ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2

Go Beyond the Basics. Learn How to Teach Real-World Driving.

Once a pupil has learned how to control the car, deal with junctions and negotiate roundabouts, the job of the driving instructor becomes much more demanding.

Now we're dealing with judgement.

When is it safe to overtake? How should a pupil deal with an approaching vehicle on a narrow road? How do they recognise a change of speed limit? What happens when the sat nav gives an instruction they cannot safely follow? How should they adjust their driving on a country road, at night or on a motorway?

And then there are the manoeuvres.

The ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2 has been created to help trainee and qualified driving instructors develop the knowledge needed to teach these more advanced subjects properly.

It isn't a script for you to memorise for your ADI Part 3.

It's a practical teaching resource designed to help you plan the lesson, understand the subject, identify problems and adapt your teaching to the pupil sitting next to you.

What's Included in Part 2?

Part 2 covers a wide range of everyday driving situations, higher-speed roads, independent driving and manoeuvres, including:

• Traffic lights

• Overtaking on a single carriageway

• Overtaking on a dual carriageway

• Driving on dual carriageways

• Leaving a dual carriageway

• Meeting traffic

• Motorway driving

• Driving at night

• One-way streets

• Speed limits

• How to recognise speed limits

• Recognising when speed limits change

• Country roads

• Driving through bends

• Independent driving using a sat nav

• Independent driving using road signs

• Anticipation and planning

• Forward bay parking

• Reverse bay parking

• Parallel parking

• Emergency stop

• Pulling up on the right and reversing

These aren't simply subjects to tick off before somebody takes their driving test.

They're essential skills that can help prepare a new driver for the situations they'll face when there is no driving instructor sitting next to them.

Knowing How to Do It Isn't the Same as Knowing How to Teach It

This is one of the biggest changes people have to make when they begin training to become a driving instructor.

You've probably been driving for years.

You recognise a speed limit without really thinking about it. You adjust your speed for a bend automatically. You decide whether you can pass a parked vehicle almost instinctively.

But now you've got to explain those decisions to somebody else.

More importantly, you've got to recognise why they're getting them wrong.

That requires considerably more knowledge than simply being able to drive yourself.

The ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2 helps you break these subjects down so you can think about what your pupil actually needs to learn rather than simply telling them what to do.

Overtaking Needs to Be Taught

Overtaking is a perfect example.

Too often, overtaking becomes something that's only discussed when an opportunity happens to appear during a lesson.

But it deserves to be taught properly.

Before an overtake is even considered, your pupil should be thinking about three fundamental questions:

Is it safe?

Is it legal?

Is it necessary?

A broken centre line doesn't automatically mean you should overtake. It may indicate that overtaking is legally possible, but the driver still has to decide whether there is enough visibility, enough space and enough time to complete the manoeuvre safely.

The situation is different again on a dual carriageway, where observations, following distance, speed differential, lane changing and returning safely to the left all become important.

Part 2 helps you prepare to teach these subjects rather than simply waiting for an overtaking opportunity to appear.

Dual Carriageways and Motorways

Higher-speed roads introduce a completely different set of demands for a learner or newly qualified driver.

Planning needs to happen earlier. Following distances increase. Mirrors become increasingly important and decisions need to be made well before reaching a junction or exit.

The folder covers driving on dual carriageways, overtaking, leaving a dual carriageway and motorway driving, giving you a structured resource for teaching the knowledge and skills pupils need on faster roads.

The aim isn't simply to help somebody survive a dual carriageway lesson.

It's to help them understand how to make safe decisions when they're eventually driving there alone.

Meeting Traffic

Meeting situations can look simple until you actually have to teach them.

Who has priority?

Is there enough room for two vehicles?

Where could you wait?

What happens if the other driver doesn't behave as expected?

A pupil may understand the basic idea perfectly well but still struggle because they're looking too close to the front of the car, identifying the situation too late or failing to anticipate what another road user is likely to do.

Good instruction means going beyond simply saying, "Give way to that car."

We want the pupil to recognise the developing situation early enough to make that decision for themselves.

Speed Limits – Don't Just Teach the Numbers

Knowing the national speed limit isn't enough.

A pupil needs to recognise what speed limit applies to the road they're actually driving on.

They need to understand signs, road types and changes of limit. They also need to recognise that the speed limit is a maximum, not necessarily a target.

A road may have a particular legal limit while the conditions require a considerably lower speed.

Part 2 therefore covers speed limits, how to recognise them and recognising when the limit changes, helping instructors teach the understanding behind the number on the sign.

Country Roads and Bends

Country roads are another subject where simply telling somebody to "slow down" doesn't teach them very much.

Why do they need to slow down?

How much should they slow down?

What can they actually see?

A pupil needs to learn how the road itself provides information.

The severity of the bend, road markings, warning signs, hedges, telegraph poles, the position of other vehicles and the available view can all provide clues.

The objective is to develop a driver who can read the road ahead, anticipate what they cannot yet see and adjust their speed and position accordingly.

