Pro Coach Driving School is quite a busy local Driving School, specialising mainly in AUTOMATIC driving lessons.

We are very fortunate to receive plenty of new enquiries from would be learner drivers each week………always a good thing!

Pro Coach is often asked questions about the learning to driving process, such as  how to obtain provisional driver insurance or whether we recommend private practice ( we do) and such like.

Usually the answers flow seamlessly, as do the conversations.

One of today’s conversation’s was quite different.

The telephone rang and was promptly answered.

After a brief period the prospective student said ” are you as good as the AA Driving School”!

Well, where exactly do you start with that one; a low ball?

We explained that unlike our Independent status, the AA Driving School is a franchise and that each Driving Instructor is Self Employed and not an AA employee.

Moreover, we said that the self employed Driving Instructors trade using the AA brand, so liveried tuition vehicles, promotional support and……… an AA Driving School franchise fee.

The enquirer said “What they pay?”, ” why would they do that?”

We told the enquirer that many ADIs ( Approved Driving Instructors) require support with promotion and marketing their offers etc. The AA give that and their cars do look good!

Others needed to get the business off the ground very quickly, which is difficult to achieve on your own as an inexperienced instructor.

An AA Driving School badge, no doubt helps with credibility.

We said that it was our choice to be Independent and build our reputation ourselves, based on what we do for our customers.

Our closing comment was that a learner driver needed to judge the quality of any Driving Instructor on more than a badge.

So, things like additional qualifications, over and above the basic “green ADI badge”, might be a useful indicator of a Driving Instructors approach to the job?

We like to think so, but the question is……………