So just to make it clear from the start, I'm not having a dig at any particular driving school or company as I only have experience with one and nothing I write is a complaint against them in the slightest. Hence I will not mention who they are...



However I thought I'd share my experience with others as had I known before, I could have saved myself a lot of time and money.

So in December I signed up with a large driving school to become a driving instructor, it was £2500 for their full training, both in car and web based, plus a lot (heaps) of studying and the usual DVLA exams and a hour long strict driving test (the examiner said my driving was 'exceptional' btw ).

I completed my training and was about to sign their 63 page contract for a franchise with them for a year, however when looking deeper into the costs of this with an accountant and four other people, it became apparent this was not the money maker I had been lead to believe at the start, not even slightly. Now call me a total dumb ass (I already know that) but I was under the impression I would be earning really good money with this based on all their presentations and the fact that Aberdeen has one if not the highest cost for lessons in the UK.

I am currently a city bus driver, I job I enjoy but have always complained that it does not pay enough for the responsibly involved. However this instructor franchise was making less than that!! Honestly I was really shocked if not actually rather upset when I was shown the calculations. I have just cancelled the whole thing, still cost me £900 to do so but unfortunately it has been one of those lessons in life I could have really done without.

So if you are in the same boat or thinking of doing the same as me, pause and work it out and don't fall for the promises of riches like me



Despite this setback, and regarding my post a while back when I was in an office job and not do well mentally, I'm much, much happier now and life is a lot calmer although I took off almost 2 months (living on savings) to get back on track and needed it. So I'm just sticking with the bus driving now, perhaps also the coach driving too as I fancy that.

[Edited on 25/6/25 by Mr Whippy]

Interesting to hear the feedback.

Not at all surprising as soon as I read the 'large driving school'... however couldn't you go it alone? The demand is still there, and personally I'd trust a local independent over many/all of the bigger schools.

In my area there are literally zillions of people looking for driving lessons, poodling around i seldom see a driving skool car so on the back of a fag packet i would imagine any instructor worth his salt (other condiments are available) would be rushed off his size 9,s if he or her went solo ?

If you have passed your exam then there is nothing to stop you setting up on your own. Yes there will be set up costs but you do still drive the bus until you have built up enough customers to make the switch work for you.

I know a couple of people who were instructors and they make a good living with less hours than before but it takes time to get set up

That would be different learning to drive in a vintage car
G

I did my bus licence 10 years ago - mid-life crisis was thinking of buying a bus to replace the Locost

Never used it but still have entitlement, but DQC and tachocard have both lapsed.

Having an interview on Monday as the salary is twice (from the ads) what I'm earning. Never been involved with the public so not sure I want to do it but..

Other half keeps telling me to become an ADI but well, people!

quote:

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Originally posted by Sarah
I did my bus licence 10 years ago - mid-life crisis was thinking of buying a bus to replace the Locost

Never used it but still have entitlement, but DQC and tachocard have both lapsed.

Having an interview on Monday as the salary is twice (from the ads) what I'm earning. Never been involved with the public so not sure I want to do it but..

Other half keeps telling me to become an ADI but well, people!

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
[
Not sure if you are saying you are looking at becoming a bus driver, but dealing with the public is just fine so long as you are reasonably pleasant to them. I used to be a very shy and introvert person who really lacked confidence, bus driving totally changed that for the better. Now I'm a loud mouth over confident pain in the hoop . The CPC or DQC has to be one of the most stupidly simple tests I have ever done and tbh seemed utterly pointless, 'oh now where could all those guns and illegal immigrants be hiding on my city bus, are they in the wheel arch??'

---

Sounds like it would be a good choice for you and there are certainly worse jobs. If you can pass a medical, that is all they care about age wise, I'm 52 and there are certainly much older drivers than me. Busses are hugely assisted so are really light to drive, way more than a car, sometimes too much for the brakes, they have to be so you don't get tired. As for your own circumstances, I have found them a very accepting and really diverse bunch, way better than offices. We certainly deal with a huge range of people of every description so it's part of the job.

Let us know how you get on, it might be a turning point for you and a change for the better. Good luck!

With eldest child recently learning to drive...

1. Lessons are expensive - tick
2. Instructors few and far between - tick

The two instructors he used were both self-employed (not working for driving schools).
Both had brand new VW Golfs (dual control).
Both had waiting lists.
Both asked for block bookings of 4 lessons at a time (each lesson was 1.5 hrs).
Both would start and finish at different locations (e.g. college / home).
Talking to other parents this was the norm.

