ADI Part 3
The Core Competencies

The Core competencies on your ADI part 3 test

The fault ID, Analysis and Remedy can be thought of as WHAT - WHY - HOW

If you don't I.D. the fault you can't use analysis or remedial action

In general the S.E. will not commit a fault by accident, they are doing you a favour when they commit a fault by offering you the opportunity to show your skills in the core competency department, so be sure to bring any fault to his/her attention

This is the fault I.D. or the "what" part of the Core Competencies

You need to analyse the fault, Ask yourself "why did the fault happen?"

Missing mirror checks before a turn for example, did the S.E. simply forget to check the appropriate mirrors? and if so does she/he understand the importance of these safety checks? or was it some other reason?

This is the analysis or the "why" part of the core competencies

Now remedy the fault, you could do this by explaining what it was that the learner driver did incorrectly, the consequences of doing it that way, why it happened followed by how to remedy it and that it must be done this way from now on

This is the remedial or the "how" part of the core competencies

Lets take a look at a common fault, in this case the SE/pupil has come to you for the first time after quite a few lessons from another driving instructor, you quickly establish by Q and A that he/she is a phase 2 driver and seems to be competent and confident during general driving on a straight road in traffic

You then instruct him/her take the next road on the left, the SE/pupil does a very nice approach and selects the correct speed and gear for the turn but during the turn you notice that the clutch pedal is being kept hard to the floor

Ah hah you think......a chance to use the core competencies to fix this obvious fault

You begin by pointing out the error to her/him, eg, "I noticed that you kept the clutch pedal to the floor while turning that corner"

Well done to the instructor for the fault I.D.

You then go on to tell the SE/pupil "not to do that any more because that's coasting and is not a good thing to do"

Ah you think.....that's solved that one, you then instruct him/her take the next road on the left, the SE/pupil does a very nice approach and selects the correct speed and gear for the turn but during the turn you notice that the clutch pedal is STILL being kept hard to the floor

Hmmm....must be the SE/pupils idea of a game because I fixed that, this is not fair and REAL pupils won't do this, the SE just wants me to fail.....must be that damn quota thing......I knew it was true because my learner pass rate is quite good...

Now lets go over that scenario again and handle it slightly differently......

You then instruct him/her take the next road on the left, the SE/pupil does a very nice approach and selects the correct speed and gear for the turn but during the turn you notice that the clutch pedal is being kept hard to the floor You begin by pointing out the error to her/him and instructing them to bring the clutch up, eg, "bring the clutch all the way up, I noticed that you kept the clutch pedal to the floor while turning that corner"

Well done to the instructor for the fault I.D. You then ASK the SE/pupil "do you know why it is important to bring the clutch up after the gear change and keep it up during the turn around the corner?" if he/she does NOT know this is the time to tell them

The SE/pupil gives you the correct answer "Well done" you reply "so why do you keep the clutch down like that? you just agreed with me that it's not a safe thing to do?" "Well I'm frightened of the engine stalling when we go slow like that and i was told not to keep stalling the car by my last instructor" ........... NOW you have a baseline to work from......... More Here