You have reached the age of seventeen and want to start to drive (United Kingdom). It is expensive and you need to be as confident as you can that the the cost of your driving lessons is not thrown away. You first need to find a driving instructor and then ask suitable questions of him/her.

There are many directories on the web that have listings of driving instructors and schools. The largest I have found is the Driving Schools Directory who cover so many towns in the UK, it’s hard to believe. Insert your home town in the ’search box’ and you will be shown a listing instructors that cover your area. Take notes of those that sound interesting to you.

When you make contact, you will want to be sure that they are fully qualified and not ‘trainee’ instructors. You can tell this by the type of badge (licence) they hold. A fully qualified driving instructor will have a green octagonal badge showing in heir car whereas a trainee will have a pink triangular licence.

Most driving schools will offer money off for booking multiple lessons or if you are a student. Some will also offer discounts based on your profession e.g. nurses. Be sure to ask about these deals.

Don’t forget though that cheap isn’t always the best and you could end up taking more lessons than required, thereby costing you more cash overall. So, once you start your training, do not be shy to change or try an alternative driving school if you are not happy for whatever reason.

Some of these reasons could be a personality clash, shouting, turning up late, using the lesson time to stop off at shops/do errands, stopping to use their mobile (illegal whilst driving), a dirty (smelly!) car etc.

Don’t forget, you are spending good money and should therefore receive a top service.