The driving instructor marketplace built by an instructor
Rated Driving is a driving school marketplace that connects UK learner drivers with local DVSA-registered instructors. It started because one of our founders was training to become an instructor and could not find enough learners to make it sustainable. We built the modern alternative to a traditional driving school, for instructors and learners alike.
Why Rated Driving exists
Rated Driving was born from a problem experienced by Co-Founder and COO Kevin Tuffney. Kevin was training to become a driving instructor and loved the teaching, but he could not find enough learners to sustain himself while he worked towards qualifying. The work he cared about simply was not viable without a steady flow of pupils, and he had to stop. The industry ran on word of mouth, and a trainee instructor without an established network had no reliable way to build a client base.
Kevin knew he could not be the only one. There had to be other instructors who loved teaching but were struggling to get new business, the exact position that had forced him out. That realisation became the idea behind Rated Driving: a way to help instructors find local learners and build a sustainable business, so talented people are not lost to the profession for the want of pupils.
At the same time, learner drivers across the country were struggling with the opposite problem: finding a good, local, available driving instructor they could trust. Two sides of the same market wanted to find each other, with an invisible fence in the way. Removing that fence, and bringing transparency and simplicity to a long-unchanged industry, is the problem Rated Driving set out to solve.
We say “set out”, because only once you start walking the path do you uncover the other points of friction facing learners and instructors. Things like the heavy franchise fees instructors pay to traditional driving schools, and the lack of modern tools for learners to track lesson payments and scheduling. Solving the matchmaking was step one. Building a better experience around it became the mission.
The industry we set out to change
Learning to drive in the UK has stayed largely the same for decades, while almost every other service has moved online. The numbers explain why a marketplace was needed.
A fragmented market
There are roughly 40,000 driving instructors across the UK, almost all working as sole traders. For a learner, comparing them in one place was close to impossible before Rated Driving.
Low digital adoption
Around 60% of driving instructors have no website at all. Great instructors stayed invisible online, and learners had no reliable way to find and reach them.
Costly franchise fees
Traditional driving schools often charge instructors high weekly franchise fees. That cost gets passed on, and it ties instructors into terms that do not suit them.
No tools for learners
Most learners had nowhere to track lesson payments, scheduling or progress. The admin sat in text messages and notebooks instead of one clear place.
How Rated Driving works
Rated Driving is a driving school marketplace, not a single driving school of its own. Instead of running its own fleet of cars, it brings together good local instructors in one place. You tell Rated Driving your postcode, availability and what you are looking for, and it matches and connects you with a suitable local DVSA-registered instructor. When you enquire, you see the price you will pay up front, with no separate booking or platform fee. Instructors receive a steady flow of local learners without paying weekly franchise fees or having to market themselves online.
Matched to your requirements
Tell Rated Driving your postcode, availability and what matters to you, and it connects you with a suitable local instructor. No endless searching.
DVSA registered and DBS checked
Every instructor is DVSA registered, which means they have passed an enhanced DBS background check, renewed regularly, for your safety and peace of mind.
Your money held in the Learner Wallet
Pay in the app and your money sits safely in your Learner Wallet through an FCA-regulated escrow system, released to your instructor only after each lesson.
No franchise fees for instructors
Instructors keep their independence and pay only a small percentage on lessons booked through the platform, never weekly franchise charges.
Ready to get started? You can find driving lessons near you, browse local driving instructors, or explore automatic driving lessons if you would rather skip the gears.
The story so far
Rated Driving started as an evening and weekend project in Kent and grew into a national marketplace. Here is how it has progressed.
The company is founded
Rated Driving Instructors Ltd is incorporated in Maidstone, Kent, after Kevin Tuffney, training as an instructor, finds he cannot get enough learners to sustain the work and spots the gap in the market.
Proving it in Kent
Built with input from more than 100 driving instructors, the platform launches across Kent and quickly attracts over 100 local instructors actively receiving bookings.
