The i-Course Teaching Guide...

In this area you will primarily be learning how to teach and specifically, how to teach in an in-car environment.

In addition to learning how to teach you will also learn how to apply your teaching skills in some specific driving lesson situations.

The lesson subject material, while important, is perhaps the least important part of iCourse Teaching - if you learn to become a good teacher you will be able to teach any aspect of driving that you are proficient with yourself.

As you have demonstrated your expertise as a driver by passing ADI Part Two this means that after developing your teaching skills you will be able to teach any aspect of on-roads car driving.

Your final qualifying test, Part-Three is an ADI Standards Check.

You can find details of the ADI Testing process here.

Important information about your Part-Three test

For the Part-Three test you will need a 'live' learner.

For Part-Three you will need a 'live' learner.

You could consider taking a full-licence holder - perhaps a friend or family member - as your learner. We suggest that you start to think about who you might use as your learner now. Our recommendation is that if a Full Licence Holder is taken to test as they are generally more reliable and more likely to be available for practice.

Most experienced drivers have issues with speed, positioning, following distance, eco-driving, recognising signs and not reading the road well ahead.

Our best advice is that you take a learner driver, a beginner who is learning something new, for example left and right turns, for the first time on quiet roads (you drive the car from the test centre to the practise area).

However, the choice of customer and subject is entirely up to you.

If you are doing this course with practical training, your trainer will discuss the best test-lesson option with you and review your lesson plan.

If you are doing this course as a stand-alone without practical training our support team will assess your lesson plan for you.

As we have said, the choice of customer and subject is entirely up to you (and your 'customer'), however, in the event that you are unsuccessful on your first exam attempt we will advise on a lesson subject and route for your second test.

We cannot stress strongly enough that it’s important to know your local training area well when teaching. Never take a learner to a place that you have not been before and/or do not know ‘like the back of your hand’. The same thing applies to the area where you will be taking your Part-Three test.

Simply learning a couple of routes could cause problems during your exam if you need to change a lesson plan, for example to move to a quieter location. There are lots of things that could affect your plan including the way that your ‘customer’ drives on the day, unexpected traffic density, road works or road closures and so on. If your test area is some distance from where you live we recommend that you spend as much time as possible driving around the area to learn it. 

There is a possibility that any training you do with a trainer might not be around your nearest test centre, if this is the case you have a couple of options, both of which have benefits.

1. Do the test in your local area ensuring that you follow all the guidelines for routes given in the course and by your trainer.
    
2. Do the test at the centre in your training area. If you choose this option your trainer will advise about specific routes that you can use, however, you will also need to do some learning of the area as explained above. Ideally you will learn the area ‘like the back of your hand’, but if for any reason you can’t get enough time to learn the wider area, learning a specific part – for example a large housing estate – might be sufficient.

Unsure?

If you are unsure about where to take the test we recommend that you choose the area that you trained in. The benefits of this are that your trainer will be able to help you with understanding the local test area and having completed your part 2 in the location you’ll have an understanding of the local geography.

Test without training

If you are taking Part-Three without training, do the test in an area that you are totally familiar with and ensure that you fully understand the route planning information offered in this course. Also, make sure that you fully complete the lesson planning project.

Trainee Licence

If you’re taking advantage of a trainee licence* it is recommended that you deliver your lessons in area that you are taking your test. This will help you to get a good understanding of the local geography and help you to plan successful routes.

Whichever option you choose our trainers will be able to give you advise about route and contingency planning.

*If you are planning on taking out a trainee licence it is important to ensure you apply within six months of doing your Part-Three training to ensure that you meet the licence acceptance criteria.

Practise

You may have friends or a family member who you can teach in order to gain practise. While we encourage this we must stress that you must abide by the law - if you teach a friend, family member or any other learner you are not allowed to charge a fee for lessons or to take any expenses such as 'petrol money' unless you are operating on a Trainee Licence.

Anyone found to be giving illegal driving instruction is likely to be de-barred from entry to the ADI Register.

Preparing for the test lesson

Work through this section fully, watching all of the videos at least once, making notes to ensure that you fully understand the principles being explained.

Before your test you will need to complete a detailed lesson plan. This will maximise your chances of passing first time. To help with this we have provided a lesson planning guide - this is the final element of the online preparation.

If you are doing this course in conjunction with practical training, complete the lesson planning project before your training. You can then revise and re-write the plan as necessary during the training and final exam preparation. Completing the plan will help you to think about the material from the course and as a result, to get the best learning value from practical training.

Next: Work through this section using the top menu to work through each section in the order presented on the menu, starting with Skills 1 - The Instructor's Role.