In this latest Six 4 Sixty, Terry’s joined by a proper Road Safety Justice League — six heavy-hitters from across the sector, for a fast-paced, insight-packed roundtable on what’s really going on in UK road safety right now.

First up: the new UK Road Safety Strategy - what it gets right (targets, Safe System thinking, young driver focus) and what it still dodges (funding, enforcement, GDL, and moving quicker than the world changes). Then the conversation turns to young drivers and brain development: how instructors can bridge the gap with habits, routines, preparation, scenario work, and practical “if/then” planning, without blaming or stereotyping.

They dig into the big one: how driving instructors can make a real difference beyond “pass the test,” including engaging parents and linking in with road safety organisations. There’s also a blunt discussion on instructor quality vs safety outcomes, consistency, and what the UK should steal from other countries (spoiler: GDL keeps coming up).

Plenty of straight-talking, evidence-led challenge, and loads to nick for your next lesson.

Find more from the guests here:

1. Olly Tayler
2. Rebecca Morris
3. Ian Edwards
4. Dr Liz Box
5. Stuart Lovatt
6. Dr Ian Greenwood

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The new Road Safety Strategy has landed. The reaction has been loud, emotional, and often misdirected.

In this episode, Terry Cook doesn’t break down policy line by line or defend government decisions. Instead, he slows the conversation down and explores what this moment really represents for driving instructors.

This strategy isn’t just a set of proposals. It’s a cultural signal, a shift in how learning to drive, risk, responsibility, and readiness are being discussed publicly and politically for the first time in over a decade.

Terry examines why the UK hasn’t gone backwards on road safety, but has stood still while others improved. He challenges the idea that teaching to pass a test is enough, explores why defensiveness from instructors is understandable but limiting, and explains why this moment gives instructors permission to step into a clearer, more confident role.

Listeners don’t have to agree with everything in the strategy. But they do need to decide how they respond to it.

This episode is about opportunity, leadership, and choosing where to stand as the conversation around road safety moves forward.

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Terry Cook is joined by Chris Bensted, Tom Stenson, and Stewart Lochrie to look back on 2025.

Together they unpack the wins, the failures, and the frustrating feeling that change in the industry is happening… just not always where or how people want it.

Topics include failure to change, CPD beyond “ticking boxes”, Part 3 heartbreaks, collaboration across the industry, the rise (and misuse) of AI, neurodiversity, road safety, events, and why many instructors still stop developing the moment they qualify.

There’s reflection on what’s shifted in 2025, what’s improved, and why 2026 might finally be the year when things start to click.

Check out:

1. The DITC
2. Bright Coaching
3. Drive-Up

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In the fourth and final instalment of In Conversation with Lee Jowett, Terry and Lee focus squarely on the DVSA, and a proposal that has sparked debate, frustration, and deep concern across parts of the industry.

At the heart of this session is a simple but uncomfortable question:

How can we assess driving instructors against standards that the assessment itself makes impossible to demonstrate?

Lee explains in detail why KIT’s proposal calls for a return to full one-hour Standards Checks and Part 3s, not for convenience, but because the current format fundamentally undermines the very National Standards it claims to be based on.

This conversation explores:

1. How shortened assessments inevitably prioritise “car moving” over reflection, awareness, and coaching
2. The mismatch between DVSA guidance and DVSA assessment
3. Why testing always shapes training, whether we like it or not
4. How instructors are being trained away from the behaviours that actually reduce serious collisions

Lee is clear: this is not about him, KIT, or ownership of an idea. It’s about aligning assessment with evidence, guidance, and decades of research into what actually creates safer drivers.

There’s also a direct call to action, not blind agreement, but engagement:

1. Read and understand the proposal
2. Share it if you believe in it
3. Raise questions with organisations, associations, and MPs
4. Or, at the very least, push something that moves the industry forward

Check out KIT here.

