how do i become a driving instructor in spain?

[jon grover]

i am currently a driving instructor in the uk and would like to know how to become a qualified driving instructor in spain. is there a need for english instructors? what would be the best area to work? also, my wife is a registered child minder. is there a need for child minders? and if so what does she need to do to continue child minding? who is the governing body? i would really appreciate some feedback. thanks

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by jon grover

i am currently a driving instructor in the uk and would like to know how to become a qualified driving instructor in spain. is there a need for english instructors?

Well let me start this way. How's your Spanish?

You will not make a living teaching in English. Most English speakers arrive here WITH a licence. Offspring of ex-pats will generally be bilingual by the time they get to driving age. And all your dealings upwards would have to be in real 100% bureaucratic Spanish. Also it would be important that your STUDENTS learn in Spanish as the TEST centre will not exam in English.

Think about it - would a non-english speaker be able to make a go of it in the UK?

[jojo]

I had a friend who visited us in Spain who is a driving instructor in the UK and he was amazed by the poor quality of driving on the roads and said he wouldnt know where to start to teach here. And of course the language could be a problem if you'renot totally fluent

Not sure on child minding, I dont know if there's a governing body, and I dont know if there would be much need for child minders for ex-pats????

Jo

[yesnikki]

Originally Posted by jon grover

i am currently a driving instructor in the uk and would like to know how to become a qualified driving instructor in spain. is there a need for english instructors? what would be the best area to work? also, my wife is a registered child minder. is there a need for child minders? and if so what does she need to do to continue child minding? who is the governing body? i would really appreciate some feedback. thanks

I am also an ADI in the UK but have been living in spain for the past 4 years.. I have done some research and have found that although it should be a simple process to transfer your badge to spain, it isn´t.

Being part of the EU means that we should be able to continue our chosen career in any EU country. I have found out the following...

firstly, you need to be a fluent spanish speaker. If you are then it is quite simple to get your license transferred and translated to spain. You do this by applying to Trafico in Madrid. All major driving schools over here are willing to help with this process.

There are lots of expats living in spain that want english speaking instructors and most of the driving schools know this and would bite their hands off to get you to work for them... but again and again.... you need to speak spanish....

The way they teach people to drive is also very different... it consists of lots of hours in the classroom, which all instructors over here like to do... only a few hours are spent actually driving!!! (probably why they turn out to be such terrible drivers).

From my investigations, they put far too much time in the theory and not enough time on the road....

The test consists of upto 4 pupils in the car taking their tests together!! The instructor (you) takes the passenger seat, the examiner in the rear and the pupils take it in turns to drive... the examiner orders the instructor to inform the pupil to carry out various tasks throughout their section of the drive. The result is not immediate... the pupils recieve their test results up to 3 weeks after by post..

There is no provision for pupils to drive on the road before passing their test without a qualified instructor present.

I think that most driving instructors are "employed" by larger companies, this may have to do with the fact that they have to have large offices to carry out their classroom theory lessons.

They do now have the theory test in english and all study materials are also available in english too.

I have personally been told that as soon as I am fluent in spanish I can have a job... been here 4 years and still am not fluent... a lot harder than it seems, there just never seems to be the time to study..

I hope I havent gone on too much, but thought you needed to know how it works over here.....

Cheers
Nikki

[jojo]

Originally Posted by yesnikki

I am also an ADI in the UK but have been living in spain for the past 4 years.. I have done some research and have found that although it should be a simple process to transfer your badge to spain, it isn´t.

Being part of the EU means that we should be able to continue our chosen career in any EU country. I have found out the following...

firstly, you need to be a fluent spanish speaker. If you are then it is quite simple to get your license transferred and translated to spain. You do this by applying to Trafico in Madrid. All major driving schools over here are willing to help with this process.

There are lots of expats living in spain that want english speaking instructors and most of the driving schools know this and would bite their hands off to get you to work for them... but again and again.... you need to speak spanish....

The way they teach people to drive is also very different... it consists of lots of hours in the classroom, which all instructors over here like to do... only a few hours are spent actually driving!!! (probably why they turn out to be such terrible drivers).

From my investigations, they put far too much time in the theory and not enough time on the road....

The test consists of upto 4 pupils in the car taking their tests together!! The instructor (you) takes the passenger seat, the examiner in the rear and the pupils take it in turns to drive... the examiner orders the instructor to inform the pupil to carry out various tasks throughout their section of the drive. The result is not immediate... the pupils recieve their test results up to 3 weeks after by post..

There is no provision for pupils to drive on the road before passing their test without a qualified instructor present.

I think that most driving instructors are "employed" by larger companies, this may have to do with the fact that they have to have large offices to carry out their classroom theory lessons.

They do now have the theory test in english and all study materials are also available in english too.

I have personally been told that as soon as I am fluent in spanish I can have a job... been here 4 years and still am not fluent... a lot harder than it seems, there just never seems to be the time to study..

I hope I havent gone on too much, but thought you needed to know how it works over here.....

Cheers
Nikki

Interestingly another thought on this one is that most of the expat learners are gonna be bilingual cos they've been here a whil and therefore it isnt as important for them to have an english speaking instructor!

One thing I think would be a good idea tho, is for a driving instructor who could do a couple of lessons for new arrivals - people who have a current driving licences but arent yet confident driving on the wrong side of the road amongst the "crazy" spanish drivers! I personally would have taken that one up - I was more than terrified on my first trip out in the car!!!!

Jo

[jaan]

I would be glad to use your service here.

If i will stay here for longer then probably won't do driving license for another year or two.
I plan to do it for last 10 years

[chris(madrid)]

BE AWARE - The regional test centres ALL differ in how they operate. Spain is like this - get used to it.

I used to work opposite Madrids. The daughter of a Spanish friend has just taken her test there and was given a paper for trafico saying she'd passed - so obviously here the marking procedure is different.

We have lots of small schools near us too. All private and not part of a group. This is how Spain is - full of autonomos. It measn however you need to invest in vehicles.

I cant believe anybody would doubt that fluent Spanish is a prerequisite. Not only would an instructor have to converse with his students - but also with examiners and test centres - plus all sorts of other institutions. These ALL operate in Spanish. This is Spain.

The only english speakers (in general) who'd need an expat instructor will really be those who for some reason lost their licence (dui etc) OR are non-EU. Any EU member can simply swap their licence (use a gestor to ease life by all means) and renewals are a simple process. And kids raised here will be fine with Spanish - unless they've been isolated by their parents.

OH - one BIG point. More and more larger schools are OBLIGATED to offer Bike/Car and HGV training to survive - this from our local school. It means they therefore have to have vehicles available and this (in the case of a truck) is NOT minimal. Our local has car and bike only. Are you HGV and bike certified? - if not you're lower down on the list.

I'd not say Spanish driving is that bad. Ever driven in rural Italy?. Certainly in some areas (Valencia is one) they can demonstrate a remarkable lack of regard for things like traffic lights. But it's way easier to drive here than in the UK now imo. At least here you can concentrate on the road - in the UK I find I'm always looking for speed cameras.

Oh and we drive on the right side of the road here too