The yellow pages is still good for this sort of thing, but you probably still need to ask some local friends if they know anyone good.
An important thing is to get an instructor with at least 5 years or so of experience. They'll know the examination route by heart, they'll know all of the little things that they often see their students caught out by. My instructor even helped to make sure my exam was with a certain examiner, who he felt was usually more lenient than the others at the test centre. Remember that an instructor can take you anywhere they want to teach you, but the examiners will only take you on specific routes, and it will make things easier for you if you've already driven on every single road that an examiner could possibly take you down.
I'm not sure what the higher-end schools like BSM and RAC are like, but my advice is to avoid the schools like Bill Plant and Big Red. They have a fairly high turnover of staff, because to attract new instructors they guarantee them a certain amount of work during their first year, but their older staff end up getting to little work as a result.
I started out with Bill Plant, and by chance got a really good instructor, and he ended up going independent a couple of months later and I stuck with him.
One other thing about Bill Plant. They have the best cars, until recently they had a fleet of Audis, and I think they've just started moving to BMWs. But the problem (with the Audis at least, I haven't had experience in BMWs) is that they're definitely not the best cars for beginners, the clutches are very very unforgiving compared to something like an i20 or Fiesta.
Indeed but don't do what I did and use the same instructor as your sister on the assumption that if they're good enough for them, they'll be good for you too.
I mean I passed but some parts could have been a whole lot easier if they were handled differently.
>>3685 It's probably a great way to meet barely legal girls. You're even in a position of authority above them that requires almost no qualifications and won't fuck your career if you get into trouble for abusing it, as it's not a career.