Approved Driving Instructor (manual only) covering these areas: Banstead, Belmont, Carshalton, Cheam & North Cheam, Coulsdon (Woodcote School, Woodcote Road side only), Hackbridge, Morden, Nonsuch School area, Sutton, Wallington and Woodcote.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Mandy Thomas and I very much hope to become your future Female Driving Instructor based in Wallington.

After sourcing the very best training and development and throwing my absolute heart and soul into it, I qualified straight onto the prized Approved Driving Instructor Green Badge in March 2005, so here we are now in 2026 marking 21 years & counting.

Wow! how the time has flown doing what I love doing and working with pupils of all ages who seek me out to be their person during their own unique learning to drive safely for life journey.

I am also extremely proud to be the holder of Grade A status which signifies an extremely high standard of teaching that was introduced in 2014 and I retain that status currently.

We are periodically assessed by senior DVSA examiners who sit in on a lesson and carry out a deep assessment of all parts of the lesson process and teaching delivery and working partnership with the pupil.

I am very much an established and key part of our local instructors groups that are run on the WhatsApp platform and within that we are very much a supportive community looking out for each other with help, industry related news sharing, guidance, support and advice where it is sought and this helps us to maintain a very good professional working relationship with local area DVSA Test Centre Managers and staff.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is very important to me so I work hard to stay across all Industry related changes and news as well as attending courses or webinars often run by The Driving Instructors Association (DIA), the most recent of which was dedicated to teaching drivers with diverse needs which was extremely interesting and useful, but generalised on the day due to timing constraints so should not infer expertise in every complex scenario.

Other courses run by Industry professionals where the topic is applicable are keenly pursued.

I personally adopt a mix of traditional teaching with new format coaching and this is to ensure that all my pupils receive bespoke, tailored teaching and I work tirelessly to address any issues or fears about learning that you may have or have experienced in the past.

Understanding, addressing and eliminating risk from your driving is a very core part of modern teaching.

I have limitless patience and everything is calmly delivered, but with a good dose of humour where appropriate as I believe that our learning partnership works best when it is interspersed with shared laughter along the way.

As you get to know me you will find that I have my own very quirky library of unique ways of helping you deal with the more tricky elements of driving.

Please do take a few moments to look at the testimonials tab on this main page menu from some of my wonderful ‘passed’ pupils or from their families.

These will hopefully clearly show you that I literally go The Extra Mile every time and I am 100% committed to every student throughout their learning journey and beyond.

I cover all aspects of your development of Safe Skills for Life and my tough mock test programme with role play ensures that you are fully equipped for the future and become fully ‘Driver ready for a safe lifetime on the roads’ and not just able to pass the Driving Test in its current form.

My current training vehicle is a silver coloured Nissan Note Acenta 1.5dci (diesel), 5 door manual gearbox with air conditioning and eco mode driving setting.

The vehicle is fully insured for all elements of teaching and has dual controls fitted as necessary.

For our additional safety, a front and rear facing dash cam has been professionally installed & your personal footage from your lessons is made available to you as a specific referral & learning tool.

It is a nice, spacious vehicle that is kept in immaculate condition inside and outside by me personally, suits (*most) heights and leg lengths and has good visibility too.

*In some cases it may be necessary for you to try out the seating positions in the car first ahead of actual lessons starting to ensure that it is a physical fit with you & that you & the car are mutually compatible.

Teaching areas covered: Banstead, Belmont, Carshalton, Cheam & North Cheam, Coulsdon (Woodcote School, Woodcote Road side only), Hackbridge, Morden, Nonsuch School area, Sutton, Wallington and Woodcote.

*If you live in any other areas please make that very clear to me in your first contact by either your full address or postal code to establish if it is coverable within the capacity I have.

Following a permanent change to my personal circumstances, my working hours availability is as follows:

Mondays to Fridays: 9.30am/9.45am start, working through the full day to a latest 6.00pm finish.

Saturdays: These are protected slots available to 2 pupils only between 8.00am to 12.15pm finish & this may also cover SMART or regular motorway training, post test training or time set aside for a parent or sponsor to join a lesson to see the development of the pupil or a supervised mock test & also for Full Licence holders undergoing necessary retraining after many years of not driving or loss of confidence issues.

No lessons are available on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Single, 1 hour lessons are no longer viable these days due to the ever widening areas of speed limit reductions and more congested roads, but for context the term 1hr is referred to in the fees section as part of charges for tuition.

