Changing driving instructors

[OctoblocksAssemble]

I've just decided to change mine. I've done about 80 hours, and still nowhere near able to take a test. Maybe it's me, maybe it just wasn't a good match.
Before anyone suggests it, this was in an auto.

So, any positive just needed the right instructor stories to make me feel less crap about myself?

Me i switched driving instructor after about same hours and passed within the month x

Thanks @KenAddams , can I ask why you chamged and what made the difference? I stuck it out for so long because my old instructor was certainly very good at driving, and I'm rather left wondering if it's just me.

When all my friends were passing their tests but I kept getting told a wasn't even ready for a theory test
Enough was enough.. good luck hope it works out well for u

Slightly different but DD had 2 lessons at 17 then had a big meltdown and said she couldn’t ever drive and wouldn’t have any more lessons.
We were considering an intensive course but then an instructor I had contacted before who had no space got in touch and was so lovely on the phone she agreed to try again.
She absolutely loved her lessons,passed first time and still speaks of her instructor with great affection

Thanks, @Hoppinggreen , I wish I'd had similar when I quit at 17 after 2/3 lessons.

I could honestly cry when I look at the times quoted for passing, and I've put the hours in but I'm still right at the beginning. It's so frustrating to be no closer, and 1 year on I'm just starting over, hoping for a different result.
Sorry, very melodramatic, but I feel so down amd embarrassed about it all.

I looked on the local FB group for recommendations for my very anxious daughter and then waited 3 months for the woman we wanted . My daughter started in mid January having 1 hr per week ( has CFS so can’t manage more normally ) and she unfortunately failed her first test attempt ( 1 major 1 minor) at the start of August . Our issue now is getting another test as where we are you have to be on the booking site at 6 on a Monday and the soonest I could book is next January .

@Floralnomad it's the same where we are, so hard to get a test. Puts loads of extra pressure on

I changed instructors and eventually passed. A new instructor might have different teaching methods that suit you better. Keep going though and don’t feel crap. Perhaps consider two hours a week or an intensive course (if you can afford it). I think doing two hours a week helped me a lot. Don’t give up! What

I think the issue with test availability is the same everywhere , frankly the whole system needs over hauling

@Apricotton I was doing 2hrs 😕
Thanks though. I can’t really give up, I need to learn for career progression. I'm really hoping it was just an issue with the instructor creating a negative feedback loop with my nerves, rather than me being hopeless.

@Floralnomad agree the 6am try to book while they are all snapped up system is useless and needs changing. Good luck to your daughter for her next test

Sounds like a new instructor might be the way to go then. It took me 9 attempts to pass, so I have a pretty good idea of how you’re feeling. Keep going!

I did lessons for a few months with instructor 1, made progress but then moved.
Intensive course with instructor 2... who was pretty useless (the examiners told me they were reporting him as they often saw his unprepared students)
Then really gelled with instructor 3 and passed relatively quickly (3 months I think)

Thank you @Apricotton
@PuttingDownRoots I think they've changed it now so that if an instructor gets too many fails then they lose their instructor badge? At least so my ex instructor kept telling me

I’m a trainee driving instructor. To give you an insight if your current instructor doesn’t feel you’re going to pass a test they’re unlikely to put you in for it, as if an instructor’s pass mark is quite low it triggers a standards check. However they’ve got to get to the bottom of why you aren’t ready and try to meet your needs.

Driving instruction is very much a changing industry and now we are being taught to coach rather than instruct, each lesson should be about your individual needs and adapted accordingly. Part of my recent lesson was a coffee on the beach trying to get me past my nerves, after that I felt far better and went onto pass my recent instructor test. That gives you a flavour of how it should work.

After eighty hours I’d be asking myself what the barrier was, discussing with you to find out your thoughts as to what it could be, and trying to find a solution to help with that particular area. Instructors who haven’t been taught those methods might just continue doing the same thing which isn’t working. If they’re doing the latter it might be best to find a new one.

My twins are experts in this area. One is on his third instructor

Unfortunately though there seem to be a lot of bad instructors. DDs was unbelievably unreliable - offered lessons but kept cancelling and then cancelled DDs test three days before because his brand new car apparently broke down!! I was fuming about that. And DS instructor was quite shouty and shouted “what the fuck was that?” at him
over quite a minor mistake.

Anyway. I’m not sure how old you are but apparently on average you need twice the amount of teaching hours as your age to pass. So if you’re 40 then you’re average really! Have you taken a test yet?

I had a great and very patient instructor and passed first time so they do exist.

Thanks @bozzabollix , it's interesting to jeans the other side. My problem is nerves for sure, my ex instructor's view was that I needed to just figure out how to get over that. He felt very strongly that there was no point in teaching maneuvers (bearing in mind that slow tight steering is the only part I'm actually decent at) until the nerves were sorted, but didn't allow for how having pretty much nothing to show for all the hours I've spent make the nerves even worse.
I'm not saying he's terrible at his job, but I do feel there's a bit of ego at play that his way was the only way. He got a complaint recently from a lady in much the same position as me. Hopefully we both do better with a different approach.

@Minfilia going by that stat I should indeed be test ready by now. Honestly though you'd think I'd done 10 hours, not 80. It's utterly crushing.

What specifically is it that you’re struggling with?

@Minfilia Weaving around parked cars on faster busier roads. Lots of being told too fast/too slow, should have gone/shouldn't have gone, too close to the left/not close enough to the left, all retrospectively.
In 20mph zones I can drive perfectly, but only when I'm feeling confident. Once the doubt sets in it's game over.

I've not discounted the possibility that I am just hopeless.

Do you have a car to practice in @OctoblocksAssemble ?

@Floralnomad nope, Dh can't drive either so we don't have one.

IMO after over 15000 hours instructing then examining, admittedly on aircraft. it’s most likely the instructor, who as the problem and your paying for it. A car like a small aircraft is quite an intermit environment and sometimes there’s no gelling between the parties. No one’s fault, my advice is switch instructors but take a trial drive together before further commitment. Your current instructor should have recognised your lack of progress and either changed his, her style or pointed you in the right direction to someone or could help. Best of luck and by posting here you now have taken control of the situation.

That’s unfortunate as I do think it helps a bit although that may be more important for a manual rather than automatic which is what we have .

Thank you @takeaflight that gives me some hope

I changed instructors and it really helped. The second instructor explained things differently which worked for me and gave me pointers on how to do things rather than criticising.
It's hard when you have no opportunities to just practice, but it is possible

Nerves are a common thing and not necessarily for you to just ‘get over’. Having done my part 2 test three weeks ago my nerves were literally through the roof, there was no snapping out of it but my instructor took me for a coffee and we talked about ways to overcome nerves. It helped immensely.

I don’t see how teaching manoeuvres in a quiet car park would do any harm at all. Coaching led driver training allows for the client to suggest another approach, it might be you’d be great at manoeuvres as it’s slow, then your overall confidence would improve. There’s nothing wrong in giving it a try. My guess is your instructor has quite defined lesson plans and won’t deviate, but that’s not the modern way.

Newer instructors will have been taught this more gentle approach (well, they are meant to be!) which gives you some idea of what to look for in another instructor. Ego is the last thing you need!