How to become a Driving Instructor in VICTORIA
A driving instructor course may be the right move if you are looking to make a career change or get a qualification that both improves your job opportunities, job satisfaction and pay bracket.
Intelligent Training Solutions has been involved with the delivery and development of the Car Driving Instructors course since 2001, back when the qualification was a Certificate III in Road Transport (Motor Vehicle Driving Instruction). Since that time, we have designed, developed, sold, tested, delivered and assessed course materials for Kangan Batman Tafe, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE, and the TDT- SA (Industry Skills Council). Intelligent Training Solutions, previously known as Drive National Training, was also the first training provider to offer this qualification throughout multiple states in Australia.
We remain the only provider of the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instructor) qualification to offer Victorian students the option of three delivery formats and the addition of the TLISS000162 Driving Instructor Skill Set for those wanting to advance their career further. We are one of the few, if not the only provider to deliver the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Car Driving Instruction course in its entirety and are well-known throughout the industry for going above and beyond the qualification requirements to ensure you start your new career at the top of the industry.
What is a driving instructor?
A driving instructor is anyone who, for-profit/gain or as part of their trade or business, teaches an unlicensed, or overseas licenced person to drive a motor vehicle on a public or open road. In Victoria, professional driving instructors must hold a Driving Instructor Authority (DIA) when teaching a person to drive a car. This blog contains the criteria you must meet and the application process you must go through to become a driving instructor.
The process of becoming a driving instructor in Victoria
The process or application criteria for becoming a driving instructor in Victoria is straight forward and can be completed over an eight to twenty-four week period. The licensing authority in Victoria is known as the Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria or CPVV for short, and you will need to meet the application conditions below:
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Studying to become a driving instructor: Things to look out for!
Do your homework BEFORE you enrol in a course. Many students make the mistake of not researching their course or the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) behind the qualification before they enrol. There is an increasing number of so-called ‘training providers’ in the market at the moment all claiming to deliver and accredit you with the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Car Driving Instruction) qualification; however, when you look beyond the surface of their marketing and sales pitch you will find something very different.
Over the last 20 years, students who trained with Intelligent Training Solutions have reported on various deceptions or on the shortcomings of ‘training providers’ within the Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry. Let us be clear, we are not just referring to the Car Driving Instruction qualification, this is true of any qualification, although this qualification does also have its fair share of questionable arrangements. So what are we talking about and what do you need to watch out for?
Private businesses pretending to be RTOs
Some of the deceptions currently circulating are private businesses (non-RTOs) leading students to believe that they are a Registered Training Provider (RTO) and able to accredit students in Nationally Recognised Qualifications. This includes 100% Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) pathways with unspecified RTO partners. The truth is that no private business has the authority to issue qualifications recognised within the Australian Quality Training Framework AQTF.
So how are private businesses delivering the course?
When you look beyond the surface of marketing, you will notice three things:
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Lack of an RTO number that matches the business name
The first thing to look for is the lack of an RTO number, or an RTO number that does not match the business that is promoting the course. Each registered training organisation is issued with an RTO number that is registered on the public register with training.gov.au. When you search for the RTO in training.gov.au you will be provided with the name of the business, any trading names and the registration status of the RTO. You will see the list of the approved courses that the RTO is authorised to deliver and a list of the states in which the RTO can operate. Businesses masquerading as registered training providers do not have an RTO number or are using someone else’s RTO number. Somewhere in their small print, they will inform you that they are ‘partnered’ with an RTO and deliver the course on the RTOs behalf. In most situations, these partnerships or ‘third party arrangements’ have either not been approved by the RTO regulator (ASQA/VRQA). This is especially true in situations where an interstate business is claiming to deliver a qualification in Victoria. The problem with this type of arrangement is that it leaves you, the student, vulnerable and dealing with a private business that cannot be held accountable for the quality of their training, or the standard and accuracy of their learning materials. For more information on this topic, please click here to visit the ASQA website. |
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Duration of the course The duration of the course is another important factor in selecting a trustworthy and quality provider. For many people, obtaining a Certificate IV qualification in a couple of weeks has a strong appeal, however, will it serve you well in your new career? It only takes a few minutes of research to know that the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instruction) course is a 435 nominal hour course, and any training provider claiming you can achieve a Certificate IV qualification over a few weeks part-time cannot provide you with the quality of training and, more importantly, the depth of information you need to support your lifestyle and be successful in your new career. An Intelligent Training Solutions course deals with a number of skills and tasks that most people aren’t exposed to in their working life. When a person considers a career as a driving instructor, it’s normally because they are confident in their own driving ability or they have taught their own son or daughter to drive, believing that they can teach others to do the same; and in some situations, this is true! It can be easy to teach a young and or mature adult who is coordinated, confident and fearless to take on the driving tasks required to achieve a licence. However, being a professional driving instructor requires more from you than just teaching a skills-based task to a novice learner driver. Being a driving instructor requires you to obtain skills and knowledge to deal with the emotions, learning styles, insecurities, fears and, the lack of physical and mental coordination commonly experienced by young and or mature adults who learn new tasks. Becoming a driving instructor means running your own business which includes sales, marketing, dealing with income tax, superannuation and managing profit and loss, which in itself is another skill set. Being a driving instructor means understanding that this job is more about people and communication skills than telling people what to do. These skills, knowledge and concepts may appear easy on the surface, but can only be truly mastered when studying with an RTO who places worth on the education process and quality outcomes and not on the quickest way to complete the course. A training provider cannot claim to have your best interests at heart with a watered-down version of a course. Every RTO can provide you with a Certificate, but not every RTO will provide you with an education. |
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Transparency in marketing The lack of transparency on a training providers website can be another warning bell when selecting who to study with. A quality RTO will have nothing to hide and therefore will follow the marketing standards issued by the regulators. These marking standards state that and RTO must be transparent when promoting a course with certain information made available to the student. This information includes the total course fees, clearly defined study requirements (how many hours, days weeks etc…), clearly defined delivery method, clear on who the registered training organisation is and much more. You should not need to call or complete a form to gain access to the course fees, delivery information, or your study obligations. The marketing standards require all RTOs to be clear, transparent and PUBLIC with course information allowing potential students to understand the full requirements, expectations and financial costs (short and long term) of their course before you enrol. Remember, a training provider cannot claim to have your best interests in mind and breach the fundamentals of student protection. |
Learn to be a driving instructor: What is involved with studying the TLI41218 qualification?
