An ARDS Instructor is an experienced racing driver licensed by the Motor Sports Association in the UK under recommendation by an ARDS registered racing school to teach racing and performance driving skills on race tracks.

ARDS is an acronym for 'Association of Racing Driver's Schools'. The Association of Racing Driver's Schools was formed in the early nineties by a number of racing school owners wishing to set and regulate standards of operation in the industry, including the standards of instruction.

The Association of Racing Driver's Schools operate the compulsory test, confusingly named the 'ARDS Course', required to be passed by any individual applying for their first racing licence. In order to get their racing licence an individual has to pass a medical examination by their GP, and the ARDS Course, which is carried out only by ARDS Member Racing Schools.

To qualify as an ARDS Instructor, an individual must meet the following requirements:

• Have a proven or known history of racing experience of more than 3 years.
• Have held a minimum of an National A racing licence.
• Pass a stringent practical assessment and written examination carried out by their sponsoring school.

Having met the above requirements an Instructor will be licenced by the MSA (Motor Sports Association - the governing body of Motor Sport in the UK and the UK arm of the FiA - Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) under the recommendation of their sponsoring school. ARDS Instructors are graded, A, B, C, D and S. A new Instructor will typically be graded either C or D depending on their experience and their initial assessment. Instructors move up the grades by continuous assessment and experience. The highest standard grade is the A Grade. An A Grade Instructor will be greatly experienced in both racing and instructing.

The S Grade (or Super Licence) is effectively the same as the A Grade except that it can only be issued to Instructors working directly for one of the ARDS Member Schools. Only S Grade Instructors can sign off a competition (racing) licence application. In other words an A Grade Instructor can carry out the examination and recommend an applicant for a competition licence, but only an S Grade Instructor can sign the paperwork.

Does racing success make for a good instructor? Not necessarily! There is no certain correlation between a talented successful racing driver and a good instructor. Good instructors know how to do it and are able to communicate that knowledge and demonstrate the skill... but they don't need to be World Champions - does Tiger Woods have a Golfing Coach? Of course he does! Could his Coach beat him at Golf? ...Probably not!

So to sum up - you can be assured that even a D Graded Instructor has several years of racing under his belt, knows what he is talking about and can relay that skill and knowledge to you.