You may already have noticed that Driving Instructors have to display, by law, a licence (which is supplied and regulated by DVSA) in the windscreen of their car whilst they are giving paid tuition, but you may not have noticed that there are two type of license available - a Pink one and a Green one... what is the difference?
Well, the Pink version represents a "trainee" Driving Instructor who has passed two of the three exams required to gain "fully qualified" status and who has completed a minimum of 40hrs of training as well as being committed (these are the terms under which the licence is granted by DVSA) to around 20hrs of further training.
The Green version represents a "fully qualified" Driving Instructor who has passed all three of those exams. These Driving Instructors are the only ones allowed to advertise as "Approved", "Qualified" or "Fully Qualified" Driving Instructors and they are subject to repeated DBS and quality checks every four years. Following a quality check (which is known as a Standards Check and involved a specially trained DVSA examiner sitting in the back of the car and observing a lesson being conducted) these Driving Instructors are graded either Grade A, B or Unsatisfactory (in which case they much present themselves for another Standards Check very soon and show a more competent driving lesson or they face removal from the register of Approved Driving Instructors)
The term "trainee" Driving Instructor is a rather unfortunate one... whilst a pink licence is granted on completion of a minimum of 40hrs of training and commits you to another minimum of 20hrs of training, there is no minimum requirement placed on those passing the 3rd exam (which is a demonstration of teaching ability). It is therefore entirely possible (although probably unlikely) that the holder of a Pink licence may have undergone more training hours than the holder of a Green licence - if your Driving Instructor is operating under a Pink licence and you're happy with the level of service you're receiving, then you don't need to panic.
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