When customers come to train with BIG TOM Driving School they come with differing attitudes to learning. This isn't intended to come across as a judgemental statement, but rather a statement of fact. It is one of the factors that makes everyone's learning experience unique. How much weight a pupil places on the advice of a Driving Instructor is dependant on many factors including the trust, understanding and effective communications between them, as well as the previous experiences the pupil has had in learning, and any opinions from others that the pupil will be influenced by.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) produce a "standard" by which the public are to drive to, the one for cars and light vans is here . The purpose of this standard is:
The standard is for car and light van drivers and tells you what you must be able to do to be a safe and responsible driver.
It is some document, as it encompasses a wide scope of content detailing the expectations required of a driver taking into account differing vehicles, roads, driving conditions, whether passengers are present in the vehicle, preparing for journeys, maintenance checks, managing risk, legal requirements of drivers, planning journeys, how to drive, how to engage with other road users, and even how to continue learning from experience. It even includes a section that is dedicated to the process of learning to drive.
The reason why this standard exists is to take into account that Learners in the UK can learn to drive with or without the assistance of a professional, DVSA registered Driving Instructor. As such, the public are able to refer to the standard and understand what is expected of people learning to drive that goes beyond solely looking at the driving test standard, but takes into account many more factors for the benefit of life-long learning. (If you were interested in the standard required for the driving test incidentally, then this guidance document for Driving Examiners may be of assistance).
One of the benefits for providing a standard is that provides an opportunity to achieve some consistency in the methodology that Learners adopt in learning to drive. The DVSA periodically monitor the quality of Driving Instructors against this same standard so there is a complete loop between the professional driving instruction that a pupil receives and the expectations of the DVSA.
How does all this information help you? Well, if you find yourself wondering what on earth a Driving Instructor is attempting to "teach" you when taking driving lessons, you could quite simply and very legitimately ask the question "Could you tell me where that advice you are giving me fits within the DVSA Driving Standard?"
Ultimately, the standard creates a consistent approach to driving training, it provides a set scope and depth to the training, and it details guidance on a learning experience that is effective.
The author, Tom Ingram is the owner of BIG TOM Driving School and can be contacted here. 0775 607 1464
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