Would you feel more at ease with a woman beside you? Loredana and Diana teach driving lessons across Doncaster and the surrounding villages, and you can ask for either of them when you book.
Co-founder of Alma. Specialises in nervous learners and anyone who has lost confidence behind the wheel.
Read Loredana's profile →Automatic only. Lessons that feel like driving with a friend, with sarcasm included at no extra cost.
Read Diana's profile →Asking for a female driving instructor is one of the most common requests we hear when people ring Alma, and it is a completely normal thing to want. Some learners have had an uncomfortable experience with a previous instructor. Some are anxious about driving in general and simply feel calmer with a woman in the passenger seat. For others it comes down to a cultural or religious preference. You never have to explain yourself. Tell us you would prefer a female instructor and we will match you with one.
Our female instructors teach to the same standard as everyone else at Alma. You learn in a dual controlled, fully insured car and work towards the DVSA standard you will be marked against on test day. The difference is how relaxed you feel while you are learning, and for a lot of people that has a real effect on how quickly they progress. A learner who is not worrying about the person next to them has more attention left for the road.
Loredana co-founded Alma Driving School and has a particular soft spot for nervous learners and anyone who has lost confidence behind the wheel. Her approach is to understand the person first and then teach the driver, so lessons move at a pace that suits you and nobody minds if you ask the same question twice. Years after passing, former pupils still message her about their first car or a long drive they never thought they would manage.
Diana teaches automatic lessons only. She moved into instructing from an office job and builds calm, low-pressure lessons around each pupil. Reviews often mention her patience and the way she settles nerves, and she is used to fitting lessons around school runs and busy family diaries. Expect plenty of encouragement and a sense of humour, with proper focus whenever the road needs it.
Both of their full profiles, in their own words, are further down this page.
If you would like to learn in an automatic car, Diana is the instructor to ask for. Automatic lessons take the clutch and gear changes out of the picture, which helps learners who find coordinating the pedals stressful, and many people reach test standard in fewer hours as a result. Bear in mind that passing in an automatic gives you an automatic-only licence.
If you would rather learn in a manual car so your licence covers both types, mention it when you call. We will tell you which female instructor and car are available for your area and the times you can do. If the clutch turns out to be the thing holding you back, you can switch to automatic part way through without starting again.
Lessons start from your home or workplace anywhere we cover, from Doncaster town centre and Bessacarr to Armthorpe and Rossington, as well as villages further out such as Thorne and Conisbrough. You can see every area on our areas page.
Practical tests are taken at the Doncaster driving test centre on Shaw Wood Business Park, so as your test date gets closer your lessons include the roads around it. Popular slots such as weekday evenings fill up first, so it helps to give us a few possible times when you book.
Not sure which one fits? Ring us and describe where you are up to. We will suggest a starting point honestly, and you can read what other learners say about Loredana and Diana on our reviews page.
I'm Loredana, co-founder of Alma Driving School, a family business I'm incredibly proud to have built in Doncaster around one simple idea: learning to drive should be about much more than passing a test.
Read Loredana's full profile →I left my office job looking for a change and ended up falling in love with teaching. Now I teach automatic-only lessons in Doncaster that are calm, stress-free and built around you.
Read Diana's full profile →Yes. Say so when you call or message us on WhatsApp, and we will book you in with Loredana or Diana. It is a normal request and you never need to give a reason.
Yes. Diana teaches automatic lessons only, so she is the person to ask for if you want to learn in an automatic car with a woman instructor.
Yes. Whether you started with another Alma instructor or with a different driving school, tell us and we will move you across as soon as a suitable slot is free.
Yes. Every Alma instructor is DBS checked and most of the team are approved by the DVSA, and all lessons are in dual controlled, fully insured cars.
Yes. You cannot choose your examiner, but you can ask your instructor to sit in the back during the test, which many nervous learners find reassuring.
Manual or automatic, complete beginner or coming back after years off. Tell us where you are up to and we will build a plan that gets you to test.
