Can You Change Your Driving Instructor? Yes — It's Your Right
A common story: the driving school hands you a list of instructors, assigns one — and it feels like there's no choice. You drive with whoever you were given, even if it's uncomfortable. That feeling suits the school, but it doesn't match the rules.
What the law says
Under Latvian regulations (Ministru kabineta noteikumi — Cabinet regulations), you have the right to choose your driving instructor and to change them. And you can change not only within one school but by moving to an instructor at another school — the hours you've already done don't burn up. CSDD confirms it plainly: a candidate may freely choose the specific instructor they learn to drive with.
Put simply: the school's instructor list is an offer, not a cage. If you're uncomfortable with someone or you see no progress, changing instructor is normal and lawful.
Why switching gets pushback
A familiar scene: the moment you raise switching, the pressure starts — "everyone learns this way," "it's you, not the instructor," "too late to change." Sometimes it sounds like a reproach, as if you had no right to be unhappy with a service you're paying for.
Worth remembering one simple thing: you're paying to be taught to drive, not to put up with a person who doesn't suit you. Pushback in response to wanting a different instructor is itself a warning sign about the school, not a reason to stay.
Why an ill-fitting instructor hits your wallet
It's not only about comfort. An instructor who shouts, humiliates, or creates tension costs you more directly: under stress you make more mistakes at the wheel, you learn slower — which means more paid lessons. In a "pay per hour" model, that instructor effectively works against your wallet. The right to switch is your main protection.
Telling a good instructor from a bad one comes down not to advertising but to concrete signs — those are here. And why the instructor matters more than the school's sign is here.
How to switch calmly
- Decide in advance what isn't working: the tone, the explanations, the lack of progress.
- Ask for the change in writing (a message) — it's easier than in a conversation under pressure.
- Check how many hours are already credited, so they don't "get lost."
- If the school denies your right to choose, that's a reason to consider changing the school, not just the instructor.
- Remember that the total cost of training shouldn't rise on its own just because you switched; what makes up the cost is here.
The order for choosing and changing an instructor is set by regulations (Ministru kabineta noteikumi) and can change — check the current rules at csdd.lv, July 2026.
A good instructor shows in the first lesson — in whether it's calm beside them and whether they hear you. You can start with a first lesson.