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How much do driving instructors earn?

If you’re thinking of becoming a driving instructor, you’ll want to know how much you’re going to earn. The good news is – being a driving instructor can be a very rewarding career, for both you and your bank account.

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By submitting this enquiry you are giving your consent to allow RDS Driving Services Limited to contact you to discuss our instructor training and franchise services and to send you relevant information via email and SMS about any of our driver training courses, driving related career opportunities and services, including those provided by FBTC Accountancy Services, our accountancy and taxation services division. We will hold your data for this purpose for a period of up to 3 years. We will not use or share your data for any other purpose.

We’ll refund your fees when you join our award-winning team

Join our award-winning team and we’ll provide our full driving instructor training course with a 100% refund on the training costs when you become a RED Driving Instructor.

Up to 80 hours of training with a qualified RED Trainer
Earn whilst you train
“Fast Track” training option to help you get on the road as quickly as possible
RED Driving School receives more than 60,000 enquiries from new learners every month, which means that our Instructors are as busy as they choose.

Find out more about training to become a RED Driving Instructor today.

*Other course options and payment schemes are available. Terms and conditions apply.

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How much does a driving instructor earn per hour?

The Annual UK Driving Instructor review revealed that RED driving instructors earn an average of £37 per hour.

How many hours does a driving instructor work each week?

There is no maximum amount of hours that you can work per week as a driving instructor. At RED, we simply ask that you are sensible with your decision making. The nature of the role requires that you give students full attention and care, this means it is important that you are well-rested and alert at all times.

The Annual UK Driving Instructor review was conducted by FBTC in December 2024, found that on average, RED driving instructors chose to work 30 hours per week. DVSA research supports this, showing most ADIs work 25-34 hours per week.

What’s the average weekly income for a driving instructor?

RED driving instructors earn £1,110 per week on average.

What’s the average yearly income for a driving instructor?

Based on the figures above, multiplying the average hours worked by the average weekly salary across a 50-week year, a RED driving instructor’s average earnings are £55,500 annually.

How can I earn more as a driving instructor?

The first idea that springs to mind for generating extra earnings is more hours and a higher cost. This is not necessarily required. Whilst you are welcome to work as many hours as you choose depending on availability, there are other smart strategies you can adopt in order to maximise your earning potential.

Localise your student base– by spending less time travelling between locations for lessons, you can instead utilise the time saved by pencilling-in extra lessons that are nearby to one another
Keep up professionalism– if you maintain a reputation as a reliable, trustworthy instructor you will become in-demand for students meaning that you will never struggle to fill your diary
Franchise with RED– under our franchise your earnings are secured as 100% of our customer base pre-pay, for lessons, meaning there’s no monetary loss for no-shows. You will also attend a two-day business seminar which will teach you how to manage and maximise earnings

What other benefits do RED driving instructors get?

Earnings aside, there are a number of other benefits that RED driving instructors can expect:

Full-franchise car (approval not subject to credit check) – this can be driven by named family members if approved by RED
Full diary from the moment you begin to franchise- driving instructors are in demand more than ever
Pupil pre-payment – no concerns around collecting payments, haggling or no-shows
FREE Esso Card™ – (usually costing £43 per card, per year). The Esso Card™ will give you a discount off every litre you fuel up with

*The Annual UK Driving Instructor review was conducted in December 2024 by FBTC, a specialist accountancy services provider to the driving instructor industry.

FAST TRACK

FAST TRACK: SPEED UP YOUR TRAINING AND START EARNING FASTER

Looking to become a driving instructor and start earning as fast as possible? Joining our fast track programme could be perfect for you. With RED you can earn as you qualify on a Trainee Licence and our flexible fast track option gives you the option to speed things up and help to fit the training in with your busy schedule

Our qualified RED Trainers provide up to 80 hours of specialist training, and our fast track option is delivered at the same price as our classic route, with the benefit of being able to get a 100% refund on your training costs when you become a RED Driving Instructor.

Give us a call or complete the enquiry form to find out more about our fast track programme and RED Driving Instructor training NOW.

Pete Chiston had to say “The fast track training was very intense and a lot to take in over three days however the follow up support from my in car trainer David was great and tailored to meet my very hands on approach to learning, this in combination with the office support has meant that the process although at points very challenging was still a positive overall experience.”