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In the third instalment of In Conversation with Lee Jowett, Terry and Lee take a hard, honest look at where the driving instructor industry actually is right now.

Lee opens by describing an industry at a crossroads: full of potential, but vulnerable if meaningful change doesn’t happen. While there are positives, particularly the mindset of newer instructors, there are also serious concerns about qualification processes, inconsistent training standards, and the absence of effective oversight.

Together, Terry and Lee explore:

1. Why the industry feels fragmented and inconsistent from top to bottom
2. How inadequate or outdated training models continue to slip through the cracks
3. How “trainer culture” and public posturing can undermine trust and development

There’s also balance. Both acknowledge:

1. The growing hunger for CPD among newly qualified instructors
2. The positive impact of industry events, conferences, and communities
3. The value of trainers who continue learning rather than resting on their reputation

Looking ahead, Lee reflects on what he’s proud of from 2025, particularly supporting other instructors to develop into thoughtful, credible trainers, echoing the role mentoring once played in his own career. He also shares cautious hopes (and real apprehensions) about what 2026 may bring if structural change continues to stall.

Check out KIT here.

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In this second In Conversation session, Terry and Lee Jowett step back from techniques, tests, and trends to ask a much bigger question:

What actually matters in our industry?

The discussion centres on outcomes, not instructor comfort, not box-ticking, and not social-media perfection, but what genuinely comes out the other end of driver training and onto the roads.

Lee challenges some deeply ingrained habits within instructor training, particularly the industry’s historic focus on skills and knowledge alone. He argues that while these matter, they don’t explain why serious collisions happen, and therefore won’t be enough to prevent them.

Check out KIT here.

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In this in-person conversation, Terry sits down with Lee Jowett to explore what really shapes a driving instructor, beyond passing tests, ticking boxes, and collecting certificates.

Lee discusses his journey into the industry, why he never set out to be a trainer, and how discovering coaching fundamentally changed both his teaching approach and his personal identity. From early mentorship under Claire Wilmot, through formal coaching education and psychology-led training, to co-founding KIT (Knowledgeablee Instructor Training), this episode is a deep dive into development, reflection, and doing the work properly.

Expect to hear:

1. Why experience only matters if you actually learn from it
2. How qualifications can be powerful, or completely pointless, depending on what you do with them
3. The responsibility instructors carry within the wider Safe System

There’s also honest discussion about the future of instructor training, the limits of current qualification routes, and why real change can’t come from test-focused teaching alone.

This episode is reflective, challenging, and unapologetically grown-up.

Check out KIT here.

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In this episode, Terry is joined by someone he’s been trying to pin down for years: Rachael Butler of Intelligent Instructor. And it was worth the wait.

This is a conversation that goes well beyond the usual ADI chat. Rachel opens up about her journey, the realities of working within Intelligent Instructor, the thinking behind the events and awards, and the huge amount of unseen graft that powers the brand.

She also talks candidly about menopause, brain fog, confidence, and the juggling act of life, topics that don’t often get discussed openly in this industry.

Together, Terry and Rachel dive into:

• Why road safety genuinely excites them both, and why it should matter more to the whole industry.
• The current state of the ADI world, including the recent DVSA changes and what they might mean going forward.
• How instructors are perceived by the public, and what it takes to shift that perception.
• Why parents and instructors need to work together more effectively, and what Rachel is looking for in a driving instructor for her own son.
• The psychology behind driving behaviour, coaching, and CPD.
• The truth about awards, social media, influence, and the future of Intelligent Instructor.

It’s thoughtful, honest, funny in all the right places, and gives a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of the most influential people in the industry, even if she still insists she’s “not an instructor.”

If you want a conversation that blends industry insight, real life, humour, and the kind of honesty we need more of, this one’s worth your time.

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More from The Instructor Podcast

Hosted by Terry Cook, this show is all about helping driving instructors grow their business, sharpen their skills, and look after their wellbeing.

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