Somewhat useful |
Not so useful |
Not at all useful |
Total |
| June 2021 |
35.9% |
37.9% |
23.7% |
1.9% |
0.6% |
100% |
| January 2022 |
31.9% |
37.1% |
27.3% |
2.9% |
0.8% |
100% |
Communication preferences
How useful did or do you find the following communication channels to get news and updates from DVSA? (select all that apply)
| Channel |
Extremely useful |
Very useful |
Somewhat useful |
Not so useful |
Not at all useful |
I do not use this channel |
Total |
| Broadcast media |
10.2% |
13.0% |
28.3% |
14.6% |
8.8% |
25.0% |
100.0% |
|
DVSA social media channels |
13.7% |
16.9% |
24.4% |
7.8% |
5.2% |
32.0% |
100.0% |
| Emails and DVSA Direct email alerts |
42.4% |
31.2% |
21.4% |
2.1% |
1.5% |
1.4% |
100.0% |
| GOV.UK |
27.0% |
28.0% |
28.8% |
6.2% |
3.4% |
6.6% |
100.0% |
| Group forums |
13.9% |
18.8% |
21.5% |
7.2% |
4.4% |
34.1% |
100.0% |
| News releases and press briefings |
23.1% |
25.0% |
29.3% |
7.3% |
4.6% |
10.6% |
100.0% |
| Phone calls |
8.5% |
8.5% |
12.0% |
8.8% |
9.9% |
52.4% |
100.0% |
| Print news media |
9.2% |
11.5% |
25.6% |
14.9% |
9.1% |
29.6% |
100.0% |
| Public webinars |
6.0% |
8.1% |
16.1% |
8.6% |
5.3% |
55.8% |
100.0% |
| Test centre surgeries |
16.7% |
16.2% |
16.9% |
5.2% |
5.0% |
40.1% |
100.0% |
| Video calls and meetings |
4.8% |
6.7% |
11.9% |
7.3% |
6.6% |
62.7% |
100.0% |
This chart shows a comparison over time of the rating given to the 5 most highly rated channels provided directly by DVSA. It shows the percentage of ADIs who rated the channel as either extremely useful or very useful.
| Channel |
June 2021 |
January 2022 |
| Emails and DVSA Direct email alerts |
61.3% |
74.6% |
| GOV.UK |
52.4% |
58.9% |
| Test centre surgeries |
42.1% |
54.8% |
| News releases and press briefings |
45.3% |
53.8% |
|
DVSA social media |
37.0% |
45.0% |
Which of the following channels are you most interested in using? (select all that apply)
| Channel |
Very interested |
Might be interested |
Not at all interested |
Don’t know |
Total |
| Broadcast media |
21.6% |
38.7% |
25.4% |
14.4% |
100.0% |
|
DVSA podcasts |
14.4% |
35.0% |
30.1% |
20.5% |
100.0% |
|
DVSA social media channels |
32.1% |
35.9% |
20.3% |
11.7% |
100.0% |
| Emails/DVSA Direct email alerts |
79.2% |
18.4% |
1.1% |
1.3% |
100.0% |
| GOV.UK |
52.6% |
35.9% |
6.9% |
4.6% |
100.0% |
| Group forums |
24.7% |
35.9% |
25.9% |
13.5% |
100.0% |
| News releases and press briefings |
41.7% |
38.8% |
12.0% |
7.5% |
100.0% |
| Phone calls |
12.9% |
27.5% |
45.6% |
14.0% |
100.0% |
| Print news media |
19.5% |
33.6% |
32.8% |
14.2% |
100.0% |
| Public webinars |
13.0% |
30.9% |
36.0% |
20.1% |
100.0% |
| Test centre surgeries |
45.4% |
35.7% |
10.8% |
8.1% |
100.0% |
| Video calls/meetings |
10.8% |
33.9% |
40.5% |
14.8% |
100.0% |
