The Questions to Ask a Driving Instructor Before You Book
You'll spend hundreds of euro and dozens of hours with this person. Most learners book on price and a nice website and ask nothing. Ask these, and the answers, or the hesitations, tell you who you're dealing with before a cent changes hands.
A good instructor has heard every one of these a hundred times and answers straight. The one who bristles at a fair question is telling you how the lessons will go. Here's what to ask.
Are you on the ADI register, and what's your number?
The first and the non-negotiable one. Only an Approved Driving Instructor can legally teach EDT and sign your logbook. Ask for the ADI number and check it against the RSA's public register. A real one hands it over without a flicker. Anyone who gets vague here, you're done, move on.
Do you provide the car, and does it have dual controls?
You want a proper learner car with a second brake and clutch on the instructor's side. That's what lets them save the manoeuvre you're about to bin. If the answer is you use your own car, that's a very different arrangement, and for a first-time learner it's not the one you want.
Will you teach around the actual test centre?
Near the end, you want lessons in the real conditions where you'll be tested, not just laps of a quiet estate. The instructor who knows the local roads and the test routes is worth more than one who keeps you somewhere comfortable.
Do you do a pretest?
A pretest is an hour or two right before the test, run like the real thing, to catch the last faults before a tester marks them. A good instructor offers it without being asked. If the concept is news to them, that tells you something.
If at any point they promise you a pass, stop. Nobody controls the tester and nobody controls the day. A guaranteed pass isn't confidence, it's a sales line, and it's your cue to book someone else.
How do you handle the EDT logbook?
They should sign off each of the twelve lessons properly as you go. It's the proof the RSA checks, so you want someone methodical about it, not someone who scribbles the lot at the end.
What's the cancellation policy, and do you block-book?
Fair questions about your money. Know what happens if you're sick, and ask whether a block of lessons paid together comes at a better rate. Clear answers here mean a clear operator.
These questions are the practical half of a bigger decision. For the whole of it, the teacher-versus-clock-runner call and the red flags to walk from, here's how to choose a driving instructor. Ask before you pay. It's a lot cheaper than finding out after.