We’re now come to end of the fourth month of our 6-month plan and I wanted to give you an update on the progress we have made so far.
Since October 2023, we have provided 100,436 extra car driving tests towards our target of 150,000 extra tests by the end of March 2024.
This was helped by the busiest December on record for driving tests, with 152,474 being carried out – a 24.2% increase compared to December 2022.
This chart shows how October, November and December 2022 and 2023 compared.
To help us manage our teams at DVSA, we split Great Britain into 4 zones – A, B, C and D. Each of those zones is then made up of smaller areas. This map shows the zones and areas.
All of the work we’ve been doing has helped bring the average waiting time for a driving test down from 20.6 weeks at their peak in August 2023, to 15.1 weeks at the end of January 2024. This chart shows the waiting time over the last few months by the different zones.
So I hope that many of you are starting to see this reduction in waiting times at the driving test centres you use regularly. The number of test centres with waits of 24 weeks has also fallen from 148 in October 2023 to 67 in January 2024.
But as the chart clearly shows, driving test waiting times are still longer in highly populated areas and in the south.
To bring times lower we continue to ask our examiners from areas with lower waiting times to travel and test in test centres with longer waiting times, such as London, and other highly populated areas of the country.
They include Emily, Suzzanne and Alan.
Emily, who is a driving examiner who usually tests from Hartlepool driving test centre and is one of the examiners who has volunteered to test at other sites, said:
When the opportunity arose, I was more than happy to help contribute to DVSA’s aims in reducing driving test times.
Although it involves being away from home, it gives a variety of testing in different locations and also allows me to meet fellow colleagues from around the agency. I am happy that I can improve the service we offer to our customers and help to reduce our current waiting times.
Suzzanne, who is a driving examiner who usually tests from Pembroke Dock, said:
I started detached duty in Southall yesterday, all the way from Pembroke Dock in West Wales. I had happily volunteered to assist in another test centre and only 2 days in, I’m really enjoying the experience. From meeting new colleagues, who have been so welcoming, learning other test routes and also knowing that I am making a difference towards the test waiting times and people’s lives.
I have volunteered to be at Southall for the whole month, with a trip home after 2 weeks. That wouldn’t be for everyone, but I enjoy new challenges and working away at different test centres provides me with that, making memories along the way.
Alan, who is a driving examiner who usually tests from Bridgend driving test centre, said:
I’m really looking forward to this exciting opportunity to work with my colleagues from a different zone and to support in reducing waiting times in their area.
As well as volunteers like Emily, Suzzanne and Alan working away from home, we also continue to focus our ongoing driving examiner recruitment in the areas where waiting times are highest.
As John Selbey explained in his blog post about what driving test waiting times actually mean, it’s not just the driving test waiting time that we monitor.
We measure and track the percentage of all the appointments in the booking service within the next 24 weeks that are still available to book. As John explained in his blog post, at 24 April 2023, 5.9% of tests within the next 24 weeks were still available to book.
This chart shows how that percentage has grown since the start of September 2023 to the end of January 2024. Nationally, 21.0% of appointments were still available to book within the next 24 weeks as at 29 January 2024. In zone A, it was even higher at 34.1%.
This means that learner drivers are starting to see a wider choice of test appointments when they book their test.
Although this outstanding effort means we’re on target to meet our extra 150,000 tests target, it’s not all completely positive news.
We know that some of the services we provide have been affected, such as ADI part 2 (driving ability) and part 3 (instructional ability) tests. It has taken longer than usual to get these tests as our enforcement examiners have been doing more car tests.
We’re working to make more ADI part 2 and 3 tests available from April 2024. We’ll be in touch with people with an ADI test that is currently on hold to offer them a test date. In the meantime, I thank you for your patience if you’re affected by this.
We’ve made some good progress, but we still have long way to go.
It’s challenging work, and we’ve been up against unforeseen circumstances, such as the continued increase in demand and changes to customers' booking behaviour. There are also factors beyond our control, such as impact of bad weather, seen most recently with Storms Isha and Jocelyn.
I know many of you will be keen to know what measures we’ll be taking to reduce waiting times from April. We’ll update you on this as soon as we can.