Anticipation and Planning

This is one of the most important areas of driving.

A good driver isn't simply reacting to what is happening immediately in front of them. They're constantly gathering information and asking what could happen next.

A pedestrian approaching a crossing.

A vehicle waiting at a side road.

Brake lights several vehicles ahead.

A parked car with somebody sitting in the driver's seat.

A cyclist approaching a narrowing.

None of these necessarily requires immediate action, but they all provide information.

Part 2 helps you think about how you can develop your pupil's anticipation and planning, rather than allowing every situation to become a last-second reaction.

Independent Driving – Sat Nav and Road Signs

Independent driving doesn't mean abandoning your pupil and hoping for the best.

It's an opportunity to see how well they can apply their skills when they're taking greater responsibility for the drive.

Part 2 covers independent driving using both sat nav directions and road signs.

The important lesson isn't simply following the route.

It's helping the pupil understand that the sat nav is giving them directions — it isn't driving the car.

If a direction cannot be followed safely, the priority remains driving safely. Missing a turning is far better than making a rushed or unsafe decision simply because the sat nav said to turn.

Manoeuvres – Teach the Skill, Not Just the Routine

Part 2 also covers the manoeuvres relevant to learning to drive and preparing for the practical driving test, including:

Forward bay parking

Reverse bay parking

Parallel parking

Pulling up on the right and reversing

Emergency stop

It's tempting to teach manoeuvres as a series of fixed reference points.

Turn the wheel here. Look for this point. Straighten there.

That may work initially, but what happens when the parking bay is a different size, the starting position changes or the pupil gets slightly out of position?

A good driver needs to understand what the car is doing.

That means observations, slow-speed control, steering, judgement, accuracy and — importantly — knowing how to correct the manoeuvre when it doesn't go perfectly.

The aim isn't to create somebody who can reproduce one memorised routine.

It's to develop somebody who can park the car safely in the real world.

A Lesson Plan Is a Starting Point

The lesson you've planned before getting into the car might not be the lesson your pupil actually needs.

That's particularly important when preparing for the ADI Part 3 test.

You may plan a lesson around country roads and discover within the first few minutes that your pupil has a more fundamental problem with speed awareness.

You might plan dual carriageways and discover their mirror use isn't strong enough.

You might plan independent driving and discover they're struggling to plan far enough ahead.

That's when you need to adapt.

The stronger your subject knowledge, the easier that becomes.

Identify the Fault – Then Find the Cause

Simply spotting a driving fault isn't enough.

If your pupil enters a bend too quickly, you need to understand why.

Did they identify the bend early enough?

Did they understand how severe it was?

Were they looking far enough ahead?

Did they know what speed was appropriate?

Did they understand how the available view should influence their decision?

Or did they know exactly what to do but lack the confidence or skill to do it?

That's the difference between identifying a symptom and understanding the cause.

Once you understand the cause, you have a much better chance of finding an appropriate solution.

Designed for ADI Part 3 – Useful Throughout Your Career

The ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2 has been created with instructor training at its heart, but it isn't something you need to put away once you've passed your test.

Use it when preparing lessons.

Keep it in the car as a reference.

Use it when a pupil is struggling with a particular subject.

Return to it when you're teaching something you haven't covered for a while.

Use it to refresh your knowledge when preparing for your ADI Standards Check.

The principles of good instruction don't suddenly change once you've qualified.

Part 1 Builds the Foundations. Part 2 Takes Them Further.

Part 1 concentrates heavily on the foundations of driving instruction — controls, moving off and stopping, junctions, roundabouts, crossroads and pedestrian crossings.

Part 2 takes the pupil further.

Now we're dealing with higher-speed roads, overtaking, meeting situations, country roads, speed limits, independent driving, anticipation, planning and manoeuvres.

Together, the two folders provide a substantial reference library covering the subjects you're likely to teach throughout a pupil's journey from their early lessons towards independent driving.

Don't Prepare for One 45-Minute Lesson. Prepare to Become an Instructor.

Your ADI Part 3 is important.

But becoming a driving instructor is bigger than one test.

If your preparation consists entirely of learning one lesson and hoping your pupil behaves exactly as expected, you're making the test unnecessarily difficult.

Build your knowledge instead.

Understand the subjects.

Learn how to break them down.

Recognise the problems.

Analyse why they're happening.

Find a solution.

Give the pupil the appropriate level of support and then give them the opportunity to practise.

That's useful on your ADI Part 3.

It's even more useful on the thousands of driving lessons you could deliver afterwards.

ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2

More subjects. More knowledge. More confidence when the lesson doesn't go to plan.

From overtaking and dual carriageways to country roads, independent driving and manoeuvres, the ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2 gives you a practical resource for some of the most important subjects you'll teach as a driving instructor.

Don't just learn what to say.

Understand what you're teaching, why you're teaching it and how to adapt it to the pupil in front of you.

Order your ADI Part 3 Lesson Plan Folder – Part 2 today and build the knowledge behind better driving instruction.