Intelligent Instructor Awards Shortlist 2023

We are delighted to be able to announce our shortlist for the Intelligent Instructor Awards 2023 in association with AcciDON’T Driving School.

Let’s take a look at our shortlist…

Car Supplier of the Year

Within the Driver Training Industry Adindi is the corner shop to the big boys like Tesco. The corner shop greets customers on first name terms, not by a number. The corner shop, yes more expensive, but the personal service offered is so appreciated that customers come back year on year.

Dualdrive is a family–owned company offering a unique proposition for ADIs and PDIs with flexible tailored packages addressing specific needs, all backed up with our like for like price match guarantee and award–winning after sales care. Customer service, satisfaction and retention are always our main priority.

As a family owned business, SVR have become leaders in the provision of replacement dual control vehicles. Our core values and experienced team ensure a bespoke customer journey and offer a wide range of vehicle solutions.

Community Champion of the Year

KEEPTHEBEAT – Richard Jordon

We are a very small charity, run completely by a family with no paid staff and we rely solely
on individuals giving up their time and making donations to provide, help, hope and support
to children and their families who are affected by congenital heart defects.  Richard came up with the idea of advertising the Charity on the Learner Driver vehicles and also then gives every driver taking lessons the opportunity to donate to the charity with each lesson cost.

Lou Walsh – The Big Learner Relay

Lou Walsh has been an ADI for around 14 years, for the last 9 she has been the driving
force behind the ‘Big Learner Relay’ (BLR) which has raised nearly £600,000 for the BBC’s
Children in Need charity event.

Road Smart 

Driving today for a safer and healthier tomorrow! Road Smart is a new community initiative for the benefit of everyone. By influencing a positive change in driver behaviour through awareness and education, it aims to tackle the negative effects of driving to make the roads safer and cleaner for everyone!

SmartLearner Driving School 

At SmartLearner we have managed and participated in many projects. One of our most recognisible
projects would be our Easter project. We worked with charities such as Zoe’s place and the University Hospital Coventry, to donate Easter eggs. We also work with local food banks and in 2021 we planted over 500 trees to help offset our carbon emissions. 

Driving Instructor Car of the Year

Dacia Sandero

Fiat 500

Mazda 2

MG4 EV

Peugeot e208

Renault Clio

Skoda Fabia

Toyota Yaris

Driving Instructor Insurer of the Year

Adrian Flux is proud to have become a multiple award–winning key player and supporter of
the driving instructor industry and continues to offer competitive insurance premiums,
outstanding levels of covers and bespoke policies to suit the individual.

InstructorcoverPlus has been providing insurance to driving instructors for over 20 years. As an
independent insurance specialist, we aim to take the stress out of finding the right cover for
instructors, quickly and at a competitive price.

Eco Driving Instructor/School of the Year

Bringing eco driving and greener motoring into the forefront of driving training in partnership with pupils. In light of our ever changing environment, the responsibility of sustainable driving lies not just with new generation of drivers but Driving Training Industry as a whole .

We are proud to be a carbon neutral driving school. Our aim is to give fun, value driving lessons that are carbon neutral, with a focus for self–analysis leading to safe driving for life. We ensure that we offset our full carbon footprint for all our journeys in all our vehicles, plus our office work.

SmartLearner Driving School is the epitome of environmental sustainability, advocating and
participating in green practices in and out of the establishment. We inspire instructors, students, and our whole community to commit to greener ways of driving, with aspirations of environmental
preservation through tree planting, and education on environmentally safe driving.

I’m an independent and carbon neutral driving school, based in the North East of England offering manual and automatic tuition. I offset the milage from my diesel manual car and my automatic car is fully electric.

Local Driving Instructor Association of the Year

ADDSA is proud to showcase why our association is as a worthy candidate for this prestigious award. Celebrating our 50th Anniversary last year, we have not only amassed hundreds of years’ experience as professional ADIs, but also we made positive life–long contributions to the citizens of the communities we serve.

Wirral APDI aims to bring local instructors across Wirral together in a professional as
well as a social environment. Working as a self–employed ADI can often be a lonely
experience and we do our best to keep members updated on national DVSA changes as
well as discussing local issues.

National Driving School of the Year

With over 1,600 instructors on the road delivering over 333,000 lessons in the last year, we are one of the biggest and most trusted in the industry. AA instructors don’t just teach learners to pass a test; they motivate & inspire, creating confident and safe drivers for life. With AA resources &  support, instructors can focus on what they love, delivering outstanding teaching that changes lives.

