duncan f.

Warning! Many of the instructors are actually just trainees (PDI) 'Potential driving instructors' not actually 'Approved' driving instructors' (ADI) which is the standard you should be looking for; drive Johnsons wouldn't confirm how many of their drivers are still in training to save embarrassment so it's safe to say a considerable amount are not actually approved otherwise there would be no need to hide the figure.

Make sure you get an APPROVED instructor, most schools are more transparent about trainees, but you should ask no matter how much you trust the school, you can ask to see the badge and check their number with the DVSA.

The instructor my son was assigned (who turns out was a trainee PDI) would often give conflicting advice and be unsure of the rules of the road himself, took personal calls often talking for extended periods of time while my son was driving and turned up late for most lessons. Communication was always poor and often my son found it hard to even arrange lessons.

After months of unknowingly driving with his trainee instructor and going out with me my son was ready for a test, this was his second test, and he was well prepared having driven a considerable amount with myself. On the day before his test the instructor didn't turn up for the lesson they had planned, only when we rang he claimed he'd had an accident and sent two pictures of his car completely undamaged, seriously he sent two pictures of his car parked close to another car!(no idea what thats all about) We were then kept waiting throughout the day being told a new car would be arranged with no communication from the instructor on what to do, in the end someone from Drive Johnson office correctly predicted the instructor wouldn't be able to get a new car in such a short space of time and asked if we had a vehicle we could use instead, this was at 4pm and the test was the next day at 8am! Our only option was for my son to use a relative's car, I provided L plates as the instructor didn't have any once at the test centre the examiner got into the car and immediately noticed there was no additional rear view mirror, required by law but apparently our instructor was un aware of the need for it! The examiner was fuming and stormed inside to look for a spare telling my son his test would almost certainly have to be cancelled, after several minutes the examiner returned having found one by this time my son was a 'tad' more nervous! Having a car change at the last minute and a 10-minute delay while an understandably miffed examiner hunted for a mirror my son was more nervous than normal and didn't pass which was in no way surprising.

Drive Johnsons refused to take any responsibility and stated that they don't take any responsibility for any of their instructors or trainees stating several times that they are simply self-employed and not employees of Drive Johnson. We choose drive Johnson because we thought choosing a bigger well-known school, we would be in safer hands whereas it's quite the opposite! It turns out they provide/sell the 'training' for these candidate instructors so have flooded their ranks with them, great little business they've got going on.

I strongly advise you to look for another school but do your research first and insist on an APPROVED driving instructor.