Apologies for the length of this review
I started lessons with Paul of Franklin33 in the summer of 2015. I took lessons with him almost every week until June of 2016. I can't tell you if it was his actual teaching style or he set out to rip me off from the beginning, but he was very, very slow to progress me, stating he felt I wasn't ready each time I asked to move on to different things. I spent the first 6 MONTHS on ONE maneuver (turn around the road), and although I quickly learned this maneuver, I wasn't moved onto the next maneuver, 'left corner reverse' until January of 2016. A good 6 months for just one measly maneuver. I also never drove on dual carriageways at all while with him. I spent the next few months only just realizing the situation I was in with Paul and noticed I was barely progressing under him. I felt my driving was fine, my maneuvers were fine, but every lesson just seemed to be the same thing over and over again and it became extremely frustrating.
Which brings me to the second thing I want to state about Paul. After a few months, I noticed he is a very impatient teacher with a short temper who put me under pressure almost every lesson. One little mistake and he'd shatter my confidence for the rest of the lesson. He made me feel very uncomfortable. A bit of irony here as the reception lady at F33 who initially booked my lessons and assigned Paul to me, labeled him 'a very nice man.'
You may be thinking, 'well maybe he was right in his assessment and he was right to pace things', well my next experience proved to me it only takes a few months maximum with a good instructor to pass. I eventually had enough and switched instructors in June 2016 after being recommended another teacher by a family member. This new instructor was absolutely brilliant. To emphasize the difference between the two, I'll provide some details of my lessons with the second instructor. He had a policy of getting students ready for the test within 3 months, and for me it was even less than that. I learned everything I needed to, including all the maneuvers better than I ever did with Paul. Seriously, he made me confident with new maneuvers and more after just a couple lessons with him, he was a huge confidence boost, especially after dealing with Paul. And after a short number of lessons with him involving practicing the route, he deemed me ready for the test and I passed in August. God bless that man, I deeply regret not changing sooner as I would have saved so much money with him.
In conclusion, I admit to being terribly naive myself for sticking Paul for so long, but I can't take it back now and can only warn that you stay away yourself. I can't speak for the rest of the instructors at Franklin33, but if they try to assign you Paul, hang-up immediately.