The TLI41218 Certificate IV in Car Driving Instruction course is a 435-hour qualification designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge required to start your new career as an employee of a driving school, a sub-contractor of a driving school, or as a sole trader/small business owner and operator of a driving school. As a student of Intelligent Training Solutions in Melbourne, Victoria, you will have the option of enrolling in one of three courses; a full-time completed over eight weeks, a part-time course completed over seventeen weeks, or an online/blended delivery course completed between eight to twenty-four weeks.
I.T.S students will participate in theory and practical sessions focused and contextualised to the driver training industry. Your practical sessions are conducted on-road in everyday traffic conditions matching the on-road environment of a driving instructor.
This qualification is made up of twelve units of competency, also known as subjects. These subjects provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge required by a professional driving instructor to be successful in their new career and including information on:
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Driving Instructor Training: How Long does it Take
Completing the TLI41218 Certificate IV Car Driving Instruction will take between eight to twenty-four weeks depending on the type of course delivery you select. If you choose to enrol in a online/blended course, you can complete the course slightly sooner or take even longer than the twenty-four weeks, depending on the amount of time you can dedicate to your study.
Each unit within the course ranges in hours, varying from five hours to sixty hours. The driving instructor course is a 435 nominal hour nationally accredited course so students should not expect to complete the course three days a week over 3 weeks as it is just impossible to teach 435 hours in 54 hours.
As a student of Intelligent Training Solutions, our course participants have the option of switching between a full-time, part-time and online/blended delivery course to provide you with real flexibility in your study.
Be sure to watch out for courses that do not provide you with a timeframe for completing your course. Many of these course providers identify competency-based training as an open-ended incentive but instead, leaves the student with no minimum training standard or worse, no course end date requiring an ongoing payment of course fees beyond your original agreement.
Driving Instructor Training: The Cost Of Driving Instructor Courses
The course fees for driving instructor training courses are dependent on whether you are eligible for Victorian Government Funding. You can check your eligibility for Government Funding by visiting the ‘How to check your eligibility’ webpage on the Skills Victoria website.
If you are not eligible for funded training (fee-for-service students) you can expect to pay around $5,528.00 for a Certificate IV qualification with payment plans, and interest-free loans available to help get you into a new career.
Those who are eligible for government funding can expect to pay around $3,829.50 and will study through AITAC (RTO: 3591) as Intelligent Training Solutions is not a government-funded provider and therefore cannot offer or enrol students into a government-funded course.
Discounts are available for those who are interested in dual qualifications.
Becoming a driving instructor: What happens after the course?
After completing the TLI41218 Certificate IV Car Driving Instruction course, the next step in your journey requires you to meet the Victorian regulator (Commerical Passenger Vehicles Victoria) obligations for holding a Driving Instruction Authority (DIA). In Victoria, this will be as easy as submitting an application to the CPVV, together with a verified copy of your TLI41218 Certificate. You will also need to complete a few other simple tasks as outlined in the section above titled ‘The process of becoming a driving instructor in Victoria’. Your course trainers will assist you with this process.
At the time of writing this blog, the application fee for a Driving Instructor Authority (DIA) for three years was $533.20
Choose Intelligent Training Solutions
Speak with any one of our staff or a past student and they will tell you that once you become a student of Intelligent Training Solutions, you become a student for life. We pride ourselves on guiding students through their careers and not just through their period of study. Long after you successfully complete your course, you will continue to be supported by Intelligent Training Solutions through events such as industry days, and free live webinars. As one of the administrators of Australia largest private Driver Training Facebook page and the administrators for the industry’s only Australia Wide newsletter, you will receive free industry updates and advice, and you will always have the option of popping into our training centre for a coffee and catch-up.
As part of Intelligent Training Solutions service to you, the team here are more than happy to help you with the entire process of studying your Certificate IV, obtaining your qualification, submitting your application with the CPVV and finding employment.
Enrol online today or contact us now for further information.