The final exam.... the dreaded Part 3!!

The Instructional ability test

So having passed my Part 2 on the 30th November, I was thinking about my final exam, the dreaded Part 3… proving that you can actually teach.

Back in 2007 my part 3 was different to how it is now, back that I took an examiner out who role played being a pupil, and the examiner gave you 2 different scenarios to teach, this time around the examiner sits in the back and supervises you delivering a lesson to an actual pupil…. This presented seems like a better, more realistic way to prove you can teach, but also has its own drawbacks.

For most people passing the part 3 is a challenge in itself, typically a 35% pass rate (2022 figures), I had joined several Facebook groups of driving instructors (Trainee and fully qualified groups), however I was still unsure what route to go down, pay to join one of the big driving school and spend several thousand pound, and then join a long term franchise – which is considered to be the expensive route. Do I speak to a local coach, spend a decent wedge on money again, but not be tied to a franchisee and to have bespoke tuition for me rather than a set schedule… I spoke to a couple of local instructors, all offered to assist me in one way or another…. Having been a driving instructor previously albeit 7 or so years had passed, I still felt confident with my teaching skills.

I had an old Vauxhall Corsa, found some dual controls on Facebook, got them fitted professionally, I now had a fully functioning driving instructor car for less than some driving schools training packages, Insurance was a problem…. As the car was over 10 years old, so I had to pay a slightly higher premium….. however there is a catch, whilst I have passed my part 2, I had not undergone any training and get my pink (Potential driving instructor badge), I was not able to advertise as a driving instructor, I was not able to charge for lessons… but I needed pupils to pass my part 3…. So I spoke to some friends and family, offered to teach them to drive for free, any of there children etc… for free… as legally I was not allowed to charge for my time, services or take money to cover fuel… the lessons costs and time were covered by me, after all I was sharpening my skills to teach, I needed people to teach.

I managed to get 3 or 4 people to teach within a week, I was teaching between 4-6 hours a week, and It felt like I hadn’t lost my touch with teaching.

I was very lucky to book my part 3 on the 14th December… for the 3rd of January - which was a lot sooner than I had expected, I didn’t have much time for any additional training due to Christmas and New Year, however I was eager to take the exam, see what changes had taken place, get a feel of what the examiners are looking for, so that I would have a good understanding for my 2nd attempt.

The 3rd of January soon came around, me and my pupil (Connor) met Nigel my examiner, I explained that our lesson today was to focus on approaching end of road junctions and clearance to parked vehicles.

Nigel was a lovely examiner, very aware of Connor’s nervousness and put Connor at ease and explained that it was not Connor being watched…. It was me. Connor drove a nice drive, a few errors which gave me a chance to demonstrate my teaching skills and that I could adapt my lessons on the go… however it did not go plain sailing, I made a mistake, I knew I had, I was so annoyed with myself…. But my inner voice just said “adapt and move on”… and I did, I moved on, I made sure that I gave it my best shot for the remainder of the lesson.

We pulled up back to the test centre, Nigel explained that he needed to go in to the test centre and would debrief me in 5 minutes, but before he left, he gave Connor some really nice feedback about his driving, it gave Connor a confidence boost for when he takes his driving test.

After a few minutes I wandered up to the waiting room, I waited for what seemed like 10-15 minutes for Nigel (however It was only a couple of Minutes), Nigel came out, sat next to me and said “how did you think you got on”…. A nervous reply followed, and Nigel Chuckled and said “Well I am pleased to say you have passed the exam, and you are now a Fully qualified driving instructor”, I received some very nice feedback, some pointers on what I could do better, but overall I was a confident and clearly and experienced driving instructor …. According to Nigel anyway.

I left the test centre with a massive smile on my face….. knowing that 2024 had some big changes in place for me and had started of perfect for me.