The ex AA Driving School Instructors Blog

Welcome to the ex AA Driving School instructor's blog. Having held a franchise with the AA driving school twice, I would like to share my experience with both learner drivers and any driving instructors who might be thinking of taking a franchise with the school.

AA Driving School for Driving Lessons
Many learners will decide to take driving lessons with the AA Driving School because it is a well known and very strong brand in the automotive industry. The AA is well known for its breakdown recovery service, and thus it is understandable that people would turn to them for driving lessons.

The first thing a learner drive should be aware of, is that all AA Driving School Instructors are self-employed, and not employees of the organisation. Why is this important? The AA driving school has around 2000 instructors (Jan 2008), and each one of these driving instructors will be running his own business his own way, there are basic guidelines (eg call all pupils allocated to you within 24hrs), but there is no way the AA can monitor all these instructors, so the service you get will be a reflection of that instructor.



If you have any problems with your learning, the first person to talk to is your AA Driving Instructor, if you feel that the problem is not resolved, then the best course of action would then be to call the AA driving school. If you are not happy with your driving instructor, you can call up and get a new one anytime. You don't need to give any particular reason, just say you want another one, If you are given any difficulty, just say you will stop having AA driving lessons, that usually get them to act.

AA Driving School for Driving Instructors

There are many potential driving instructors (PDIs) and approved driving instructors (ADIs) who might be thinking about taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, and I hope that the information provided in this blog will be of use to you in helping you make an informed decision.

The AA Driving School franchise works on a fixed weekly fee, with additional charges for optional services provided.
The fixed fee covers the car, some marketing, support and some stationary. The additional charges are for pupil introductions (a one off charge of £30 for each successful pupil), automatic car supplements. The fixed weekly franchise fee was almost £200 in Feb 2008.

If you are an ADI, and are thinking of taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, then you should try and speak to existing instructors already operating in your area to see if there is enough work through the AA for you, as there have been reports of the driving school taking on to many people in an area, and that you might not get as many learner drivers as you would expect. Please note that no franchise can guarantee you a specified number of pupils in a week.