Your complete guide to DriveThruL

Join free, no card

Sign up in about 5 minutes. You get a 12-month free trial with no credit card. There is no joining fee, no weekly fee, and no contract.

• Apply at /instructor/trial-signup
• Verify your mobile by text
• Keep your own car, brand and pupils

Get verified

Upload your ADI (or PDI) badge and driving licence. We verify you once, usually within 24 hours. Verified instructors unlock student leads and earn priority.

• Profile → Documents to upload
• Needed before any leads appear
• Display our roof sign to pay £25 instead of £30 per student

Set your area and availability

Tell us the postcodes you cover, your transmission (manual / automatic), and when you can teach. We only ever send you students inside your area.

• Set coverage postcodes
• Manual, automatic, or both
• Turn availability on when ready for students

Receive student leads

New students near you arrive two ways. Either we post a claim link in the instructor WhatsApp group (first instructor to tap it wins the lead), or you get a direct offer in My Leads under the Offers tab with a countdown to Accept or Decline.

• WhatsApp group: tap the claim link fast, first come first served
• Direct offers: My Leads → Offers → Accept or Decline
• Make sure availability is on so you get matched

Connect with the student

Once a student is yours they appear in My Leads under My Students. Their contact details unlock once they pay their deposit, or once you record a payment from them. Then you arrange the first lesson directly.

• My Leads → My Students
• Contact details unlock after deposit or recorded payment
• Book the first lesson, then log each 2-hour session on their card as you go

One fee, only if they stay

You never pay to receive a student. You pay a single £30 per student (£25 with a roof sign), and only if the student actually stays with you. It builds gradually, and you have a free window first.

If a student does not work out

You are never charged for a dead lead. On the student's card in My Leads, use the right button and you pay £0.

• "Student not responding": they will not answer calls or messages. We log it, the school follows up, you pay £0, and you keep the lead if they return.
• "Student cancelled": they changed their mind before starting. The lead closes and the fee is cleared.
• Took a session or two then stopped? Mark the sessions on their card. If they paid a deposit, the unused part comes back to you (£25 after one session, £13 after two). If you were collecting payment yourself, your lead fee drops to match.

Settle your lead fees

When a fee becomes due it shows in My Leads under the Lead Fees tab. Settle it whichever way suits you. If the student paid a deposit to the school, the fee is already waived.

• Pay by card
• Pay by bank transfer (zero fees)
• Or use your deposit credit

Your own pupils stay free

Students you bring yourself are always fee-free. They live in My Pupils, you set your own rates, and you keep 100% of every lesson fee. The lead fee only ever applies to a brand-new student we introduce.