Driving instructors: average salary and pay in the UK
Counting full-time and part-time jobs together, median weekly pay for driving instructors was £788.00 in April 2025 (ONS ASHE).
What the figures show
Paid hours are long: a full-time median of 40 a week including overtime, against 37.5 across all jobs.
ASHE counts roughly 5,000 employee jobs, 80% full-time.
The Annual Population Survey counts 47,200 people in this line of work across the UK.
Pay distribution, 2025 provisional
| Gross pay | All, weekly | All, hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | – | £15.25 |
| 30th percentile | – | £16.06 |
| 40th percentile | £679.50* | £18.21 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £788.00* | £19.91* |
| Mean | £947.80* | £26.28 |
Pay since 2021
| ASHE year | Full-time, annual median | Full-time, weekly median | Full-time, hourly median | All, weekly median | Jobs (thousands, indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 revised | – | £584.10* | £13.54* | – | – |
| 2023 revised | £31,340 | £655.30 | £16.27 | – | – |
| 2024 revised | – | £802.80 | – | £749.30 | – |
| 2025 provisional | – | – | – | £788.00* | 5* |
Driving instructors by region
UK: 47,200 (± 8,400), April 2025 to March 2026.
Annual Population Survey (Nomis)
What driving instructors do
Driving instructors co-ordinate and undertake the instruction of people learning to drive cars, motorcycles, buses, fork-lifts and haulage vehicles. (ONS SOC 2020, 8215)
Also covers: cycling instructor, driving instructor, HGV instructor, instructor (driving school), motorcycle instructor, driver trainer, forklift instructor, LGV instructor, advanced driving instructor, approved driving instructor, fork lift instructor, fork lift trainer, motor cycle instructor, fork lift truck instructor, fork lift truck trainer and mobile plant operator instructor.
- Checks instruction and learning standards and discusses teaching plans with other instructors
- Plans lessons in accordance with the needs and abilities of individual pupils
- Explains driving techniques and assists pupil with difficulties
- Familiarises pupil with the Highway Code and different road and traffic conditions
- Advises pupil when to apply for theoretical and practical driving tests and familiarises them with test procedures and standards
There are no formal academic requirements. Candidates must have held a current driving licence for four out of the last six years, have no motoring or criminal convictions and be over 21 years old. To gain registration as an Approved Driving Instructor, entrants must pass a three-part examination. Instructors for Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs), Passenger Carrying Vehicles (PCVs) and Fork-lifts are trained internally or at specialist training establishments.
Related
Road transport drivers (median £35,733) · Delivery drivers and couriers · Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs · salary percentile · Average weekly hours worked in the UK · Median
ASHE Table 14: 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 · coding index · notes · 15 October 2026