After the sad loss of several DVSA Test Centres from around the area in recent years, Morden Driving Test Centre (Tudor Drive) has now become my default local test centre and I am proud that I have a very friendly and very professional rapport with the team there.

They are a lovely team with a very respected & approachable Manager & they all want the very best for the pupils who they assess.

I work to and am supported by professionally drawn up and legally backed Terms and Conditions from the Driving Instructors Association, of whom I am a member.

These are firmly enforced by me at all times to ensure good conduct by all parties concerned.

These will be made available to you in advance of your learning beginning and will require full sign off and compliance throughout. Thank you

I really hope that the above has whetted your appetite for wanting to learn to drive based on many reasons that may have brought you to this point.

Please give me a call, leave me a clear voicemail message with your contact number if my phone is off whilst I am teaching, driving myself or outside of normal hours, send a text, email or find me on other links such as WhatsApp or FB so that we can discuss your personal needs in much greater detail and I cannot wait to meet you very soon and start on your journey to success!

I look forward to speaking with you & meeting you soon.

Mandy (aka Madders) 😊

Manual Training Only

Personal Dashcam Footage Feedback on Lessons

Morden Test Centre

Very happy to have received this from one of my happy students !

From one of my lovely mums on behalf of her son James, aka '007' passed test Oct 2023. x

Aspects I cover

Pass Plus instructor

Generally, the main core of my teaching is with brand new pupils of all ages who wish to learn, but I am also a registered Pass Plus instructor and this is an area of particular enjoyment for me as after you have passed your test this is an additional 6-part certiﬁcate that you can take to signiﬁcantly advance your skills and help towards reduced insurance too! I really enjoy the freedom to challenge and develop you and all my students conclude their Pass Plus feeling like a whole new person. You do not have to pass any more exams (which is a good thing!), but I do seek the very highest level of performance. Modules covered are: town driving, all-weather driving, countryside & rural, dark driving, dual carriageways and motorway.

If you don’t wish or need to take the whole certiﬁcate I oﬀer very challenging and extensive motorway training which is so vital for your future skills and safety.

Refresher lessons

I also offer refresher lessons if perhaps you have not been behind the wheel in a good while or maybe still feel a bit anxious. Nervous pupils are always welcome in my world.

Parking

Parking can be a real problem for some, so I am happy to help you address these fears and help you perfect your skills so that going to the shops or out to visit friends etc is a pleasure and not a chore.

Bad weather driving

Winter time and bad weather is another area where I can happily step in to help you. Although it is wisely suggested by the authorities to stay off the roads at snowy times, there can be situations where you are caught up in conditions not previously expected, so being equipped with the skills to cope is vital.

Theory Test

Part of the journey towards becoming a fully fledged licence holder involves taking and passing the theory test before you are eligible to apply for a practical test date. This itself can cause stress to some, so rest assured I can help you extensively with this too so that you have no fears on the day.

Accompanied lessons

As you advance your skills you may wish to perhaps have a family member or friend involved to support you or maybe as preparation to supervise you with private driving practice between our lessons. I warmly welcome this but it is vital that whoever sits in on your lesson does not distract you. On the day of your practical test I can accompany you as ‘observer on test’ if you wish but I cannot involve myself in the conduct of the test by the examiner in any way.

Prices

Prior to your ﬁrst lesson I request that we discuss my terms and conditions and I ask that these are fully read and signed oﬀ by both of us when we ﬁrst meet. You will be given a signed copy for your records.

Standard pay-as-you-go rate lessons are £37.00 per hour.

Please Note: 1 hour, single lessons are no longer available I am afraid due to increasing areas of lowered speed limits & much slower journeys & congestion.

A 2hr lesson on PAYG rate is £74.00.

A 1.5hr lesson on PAYG rate is £55.50.

Driving Test Day: Subject to terms, performance, driving standard in all elements & all 3 mock tests being passed, agreed use of my car & my time on practical test day is £111.00 as 3hrs of my time is taken up at PAYG rate.

Post practical test: Pass plus, (whole certificate or individual parts only) is £47.00 per hour.

ALL standard motorway/specific SMART motorway/complex country roads with detailed education & new passer post test training (full licence holders & performance applicable provisional licence holders (pre-practical test motorway which is now permissable with a high standard pupil with a full green badge status ADI & with motorway tuition livery) is £47.00 per hour.

2 hours @ £47.00 per hour = £94.00.

3 hours to cover SMART motorway & specific content countryside/rural roads combined = £141.00.

Any level of refresher training for full UK licence holders is £47.00 per hour (minimum 1.5hrs length sessions)