The driving instructor association ADI NJC and Intelligent Instructor joined forces to present a conference at Newark Showground on 29/09/2024 with reportedly over 1200 driving instructors attending.

BIG TOM attended the conference that was spread across a number of units within the showground. There was a very well attended PDI zone that was often over-subscribed and full to capacity. Dave Mann from the DVSA confirmed that the ‘normal’ levels of new entrants into the industry is 400 per month but for the last couple of years it has been 1600-1700 per month.

He was unable to offer a definitive answer for the average waiting times for Part 2 & 3 tests, but explained how the DVSA organise resources to try to respond to demand within 12 weeks.

There were very good presentations given on neurodiversity and anxiety in driving training where the accepted figure was that it is believed 1 in 7 people are affected in current times, and that figure is only expected to increase with Gen A coming to us within 2-3 years.

Spread across the entire conference were sponsors both inside and also outside giving demo drives of a variety of vehicles.

It was indeed a very well attended conference and very nice to meet up with peers in the industry.