2023 has been the year of breaking records. With its highest ever numbers of trainees, driving instructors and pupils in 21 years, its Bill Plant Driving School’s relentless focus on quality and customer experience that has propelled it to one of the UK’s largest and fasting growing driving schools nationwide.

RED’s unrelenting focus on providing outstanding support for its Learners, Trainees and Instructors delivers proven levels of customer satisfaction and places the brand and its Franchisees in pole position for continued growth in 2023 and beyond.

Product of the Year

Confident Drivers is a membership website that offers free and paid resources including online courses and a choice of effective techniques to help manage driving stress, nerves and anxiety. The resources are supported by The Driving Confidence podcast which shares tips, advice and real-life stories about overcoming driving fears. 

The UK No.1 Theory Test App GUARANTEES a first–time pass or learners can claim their test fee back. With a 97% pass rate, compared to the national average of less than 50%, the Driving Test Success 4 in 1 app has everything a learner needs to pass their test and become a safe driver.

GoRoadie Pro is a smart diary management app for ADIs and PDIs, allowing them to save up to 8 hours each week. The app is filled with innovation that is nowhere to be seen on competing apps from; live waiting list, flexible lesson rates photo receipts, smart offline, true 2-way calendar sync and enquiry manager.

  

KIT MAG is a free monthly CPD eMag, covering such aspects as coaching, business development, social media advice, nervous driver, SEN learners, mindfulness and much more. It is a downloadable eMag that you can read whilst having your morning coffee, which is full of great CPD.

  

Pedal is a one–stop ‘super app’, giving young drivers and parents real–time driver behaviour insights. No longer denied black box intel, parents get data to encourage responsible driving. Users get a digital logbook plus fuel price, charging point and carbon footprint telematics to simplify maintenance and slash running costs.

The super discreet Halo Pro! Road Angel is highly focused on the safety aspect of automotive gadgetry. With a no–screen no distraction form factor, and boasting many various safety features it ticks all the boxes for installation, safety and protection for your vehicle and livelihood! It’s all in the name! #Halo

Talking to leaders, experts, innovators and game changers to provide information and inspirations to ADI’s and PDI’s The Instructor Podcast continues to showcase the best our industry has to offer, while also offering perspectives from experts outside of our profession.  

Total Drive is an award–winning driving school app providing a suite of tools helping instructors work more efficiently, save time, and earn more and for pupils to improve their learning experience. Instructors can manage every part of their business, recording lessons, updating pupil progress, taking payments, and storing driver details.

WeDrive is the cloud–enabled data–driven web–and–app based platform, designed as the complete driver training solution for both the next generation of learners and driving instructors. Our latest software, WeDrive Instructor app, expands our service to ADIs nationwide, offering them a revolutionary all–in–one ‘smart’ toolkit serving the business needs of today.

Professional Support Provider of the Year

FBTC have continued to act as a supportive and dedicated tax agent, to all clients, throughout 2022.
Through advising, guiding, and listening to clients, FBTC have maintained their position as a
professional within the industry. Showcasing their passion for client services and satisfaction.

GoRoadie’s mission is to improve the quality of life for driving instructors. That shapes everything that we do. To achieve that we:
1. Help ADIs and PDIs build their word-of-mouth
2. Give instructors hours back each week
3. Help reduce the isolation they feel
4. Provide free CPD to improve instructors skills

Launched in 2014, MyDriveTime provides professional business management software to support the needs of instructors, schools, trainers, and learners. We’ve raised the bar in standards, capability, efficiency and success through our apps, business guidance and industry partnerships,
equipping instructors to become professional support providers themselves.

WeDrive is the cloud–enabled data–driven web–and–app based platform, designed as the complete driver training solution for both the next generation of learners and driving instructors. Our latest software, WeDrive Instructor app, expands our service to ADIs nationwide, offering them a revolutionary all–in–one ‘smart’ toolkit serving the business needs of today.

Regional Driving School of the Year

BDS want customers to feel they get good value for their hard–earned money and that
they get well trained instructors. BDS aim to get people to become safe and competent
drivers. Happy driving instructors who enjoy their work give better lessons. BDS are a
team – not just a driving school.