While we continue to work towards reducing the waiting time, we know that it’s not something we can achieve without your support, patience and understanding.
We know that you continue to emphasise the importance of only taking the test when your pupils are ready, and many of you are using the Ready to Pass? campaign resources to help.
I want to say a big thank you for helping to promote the campaign as its helping us to change learner drivers behaviour.
I hope this blog post has helped to show you the progress that is being made to reduce driving test waiting times and the work that still needs to be done. I will continue to keep you up-to-date over the coming months.
About commenting on this blog post
We know that there are lots of different views about driving test waiting times.
We'll only publish new questions and comments that have not come up on previous blog posts.
We cannot answer individual questions about the latest driving test waiting times. The driving test booking service will always have the latest information.
This is not about censoring your views. It’s to make sure comments keep on topic and help to answer any questions about the progress we’re making.
An incorrect figure in the blog post was updated on 9 February 2024.
]]>With many learner drivers waiting longer than we'd like to take a driving test, there's obviously a lot of interest in driving test waiting times and what we are doing to reduce them.
In the last few weeks, we have asked all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to carry out driving tests full time. They’ll do this until the end of March 2024 and it will create about 150,000 extra driving tests, helping to reduce driving test waiting times.
We're often asked by learner drivers, driving instructors and the media for the latest driving test waiting time.
In this blog post, I want to explain how we work out the driving test waiting time we report on, and how it’s just part of a range of measures we look at.
As at 16 October 2023, the current national average car driving test waiting time is 18.8 weeks.
But to be very clear, that does not mean that every learner driver in Great Britain is going to have to wait 18.8 weeks between booking and taking their test.
As well as the national average, each driving test centre also has its own waiting time.
The figure we report is how long it is until at least 10% of the weekly appointments are still available to book.
Let's look at an example.
If we have a test centre where there are 175 tests available each week, the waiting time is the first week when 18 or more appointments are still available to book.
Week number | Number of tests still available to book | Total number of tests in the week | Percentage of tests still available to book |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | 175 | 0.0% |
2 | 4 | 175 | 2.3% |
3 | 6 | 175 | 3.4% |
4 | 4 | 175 | 2.3% |
5 | 14 | 175 | 8.0% |
6 | 12 | 175 | 6.9% |
7 | 13 | 175 | 7.4% |
8 | 15 | 175 | 8.6% |
9 | 19 | 175 | 10.9% |
In this example you can see that it's 9 weeks until 18 or more appointments are still available. So the waiting time here is 9 weeks.
But you can see that there are still 68 appointments available in the weeks before then – so many people would not be waiting 9 weeks, and some would only need to wait 2 weeks.
The booking window for driving tests is a rolling 24 weeks. Each week, we add a new week’s worth of tests.
We also add tests as and when they become available. For example, if a driving examiner is going to transfer to another test centre in 4 weeks’ time, appointments with them are added.
Let's take that same example from before, and now add another driving examiner from week 5 onwards.
That driving examiner will do 35 tests a week when they join. So our test centre will have:
The waiting time is now the first week from now where either:
Week number | Number of tests still available to book | Total number of tests in the week | Percentage of tests still available to book |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | 175 | 0.0% |
2 | 4 | 175 | 2.3% |
3 | 6 | 175 | 3.4% |
4 | 4 | 175 | 2.3% |
5 | 49 | 210 | 23.3% |
6 | 47 | 210 | 22.4% |
7 | 48 | 210 | 22.9% |
8 | 50 | 210 | 23.8% |
9 | 54 | 210 | 25.7% |
As you can see, there are now only 5 weeks until 21 or more appointments are still available. So the waiting time has become 5 weeks.
Now these are quite simple examples, and in reality it's not quite as simple as that, as things are constantly changing. But they should give you a better insight into how driving test waiting times work.
We track the number of driving test centres that have waiting times in different bands.
For example, as at 16 October 2023 we had:
We also measure and track the percentage of all the appointments in the booking service within the next 24 weeks that are still available to book.
For example, at 24 April 2023, 5.9% of tests within the next 24 weeks were still available to book. As at 16 October 2023, that had increased to 11.5%.
