Unit 45: Pass Plus, refresher and beyond

There is much more to driving than passing the test and throughout their training your customers may be aware of their lack of experience. As a driving instructor we are often simply there to get customers through their test as quickly as possible. We must not take short cuts on this, but it is often impossible (due to customers’ time and budget constraints) to be as thorough as we would like.

Making sure that your customers are aware of the advantages of ongoing training will encourage them to return to you for Pass Plus, or at least motorway driving training once they have passed. To become Pass Plus registered you must have passed your part 3 (trainees cannot do Pass Plus training). This is an excellent course for all, and if customers have had a chance to drive alone a few times before taking it they often find it extremely useful. Remember that they will know their local areas – this is the chance to take them out of their comfort zone. This will make them aware of how much they may have been relying on their memory of roads to make decisions. Reading roads of different types, and understanding how different conditions will affect their decision making process, will turn them from capable drivers in their own areas to capable drivers when faced with new roads and challenging conditions.

You may find that you are asked to provide refresher lessons. Your approach to these should be the same as your approach to the Full Licence Holder situations you worked through in training. Some drivers have some serious knowledge, skills and attitude problems which may seem hard to deal with at first, but remember that you have the skills: Levels of instruction (which must not be patronising – these people often do not have to take lessons, they choose to) and the Core Competencies. Encourage anyone who takes refresher training – goodness knows there are enough drivers out there who should, but only a few actually do. If you can make sure that they enjoy their sessions with you while becoming safer and more confident drivers you will guarantee yourself repeat custom and recommendations.

From here, you can start to decide where you want your career to go. You will usually need to take more training and often exams to offer further training (we will come to CPD later), though you may want to consider:

Fleet Training
Specialist vehicle training (LGV, HGV, 4×4, Motorbike)
Emergency response training
Instructor training and CPD provision

You can probably start to put together a list of objectives for your own career path already!

Discussion Points:
Pass Plus
Refresher Lessons
Where next?