Caledonian is a progressive driving school based in Glasgow and operating across the central belt of Scotland. A dynamic, forward–thinking company since its founding in 2007, we pride ourselves on the quality of our in–house driving instructor training programme, our industry–leading franchise offerings to ADIs, and our hard– working team of exceptional instructors.

Elite driving academy should win the regional driving school award because have progressed over the last few years, not only as a driving school but also a training academy for training driving instructors, we value progress and safety above everything and take pride in training the next generation of drivers.

Excel has a massive commitment to road safety and instruction involves discussing scenarios where the standards have not been followed. An extremely, friendly, coaching attitude is taken towards instruction. Always student focused, with supportive and confidence building being extremely important.

Our goal is not to be the largest. Rather, we strive to be best in class. We continue to work tirelessly, bringing to the forefront some of the most client–centred tools, providing efficiency by helping learners prepare for a lifetime of safe driving. Who said value for money negates quality?

Greer’s Gears Driving School has developed, diversified and grown locally by adding ADI training. We have recruited new staff, have fully qualified instructors operating franchises. 5 more PDI’s are in the qualification process. an exciting educational programme to be presented in 2023 continues to invoke passion and change attitudes in road safety

Midlands based, 22 years in business delivering sustainable, high quality driving lessons, driving instructor training and mentoring driving instructor development through franchising.

MSM Driving School is highly recommended within the Berkshire area. Our professional team of highly qualified, friendly and patient male and female driving instructors provide valuable one–to–one driver training, covering both theory and practical driving skills needed to become a safe and competent driver for life.

SmartLearner is the fastest growing driving school in the West Midlands and Warwickshire. We have been voted Intelligent Instructor’s Regional Driving School of the year twice, due to the ongoing care, support, and personalisation we put into our service. They pride themselves on being the best version they can be.

System Driving School offer graduated driving lessons in the Southeast of England, that teach pupils to drive, not just to pass their driving test. This philosophy has been with us since
we were founded 1971 as we continue to keep our roads safer, teaching pupils a skill for life.

The Green Cat Driving School – We are proud to be a carbon neutral driving school. Based in Southport, our aim is to give fun, good value, manual and automatic driving lessons that are carbon neutral, with a focus for self–analysis leading to safe driving for life.

We provide top-quality driving lessons in Selby, York, Howden, Goole and Malton and train our instructors using the latest methods. We have 400 5-star online reviews and are the top-rated driving school in the East Riding. We pride ourselves on client-centred teaching and focus on learners becoming safe drivers.

Your Driving Academy (YDA) – Leicestershire’s multi-award winning driving school in Leicestershire and grateful to be recognised for our work. Boasting in excess of 800+ genuine customer reviews across various platforms we’ve become an obvious choice for learner drivers.
YDA currently serves over 500+ learner drivers every single week and we’re grateful to our growing team for consistently delivering an excellent service.

Training Provider of the Year

As one of the biggest and most trusted brands in the industry, no one knows drivers better than the AA. There’s no one better placed to deliver training and help instructors shape the drivers of tomorrow. Our training delivers both technical and motivational skills, enabling instructors to inspire their learners and give them confidence. With our support trainees gain the freedom to focus on what they love, delivering outstanding teaching that changes lives.

2023 has been the year of breaking records. With its highest ever numbers of trainees,
driving instructors and pupils in 21 years, its Bill Plant Driving School’s relentless focus on
quality and customer experience that has propelled it to one of the UK’s largest and fasting
growing driving schools nationwide.

LIDIA deliver high quality online and face to face training to Trainee Driving Instructors, Qualified
Driving Instructors and Learner Drivers. Highly experienced trainers embracing modern training
techniques, producing, and delivering our own digital resources means our customers are provided
with all the tools and support needed to succeed.

SmartLearner Instructor Academy is the largest and fastest growing training school within the West Midlands and have supported over 70+ instructors through their part one, two and three with a combination of both classroom, group and on road training to suit all.

The Driving Instructor Training Academy are dedicated to teaching new PDl’s and increasing the standards of approved driving instructor’s in the South East of England to the highest standards.

Tri–Coaching is an award–winning organisation. Our flagship course, BTEC Level 4 in Coaching for Driver Development, is Recommended by the DVSA. A range of courses support driving instructors by developing their teaching skills to incorporate client–centred learning techniques, including understanding the importance of goal–setting balanced against risk management.

See winners