As you’d expect, we also track the total number of bookings. At the end of September 2023, there were 566,245 driving tests booked within the following 24 weeks.
Since November 2022, the Department for Transport has been publishing this figure on a monthly basis to help us be more transparent as part of their faster indicators of transport activity.
In the spreadsheet you can download from that page, this number is called ‘forward bookings’.
Some people assume that when that figure increases, it’s bad news for waiting times, as more people are waiting. That’s not necessarily the case.
Our priority at this time, is to reduce driving test waiting times, while upholding road safety standards.
To increase the number of available test slots we continue to:
Since April 2021, the measures we have put in place to reduce waiting times for our customers plus the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners is creating more than 40,000 extra car test slots each month on average.
As we recruit more driving examiners and as more eligible managers and administrative staff test full time, our capacity to provide tests increases. This means that we can fit more people in within the next 24 weeks. So a higher number of ‘forward bookings’ means our capacity has increased.
You’ll then hopefully see this in the months that follow in the number of tests that we carry out.
I hope this helps you to understand driving test waiting times a little better, and also helps you to correct any misunderstandings you encounter in the future.
]]>About commenting on this blog post
We know that there are lots of different views about driving test waiting times.
We'll only publish new questions and comments that are about how driving test waiting times are calculated.
We cannot answer individual questions about the latest driving test waiting times. The driving test booking service will always have the latest information.
This is not about censoring your views. It’s to make sure comments keep on topic and help to answer any questions about how driving test waiting times are calculated.
Along with Graham O’Brien, Assistant Chief Driving Examiner, I was delighted to welcome hundreds of approved driving instructors (ADIs) to our latest webinar on Tuesday 15 August 2023. It focused on the top 10 faults that are recorded during tests.
At its peak, we had about 590 ADIs taking part, with lots of good discussion and great questions. And if you were not able to join us, more than 96% of those who filled in the post-webinar survey recommend that you watch it back.
But before you do that, let’s start by explaining why it’s so important to look at these reasons. It’s much more than just being about passing the driving test.
Many of the commonly recorded faults in driving tests are top contributory factors in reported collisions. That’s why we assess them as part of the test – to make sure that learner drivers are ready for driving safely independently.
For example, drivers and riders failing to look properly was a contributory factor in 35% of all collisions in 2021 – and it was a factor in 343 fatal collisions.
Understanding these reasons can help you assess if your pupils have the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to be safe when they’ve passed their test.
And perhaps most importantly, they give you a great way of exploring factors with your pupils that will increase risk in different scenarios. Digging into your pupils’ understanding of risk can give you a much better sense of their thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
In the webinar, we looked at some ways that you could go about this.
The way people think about driving and the way they feel when they come to drive are the ‘human factors’ in driver safety. Six of the main human factors that can affect driving performance are:
There are obviously other influences on someone’s driving. These include things like:
Learn more
If you’re interested in learning more about the human factors, it’s worth investing in a copy of The Official DVSA Guide to Better Driving. Use code ADI1 to get 35% off when you order from the Safe Driving for Life website.
You might want to use probing questions to explore these factors with your pupils.
For example, you could start by asking “Why do you think people fail to look properly at junctions?” And then start probing into any factors your pupil mentions with questions such as “Why do you say that?”.
You could use clarifying questions such as “If I’ve understood you correctly, are you saying that…” if your pupil’s answer is not clear. This is also a good way to reassure them that you’re listening.
You could then go on to introduce other factors and influences they do not mention to see what they think and feel about those.
You can now watch the recording of the webinar. It includes an explanation of each of the top 10 faults, and a question and answer session.
To make navigation easier, we've added timestamps in the video description. You can select a relevant timestamp to jump to a particular fault, or to go to the question and answer session.
If you were not able attend and have any questions, please ask them in the comments and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
You can also download a PDF version of the main slides that cover the top 10 faults.
Download ‘Top 10 faults made during driving tests’ (PDF, 1.9MB, 14 pages)
Remember that watching the webinar counts as continuing professional development (CPD). Make sure you keep a record of your activities.
