The safest way to communicate and give instructions to a profoundly deaf pupil is when the vehicle is stationary. You'll need to communicate slowly and distinctly, using a combination of methods, including the use of diagrams and gestures.

Officially, the flashing of headlights has the same meaning as sounding the horn - a warning of the presence of a vehicle. However, drivers sometimes flash their headlights for other reasons. Make sure you know what's meant by the signal before acting on it.

At junctions where the view is restricted, you need to make sure your pupil has time to assess the situation. Teach them to approach slowly and get a good look at the traffic situation before making a decision.

If you need to use the dual controls, you must make sure the pupil understands why you've done so. If you need to use the dual controls often, it suggests that you've overestimated your pupil's ability and are asking too much of them. If you don't recognise this, your pupil may lose confidence and the trust between you may begin to break down.

If you're feeling upset or angry, your concentration and judgement will be affected; this will increase your risk of an incident while driving. You should therefore wait until you've calmed down before you start driving.

Never drive if you've taken medicine without first checking what the side-effects might be. Many over-the-counter medicines carry a warning that they may cause drowsiness. They can affect your judgement and perception, and therefore your ability to drive safely.

If a medicine you need to take is making you feel drowsy, get advice from your doctor before driving.

Insurance companies are likely to charge a higher premium for people who have been convicted of driving while unfit through drink or drugs. This is because they've shown that they're a risk to others on the road.

Some people find learning to drive easy, while others struggle with the challenge. It's important that lessons are matched to the pupil's ability. Mismatching lessons and ability can lead to loss of confidence, disinterest and dissatisfaction.

Everyone learns at a different rate, so you'll need to adapt your teaching to the ability of each pupil. Building confidence is an important part of teaching someone to drive. This can be hard to build but easy to lose, so be realistic in your expectations of a pupil.

Regardless of a driver's experience, the Mirrors - Signal - Manoeuvre (MSM) routine should be an integral part of their driving. The Manoeuvre part is broken down into P - Position - Position your vehicle correctly and in good time. S - Speed - Adjust your speed as necessary for the manoeuvre. L - Look - Look for other traffic or road users when you reach a point from which you can see. Assess the situation, then decide whether it's safe to proceed and act accordingly.

Once identified, driving faults should be addressed at the earliest opportunity. A fault should be looked upon as a chance to teach the point and to encourage a change for the better in the pupil's driving.

Learning isn't always a continuous upward process. Sometimes pupils simply need time to consolidate learning before moving on. On other occasions there may be something blocking progress. You should work with the learner to understand what's happening and decide how to proceed.

A transfer of knowledge is when links are made between previous experience and the new skills to be learned. For example, a pedestrian who can judge appropriate gaps in the traffic to cross the road can link this skill to turning right into side roads when they learn to drive. A good instructor will identify these links.

If your usual techniques or methods don't appear to be working, you should discuss the matter with your pupil, and explore alternative ways of getting the point across.