Steps finding a driving instructor

[whenwillthemadnessend]

Dd is 16. 17 in autumn

She has her provisional licence now. So what are the next steps please. Should I start ringing round instructors now?

Thanks for any replies.

Bump for evening crowd

Depending where you live there could be quite long waiting lists. We're in Edinburgh and my husband started looking in January, he had his first lesson last week!

In an ideal world you would get a recommendation and go with that, but with the huge backlogs and waiting lists if you want to learn it might have to be a leap of faith.

ds had an instructor lined up for when he turn 17 just after lockdown lifted, but they couldn't take him on due to backlog of existing pupils not getting tests. So we went on the waiting list for 20+ instructors. One was free quite quickly and we went with him, after a few weeks we heard some concerning stories about the instructor (pupils in tears/leaving him), but ds got on with him fine and passed his test easily first time after 8 months of lessons (earliest test available).

This .gov site can help you find instructors. I found instructors mostly ignored emails and responded best to facebook messenger if you can find them there. Gov site for finding approved instructors in your area

I'd try a local FB page and ask for recommendations.

DD1 started off with a guy who we found locally - his idea of a driving lesson was getting her to drive to McDonalds or Costa and sit in the car with her chatting..... he was married with 4 kids and we soon put a stop to it when she mentioned that he messaged her a lot! When I asked for recommendations on our local town FB, I had several PM's from other Mums saying avoid this guy like the plague............

We then found a lovely lady who was incredibly gentle and patient, so all of our DC ended up learning with her over the years.

Sorry OP, nothing to add but I clicked expecting a scoop about H or Claire spotted in a dual control