We’ll be updating our guidance about the top 10 faults on GOV.UK in the next few weeks, and encouraging learner drivers to review the list and different scenarios. We’ll be asking them to speak to you about any scenarios that give them particular concern.
I mentioned this in my last blog post, but it’s worth saying it again.
Between April 2012 and March 2013, just 1.5% of people who passed the car driving test passed with zero faults (a ‘clean sheet’). Between April 2022 and March 2023, that’s increased to 3.9%. It’s an indication that those who are passing are better prepared than ever.
So thank you for everything that you’re doing to help prepare the next generation of drivers for a lifetime of safe and sustainable journeys.
]]>Today (Thursday 10 August 2023), we’ve published the results of the 2023 working as a driving instructor survey.
First, I want to thank every one of the 5,795 people who spent time filling in the survey. I know it can be easy to be sceptical about filling in surveys, but your feedback is really important.
The survey looked at these main topics:
I won’t repeat all the results that are in the report - but here are some headline figures:
Do take a look at the full report which shows things like:
View the working as a driving instructor survey results for 2023.
As well as asking questions where you selected the most appropriate option, we also asked a number of open-ended questions for you to give more details. Thank you to everyone who took their time to do this.
We received thousands of comments. To help get the results of the survey into your hands as quickly as possible, we’ve analysed random samples of comments to put them into themes. But the full set of comments will be reviewed and shared around teams within DVSA.
We’ve heard loud and clear what your priorities are. I want to address 3 of them here.
Understandably, we heard lots about how driving test waiting times are affecting you and your pupils. And you’re absolutely right to ask for more to be done.
Dealing with driving test waiting times continues to be our top priority at DVSA.
Many of you commented about how bots and unofficial booking services are making your working lives harder. Loveday Ryder, our chief executive, recently blogged about how we’re dealing with bots and reselling of driving tests. We’ll be telling you more about our plans on this soon, too.
I do want to highlight how your hard work is paying off, though. Recently published statistics from the Department for Transport show that between April 2022 and March 2023, 816,775 people passed their car driving test – the previous year, 751,914 people passed.
That’s helping the country’s economy. It’s helping people to become independent and unlocking opportunities for them. It’s transforming lives - and not just your pupils - but their families, friends and colleagues’ lives. You should be proud of how your hard work is making a real and lasting difference.
And the latest statistics show that more people than ever who are passing their driving test are doing so with zero faults. Between April 2012 and March 2013, just 1.5% of people who passed the car driving test passed with zero faults (a ‘clean sheet’). Ten years on, and that’s increased to 3.9%. It’s an indication that those who are passing are better prepared than ever.
So thank you for having those difficult conversations with pupils and parents. Thank you for every early start or late finish you’ve done to accommodate pupils. Thank you for being out in all weathers. And thank you for every lesson you rearranged when another test-ready pupil found an earlier appointment at short notice.
We heard lots from you in the survey about needing better support and guidance. If you’ve had chance to read DVSA’s vision to 2030, you’ll have seen that we want to do much more work to inform, educate and advise. So it’s really encouraging to hear you saying the same.
It’s great to see that more of you than ever are aware of some of our newest guidance, with about 9 in 10 ADIs now aware of the ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign resources. We’ll continue adding to the toolkit in the coming months with exercises you might want to use with your pupils.
After listening to you, our immediate priority is going to be improving guidance for the ADI standards check.
We’ll shortly be moving to recording ADI standards check results on tablets in the same way we do for other tests. We’re going to use the opportunity of confirming results by email to give you links to more comprehensive guidance to understand your result. And this guidance will be available for you to see before you take your standards check, too.
We’ll also use the same improvements to benefit people taking the ADI part 3 (instructional ability) test.
We’re also going to:
Thank you for all the comments you made about CPD in the survey. It was great to see so many of you passionate about this topic.
The survey shows that just over half of you (53.6%) have done some CPD activities in the last 12 months. It also shows that about 6 in 10 of you (61.8%) agree that you can access the right CPD when you need to.
Over the coming months we’ll be working with you to help you understand more about what types of things can count as CPD, and what topics could help with your development.
