There are 13 different awards categories listed below, spanning the full spectrum of driving industry. Entry to the awards is completely free, with the nominations deadline of 10th December.

You can download the entry forms by clicking the links below, and we offer a step by step guide on how to enter, including the criteria which each award category will be judged upon.

The Driving Instructor of the Year category is judged slightly differently, with nominations being encouraged by learners and newly qualified drivers. They need to compete a short survey outline why their instructor should be put forward to win this award, There are 11 Regional Driving Instructor of the Year awards, with one being crowned the overall Driving Instructor of the Year.

Entry forms

  1. Driving Instructor Insurer of the Year – Entry form
  2. Product of the Year – Entry Form
  3. Training Provider of the Year – Entry form
  4. Professional Support Provider of the Year – Entry form
  5. Car Supplier of the Year – Entry form
  6. Driving Instructor Car of the Year 
  7. Local Driving Instructor Association of the Year – Entry form
  8. Community Champion of the Year – Entry form
  9. Eco Driving School/Instructor of the Year – Entry form
  10. Regional Driving School of the Year – Entry form
  11. National Driving School of the Year – Entry form
  12. Driving Instructor of the Year (11 regional awards, one overall winner) – Nominations by your learners via https://bit.ly/iiawards2024
  13. Services to Driver Training Industry Award – Entry form

Entry criteria

  1. Insurer of the Year – Customer service, speed of dealing with complaints, replacement car offered, ratings, reviews, price competitiveness, customer retention – all will be considered important factors when assessing entries

 

  1. Product of the Year – Could be an innovative piece of technology, software or an in-car product which help ADIs improve the learning to drive experience, keeping learners safe and/or encouraging better driving. The product could be high-tech or simple, but ingenious. Aimed specifically at instructors, it could be well established and have developed to adapt to the market over the past 12 months or it could be a new, exciting launch.

 

  1. Training Provider of the Year – This could be an individual, dedicated training company or even part of a driving school’s offering. It must offer a first-class service with proven results to help develop the instructor training requirements, and importantly how effectively do they help raise training standards.

 

  1. Professional Support Provider of the Year – Open to companies providing essential support services for ADIs to help them improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Accountancy, diary management, finance, legal advice, payment solutions, taxation, telephony, etc.

 

  1. Car Supplier of the Year – Open to those companies who lease, hire or sell cars to ADIs. Demonstrating excellent customer service, retention levels and a wide range of cars on offer at affordable prices with flexible payment terms.

 

  1. Driving Instructor Car of the Year – ADIs expect a lot of their cars. As well as being ideal learning environments for their students, a driving instructor’s car must often double as a practical everyday drive. The car will need to be reliable, safe, easy to drive, affordable to run and easy to live with. Our expert road test editors will create this shortlist.

 

  1. Local Driving Instructor Association of the Year – Open to any local association who is doing great work in their region to help connect instructors and to share knowledge, encouraging collaboration and to help spark debate, whilst creating a community feel and valuable support network.

 

  1. Community Champion of the Year – Open to individuals or schools, we are looking for how they engage and do positive work within the wider community, over and above their core business. This may involve supporting environmental projects, educating the wider audience, helping the underprivileged and/or raising money for local good causes.

 

  1. Eco Driving School/Instructor of the Year – Open to individuals or schools, we are looking for evidence of a real passion and understanding for the environment. Has one moved to fully electric, looked to offset their carbon footprint and/or gone the extra mile to help educate the learner about the environmental impact of driving?

 

  1. Regional Driving School of the Year – Recognising successful schools which actively support both their pupils and their instructors, demonstrating excellent teaching for their students and supportive career development for their teams. You will not operate nationally, but in one or more specific geographical areas. We’re looking for excellent customer service, innovative and effective instruction, a commitment to road safety, strong business development and support for your instructor network.

 

  1. National Driving School of the Year – Recognising successful schools which actively support both their pupils and their instructors, demonstrating excellent teaching for their students and supportive career development for their team. You will operate nationally. We’re looking for schools who have excellent customer service, innovative and effective instruction, a commitment to road safety, strong business development and support for instructors.

 

  1. Driving Instructor of the Year – We are looking for Britain’s best driving instructor. We will be asking the FirstCar young driver audience to nominate their instructors, if they think you’re worthy. We’re looking for a pupil-centred approach, innovative teaching methods, a commitment to road safety and a high level of student satisfaction. We are looking for 11 individual regional winners, from which we will select the overall ‘Driving Instructor of the Year’. Encourage your students to vote for you by sharing this link https://bit.ly/iiawards2024

 

  1. Services to Driver Training Industry Award – Who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help the ADI industry reach new standards? Who has worked tirelessly, unselfishly, often gone unnoticed in their work? What does it take to make real difference in this industry? Commitment, leadership, skill, personality, empathy… the vision to make a difference … an unnerving desire to positively influence when others may throw in the towel. Do you know someone who has achieved great success and inspired others to join in creating that success? Tell us why you believe this person is worthy of winning the Services to Driver Training Industry Award.

Key dates

  • 6 November 2023 – Awards nominations open
  • 10 December 2023 – Awards entry deadline
  • w/c 18 December 2023 – Awards shortlist announced and public voting opens
  • 21 January 2024 – Judging panel submits votes
  • 21 January 2024 – Public voting closes
  • 18 February 2024 – Winners announced
  • 11 May 2024 – Awards trophy presentation at The Driving Instructor Convention, Yarnfield Park, Staffordshire.

Guidance notes and Terms & Conditions

To access more detailed guidance notes on how to enter along with Ts & Cs,  please click Intelligent-Instructor-Awards-2024-Guidance-Notes to download.