The app goes live
The Rated Driving app launches, giving learners a single place to find, book and pay for lessons, and giving instructors a modern alternative to franchise driving schools.
A national marketplace
Rated Driving now connects learners with over 1,600 DVSA-registered instructors nationwide, with more than 20,000 learners passed and an average instructor rating of 4.8 stars.
Meet the founders
Rated Driving is led by the people who lived the problem first hand. Kevin trained as a driving instructor, then teamed up with his brother Oliver and CTO Hatim Siyawala to build the platform they wished had existed.
Kevin Tuffney
Co-Founder & COO
Trained as a driving instructor and loved the teaching, but could not find enough learners to make it sustainable. That first-hand experience became the idea for Rated Driving. Kevin leads operations and keeps the platform grounded in what instructors actually need.
Oliver Tuffney
Co-Founder & CEO
Kevin’s brother and co-founder, Oliver turned the idea into a business. He set the mission of making getting on the road easy and accessible for every new driver, and leads the company’s growth across the UK.
Hatim Siyawala
Chief Technology Officer
Hatim leads the technology behind Rated Driving, building the marketplace, app and booking tools that bring learning to drive into the modern era for learners and instructors alike.
Company information
Rated Driving is the trading name of Rated Driving Instructors Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales and classified at Companies House under driving school activities. Rated Driving acts as a marketplace and agent connecting learners with independent instructors, and holds learner payments securely in the Learner Wallet through an FCA-regulated escrow system until each lesson has taken place. Our registered details are below.
Frequently asked questions
Rated Driving is a UK driving instructor marketplace that matches and connects learner drivers with local DVSA-registered instructors. You tell Rated Driving your postcode, availability and what you are looking for, and it connects you with a suitable independent instructor. Rated Driving acts as a marketplace and agent: the lessons are provided by the instructor under a contract directly between you and them.
Rated Driving is a driving school marketplace rather than a single, traditional driving school. A traditional driving school employs its own instructors and sets one fixed price. Rated Driving instead brings together independent local instructors and matches you with one that fits your postcode, availability and requirements. You get the local choice of a large network through a single platform, which is why many learners use it as a modern alternative to a traditional driving school.
Yes. Every instructor you are matched with through Rated Driving is DVSA registered, meaning they are registered with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to give paid driving lessons as either an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) or a Potential Driving Instructor (PDI). DVSA registration requires an enhanced DBS background check, renewed on a regular cycle, so you can have confidence in who is teaching you. The instructors are independent and self-employed; Rated Driving connects you with them rather than employing them.
Rated Driving charges instructors a small percentage on lessons booked through the platform, rather than the weekly franchise fees charged by traditional driving schools. There are no joining fees and no weekly charges. This keeps costs low for instructors and lets them stay fully independent.
Rated Driving was founded by brothers Kevin and Oliver Tuffney in Maidstone, Kent. Kevin was training to become a driving instructor and experienced first hand how hard it is to find enough learners to sustain the work, which gave him the original idea. The platform was built with input from more than 100 driving instructors and is led today by Kevin, Oliver and CTO Hatim Siyawala.
Send an enquiry on Rated Driving with your postcode, availability and what you are looking for. Rated Driving matches you with a suitable local instructor and shows you the price you will pay up front, with no separate booking fee. Most learners are matched with a suitable instructor within around two hours. You can start with driving lessons near you or browse female driving instructors if you would prefer.
Start learning to drive today
Enter your postcode and Rated Driving will match you with a local DVSA-registered instructor, with the price you will pay shown up front.
Sources
Companies House, Rated Driving Instructors Ltd (company number 11077197): find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, find driving instructors and learning to drive guidance: gov.uk
UK driving instructor market context (approximately 40,000 instructors, around 60% without a website) as stated by Rated Driving co-founder Oliver Tuffney, E2Exchange founder interview.