We held a joint workshop with the driving instructors’ National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP) on Tuesday 1 August 2023 to start planning what we can do. We’ll be blogging about this workshop separately soon – so please look out for that landing in your inbox.
I’ve touched on a few of the main topics in this blog post, but the survey results reveal a lot more.
This blog post is the start of the conversation about how we’ll start to take those findings forward. So you can expect to see us talking about them a lot more in the coming months.
]]>View the full findings from the survey
View the working as a driving instructor survey results for 2023.
Last Friday (21 July 2023) marked 13 months to the day since we first published guidance to help you carry out realistic mock driving tests for your pupils.
We’ve been really encouraged by the feedback you’ve given us since then.
And to mark 13 months since the guidance was first published, here are 13 facts about mock tests and our guidance.
If you missed it, you can read more about how ADIs are using mock tests in a research report we published on 9 June 2023.
Our fifth and most recent webinar was held on Monday 19 June 2023. Amanda Lane, Head of Driver Testing and Training Policy, and I were delighted to welcome so many of you to the session. At its peak, we had about 350 ADIs taking part.
During the session we were able to update you on some of the findings from our recent research about mock tests.
But I was pleased that Amanda and I were able to spend most of the session answering your questions about mock tests – and there were some brilliant questions.
Some of the questions you asked covered things like:
We were really happy to see that 100% of people who filled in the survey at the end of the event said they found the webinar extremely useful – thank you.
You can now watch a recording of the webinar.
To make navigation easier, we've added timestamps in the video description. You can select a relevant timestamp to jump to a particular question and answer. There are 19 questions in total that covers a range of topics.
If you were not able attend and have any questions, please ask them in the comments and we’ll get back to you soon as we can.
Our latest research shows that about 72% of learners who took their test in June 2023 say they took at least one mock test before their driving test. That’s up from about 67% of those who took a driving test in June 2022.
But we still want to encourage more learner drivers to do this important piece of test preparation.
We’ve been busy doing more research with learner drivers to find out the reasons people took a mock test – and the reasons they didn’t.
The main barriers learner drivers are saying are that:
We’ve updated the content about taking mock tests on the ‘Ready to Pass?’ website to address these barriers. We’ve also used information about the reasons that people did take mock tests to make the benefits clearer. We hope this will encourage more learners to take up the option.
Keep up the excellent work you’re doing on mock tests, please keep telling us how we can help you make the most of mock tests – and thank you for all the feedback you’ve given so far.
Remember that watching the webinar counts as continuing professional development. Make sure you keep a record of your activities.
And if you were not able attend the latest webinar, please do ask your mock test questions in the comments.
]]>
Yesterday (5 July) I attended the Transport Select Committee to talk about the work of Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and what we are doing to recover the driving test service.
I explained to the committee that we missed out on doing about one million tests because of the pandemic. Since the COVID-19 restrictions ended we have made over a million additional driving tests available due to the measures we have taken. This means most people who had a test booked and could not take it during the pandemic will now have had the opportunity to take a driving test or have their test booked.
But driving test waiting times and the demand for tests are still a lot higher than pre-COVID-19. In this blog post I want to talk about what is causing the high level of demand and explain the effect this is having on driving test waiting times.
The 3 main reasons why driving test waiting times are longer are:
We are currently expecting waiting times to remain long throughout this year and into 2024.
To show how each of these reasons have affected car driving test waiting times, I’d like to explore each one in a bit more detail.
In 2022 we carried out 1.8m car driving tests, 6% more than pre-COVID-19 levels. This increase in throughput was believed to be due to the pent-up demand caused by the disruption to the service caused by the pandemic.
We forecasted that this increase in demand would reduce and return to normal levels. So far, in 2023 up to the end of May we have received around 800,000 new bookings for driving tests which showed that the increase in demand for tests has continued. This has potentially resulted in a 7% increase in demand for driving tests compared to before the pandemic.
The interim findings from the recent ‘Working as a driving instructor’ survey also indicate that you are still facing increased demand for lessons. This supports the fact that the demand to gain a car driving licence has increased.
Thank you, if you have already completed the survey. The interim results of responses between 1 and 19 June also show that:
As well as increased demand, there have been other things that have affected our driver testing service, such as industrial action.
