How the app works

Driving Instructor Assistant is your diary, pupils, lesson notes and money in one app, with Elly — the little L-plate — to help.

If your school has moved over from another system, your pupils, diary and payments have been brought across, so they’re waiting for you when you sign in.

Using the app means you agree to our short terms: only add pupils who’ve agreed, and never use the app while driving.

iPhone: get it from the App Store.

Android: get it on Google Play.

Open the app and type the email address your school has for you. We’ll email you a 6-digit code — there’s no password. The code lasts 10 minutes.

No email? Check your spam or junk folder, wait a minute and tap Send a new code. Still nothing — message Phil.

If you teach for more than one school (or own one), the app asks which hat you’re wearing. You can switch any time from More.

Tick it all off with the 15-minute setup checklist: areas, working hours or lesson slots, prices and more.

• Go through the short welcome with Elly.
• Set your working hours (More → Working hours) so your free time shows correctly.
• Check the price list. Independent instructors: set your own prices and your lesson terms (cancellation notice and what a late cancellation costs) in More → Settings.
• Want pupils to pay you by bank transfer? Add your bank details (More → Bank details). Pupils then see your details, a reference to use, and an “I’ve paid” button — you confirm when the money arrives. Instructors at Cowley’s: pupils pay the school’s account, set by the office.
• Want pupils to pay by card when they book? Set up card payments with Stripe (More → Settings → Card payments). It’s optional and takes about 10 minutes: follow the step-by-step card payments guide.
• Allow notifications when asked, so you hear about lesson requests and messages.

Pupils → Add pupil: name, email, postcode and manual/auto. The pupil gets an invite email with the app links, signs in with that same email and sees their lessons, progress, what they owe and how to pay.

Only add pupils who have agreed to use the app (see Privacy below).

• Book a lesson by tapping an empty time in the diary. Double-booking gives you a warning, but it lets you.
• Book by voice: hold Elly and say “Book Sam Thursday 4pm” — check the card, then confirm.
• Run a whole lesson: Start → End → Save, with skill scores and the reflective log.
• Record a voice note during a lesson and share it with the pupil.
• Record a payment by hand (cash, bank transfer or your card reader).
• Pupils can check in before a lesson (“How are you feeling?”) — you see it in the lesson.
• Add a pupil’s theory test, then their practical test date.
• Ask Elly — e.g. “What gaps do I have this week?”, “Who owes me money?”.
• No signal? You can still look at today and add a lesson note — it syncs when you reconnect.

Tap More → Send feedback (or the link at the bottom of Elly’s chat). Pick Something’s broken, An idea or Confusing, write a few lines and add a screenshot if it helps. We automatically attach the app version, phone model and which screen you were on — never pupil details.

A good report says: what you were trying to do, what you expected, and what happened instead. “I tapped Save on the lesson and it spun forever” is perfect.

• Card payments are optional — pupils can pay by card through your own Stripe account once your school has switched them on. See the card payments guide. You can still record payments by hand, or let pupils pay by bank transfer.
• No calendar sync with Google or Apple Calendar yet.
• Elly can be wrong. She only ever suggests — always check the card before you confirm a booking, message or payment.

This is real pupils’ data, stored securely in the UK. Only add pupils who agree to use the app. Keep notes factual and kind — pupils can ask to see their data.

To remove a pupil’s data, or your own, message Phil and it will be deleted (we keep payment records only as the law requires).

The full details are in our privacy notice — point pupils to it too — and the terms. Data requests: privacy@drivinginstructorapps.co.uk.