Mr Whippy - can you not start out self employed (and maintain the bus driving alongside for a while)?

Hi, sounds fine but not really.

Firstly you have to pass your teaching test (called a part 3). You can build up your experience of teaching to pass this test by doing it for free, to get paid without being fully qualified is illegal and there are very hefty fines for doing so.

Add to that the cost of fuel (about £200 a week), the cost of the car (car finance, tyres, maintenance, deprecation due to doing so much mileage etc.) plus the cost of insuring the car for teaching learner drivers (can't even guess how much that would be...), plus third party liability insurance, road tax, training material...yeah you get the picture. My bus wage would not even cover that lol.

Even without a franchise there are so many costs that you have to work your butt off to even make a living. I really am better off just sticking with the busses. But thanks for the thought

I don't know how driving instructors make money. Where I live just outside London is £36 an hour. When you take into account the car, fuel and time seems pretty low. You can't work back to back hours so probably struggle to do more than 5 hours a day, so £180 a day less costs?

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
As for your own circumstances, I have found them a very accepting and really diverse bunch, way better than offices. We certainly deal with a huge range of people of every description so it's part of the job.

Let us know how you get on, it might be a turning point for you and a change for the better. Good luck!

---

Well, I had the chat, not what I was hoping.

Weekday pay £150 - start at 6am doing commuter run from where I live to London, drive to Blackheath, park up, wait until an hour before return leg then drive the route back. Maybe get an in between job (no extra pay). Get home around 8pm - for the same money as working in McDonalds. 20 days holiday plus bank holidays AND expected to work every other weekend.

Am I missing something? 14 hours work for £150? isn't that below minimum wage & i thought bus drivers earned more than minimum wage!

You start at some unearthly hour and finish the drop around 9, then drive to Blackheath to park for a few hours (which I guess doesn't count as work "officially".

Some bus companies offer reasonable wages (Brighton buses) pay around £17/hour. A lot seem to offer £12/13 hour.

For comparison, the main operators here offer -

FIRSTBUS -

Experienced Bus Driver / PCV Licence Holder Required.

£14.10p/h
Aberdeen
Scotland
38 Hrs p/w. - 5 days per week (Monday – Sunday)
(Hours assigned in advance on a shift / Rota basis)


STAGECOACH -

Weekly earnings of £588 with opportunities for overtime.

· Pay rate during training of £14.07 per hour (training will last 6 – 8 weeks)

· Annual earnings of £30,500 following completion of training based on 39 hours per week as a qualified Bus Driver

· Shift patterns of 5 over 7


Ember intercity coaches -

From May 2025, £15.00 per hour starting rate with a guaranteed 40 hours of work per week (overtime likely to be available). Salary will increase in line with your time at Ember to reward those who want to make a long term career.


So very little money wise between them, really its more down to what type of driving and shifts they offer. With Stage coach you have to deal with money and a lot of split shifts, First you deal with busy city traffic and grotty customers, Ember it's long drives in all kinds of weather and traffic. Yeah for what you deal with, bus driving is very poorly paid but it has its good sides too, just does not suit many people.

Metro busses in Crawley are not to bad payers, and My son in law worked for them for many years, but now does agency HGV work, and earns more

ive just copied this from there webpage, as i have nothing to do with Metro



Drive your future with a job that gives you flexibility, freedom and control. All you need to apply is a regular car driving licence.
At our Metrobus Crawley depot our drivers are trained for free and earn an average salary of over £38,000

Our basic hourly rate after 6 months is £16.77 (£13.13 while training) and our overtime rates start at £20.13 per hour. Experienced PCV licence holders will start on £16.77 an hour. We offer superb career progression, excellent employee benefits, and the chance to be an integral part of your local community.

We also have vacancies at our Copthorne depot.

Does that sound like you? Get in touch today! Call 01273 886139 to speak directly to one of our recruitment team. Alternatively, you can contact us below or drop us a line at recruit@buses.co.uk.

I noticed that the HGV jobs did seem to offer what seems to be really good money but what puts me off personally is some of these can be physically demanding, bus driving is certainly not! A modern bus is lighter than your car to operate.

I worked for a couple of weeks for Amazon delivery's and it was truly the worst job I have ever done. Apart from the utterly stupid working times, I was actually crawling up the stairs to bed after a shift with pain killers in hand. I'm reasonably fit for my age as I cycle a lot and go long walks with the dog but I had had it after those 2 weeks. I love the idea of driving big trucks but perhaps not all the manual labour I assume it requires too.



[Edited on 2/7/25 by Mr Whippy]