Impact of sustained industrial action
The recent national and regional industrial action that has affected driving tests going ahead has also impacted driving test waiting times.
Since the industrial action started in December 2022, there have been 48 days of action that directly affected driving tests. This resulted in around 25,000 driving tests being cancelled and rebooked due to industrial action. This meant that your pupils whose tests were affected had to wait longer to take their test. It also reduced the number of available test appointments, for new bookings leading to an increase in waiting times. To minimise the effect the action had on tests, we:
The planned industrial action in June was called off to enable further discussions to take place between the unions and the government.
In the past, a learner would find an instructor and have a few lessons before starting to study for their theory test. This allows them to apply the driving theory knowledge they are learning to the practical skills they are using in their lessons. As many of us learn better through doing, rather than reading.
Today, many learners are studying and taking their theory test before they have ever sat behind the wheel of a car. This is concerning as it means that some learners may struggle to see the connection between the theory and their practical driving skills.
In the past, most learners would wait until their instructor told them they were ready before booking their test. This was usually 6 to 8 weeks before the date of their test.
Now, due to a lack of confidence in the availability of tests, many learners are booking straight after they have passed their theory test. In some cases, this may mean that they are booking their driving test before they have sat behind the wheel.
This results in many learners having to change the date of their test on multiple occasions as they are not ready. As a consequence, those who are test ready may find it more difficult to get one. This includes those who have recently failed a test and are ready to retake after a few lessons to hone their skills, or those who need to drive for their job, such as nurses and carers.
While business and individual booking behaviour stays this way, our ability to reduce driving test waiting times as quickly as we want will be impacted. You can read my blog post about what we are doing about bots and the reselling of driving tests to find out what we are doing to tackle those reselling tests for a profit.
In our next blog post we’ll explain the things we can and cannot do to address the long driving test waiting times and the areas where we will need to carry out further research with you, your pupils and their parents, to better understand booking behaviour.
]]>In this blog post, I want to explain what bots are, the challenges they pose, and the steps we’re taking to deal with this issue.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, ‘bots’ are automated software programs that perform specific tasks over the internet. They’re designed to mimic human behaviour and can be programmed to carry out various actions – including searching for and reserving driving test appointments.
Bots are developed to work at a much faster speed than humans, so they’re an attractive tool for people who want to exploit our systems.
Using bots, organisations can swiftly find and secure available slots more quickly than individual customers.
These organisations will hold on to these test appointments until they can resell them at a higher price. This means that those who are ready to take their test can struggle to find one at a date and time of their choice.
This practice makes it harder for everyone and can lead to people resorting to pay over the odds for an appointment. While this is unfair, it’s not illegal.
The challenge for us is to find ways to stop bots from accessing the booking site without affecting genuine learners and ADIs trying to use the service.
We do some basic things that you’d expect, like using a CAPTCHA test to check if a user is human if we suspect it might be a bot.
We also use other more advanced bot protection measures. We’re not going to go into details of what those are, as that information could help people get around them.
But as we step up our measures, the technologies the profiteers are using continue to advance. They can often be adjusted to get around changes we make.
We work hard to stop bots, and it’s very technical work.
Due to the complexities involved in differentiating between bots and genuine users, there can be times where the steps taken to prevent automated access result in inconveniences for our customers.
A recent change to the service did just this and we know that some of you will have received an ‘error 15’ message when trying to book a test. We are sorry for any inconvenience this caused.
If you’re experiencing any problems accessing the booking service, there is a list of workaround published on GOV.UK. These are updated if any new errors are reported.
If these workarounds do not help there are details about what to do next on the GOV.UK page.
We do have some more changes up our sleeves that will support our efforts in making sure the booking process is fair for all.
Again, we’re unable to go in to too much detail as it will give the game away. But please be reassured we are constantly looking for ways to disrupt organisations and people who are using the system unfairly.
We understand why people will resort to using services that offer to find cancellations. But we also know that some of these services might collect personal data that learners might not expect or be comfortable with.
It’s important for you to remain vigilant about sharing information as well. The recent phishing email being sent to ADIs shows that you are being targeted as well.
Remember to only share your information if you are 100% certain the person asking for your data is who they say they are. You can find more information about spotting scam emails on the action fraud website.
So it’s really important that learners check the terms and conditions about how their data will be used.
To help raise awareness of the dangers we are:
By educating learner drivers about the risks of using third-party services, we aim to empower them to make informed decisions and avoid being exploited.
We have focused on promoting the use of official DVSA channels for driving test bookings, which ensures a safe and secure process for all learners.
We know that some businesses exploit the system that was designed for ADIs to book and manage driving tests for their pupils.
On 9 January 2023 we introduced stricter terms and conditions for using the service. We’ve also tightened up the way we monitor the usage of this system.
We’re going to be making some more changes to the terms and conditions soon. These will include:
We’ll confirm when these changes will take affect nearer the time and will contact all users of the service to keep them informed.
]]>As part of our commitment to a lifetime of safe riding, we want to encourage people who have passed their full test to keep improving their riding skills and knowledge.
DVSA’s Enhanced Rider Scheme (ERS) is a great way for riders to continue the develop of their skills in environments they don’t ride in day to day.
Mark Jaffe of Phoenix Motorcycle Training has been delivering ERS training in London for over a decade. The school actively promotes ERS training to pupils as a gateway into developing new skills. He says:
We get a real mix of people doing ERS training. What they have in common is that they enjoy their riding and want to keep improving their skills.
"Mostly, they’re mature people who mainly use their motorcycles to get around the city and commute day to day. They’re not wannabe racers.
Many of Mark’s ERS pupils are familiar with the challenges of riding safely in a city, however, they’re not so confident riding in unfamiliar surroundings.
To change this, Mark takes them out on training rides to Kent and Sussex to develop the forward vision, planning skills and motorcycle control they need to ride safely and successfully on narrow, twisting country roads. He says:
Seeing our pupils’ confidence and enjoyment grow as they tackle new challenges, like country roads or riding on gravel, is deeply satisfying.
We are motorcycle trainers because we love to ride and want to improve road safety through training. Being an ERS trainer has given me the opportunity to share this passion, and the full range of my knowledge, with hundreds of pupils. It’s a great experience.
Mark and his colleagues at Phoenix do the ERS course once a year themselves as a refresher. They find that teaching the wide variety of skills involved in ERS helps keeps their own skills and motivation fresh.
Practical Bike Training, based in Morecambe, Lancashire close to the Lake District and the Pennines. The business has been running for 13 years.
Mike Desmond has been a motorcycle trainer for three years and is in his second year of delivering ERS training. Like Mark, he actively promotes ERS to pupils as a way of developing skills that will enable them to ride safely and with confidence on the most challenging of roads. He says:
We get a wide range of people signing up to do ERS training. Some are in their early twenties, some in their fifties. A high proportion ride powerful sports bikes in their leisure time. They want to make the most of the varied riding opportunities available in the North West.
For Mike, the small group format of ERS training enables him to tailor training to suit his pupils’ needs. He finds it a particularly effective way to build the skills that will enable them to enjoy the thrills of riding a high-performance bike without compromising safety:
One of the key things for our pupils is mastering bike handling on bends and in corners and we spend a lot of time on this. It’s critical if you want to ride twisty mountain roads or narrow lanes safely, especially in poor weather conditions.
He believes that the skills people learn in ERS training build their confidence to take on new challenges successfully. He also finds that it deepens their enjoyment and appreciation of riding. Like Mark, he feels he gets as much out of teaching ERS as his pupils:
Passing on my knowledge and skills to people who love riding is a joy. I want them to get the same excitement and thrills from riding that I do while staying safe. ERS is a brilliant way to develop the skills and mindset it takes to get that balanced perspective.
You can find out more about ERS and how to become an ERS trainer here: Take the DVSA enhanced rider scheme assessment and training - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
]]>Thousands of learners and their families have been visiting driving test centres across England for events to find out more about what happens on test days.
Our test centre open days and drop-in sessions give your pupils a chance to look around their local test centre, ask questions, talk to our examiners to help dispel any driving test myths they may have heard.
So far, over 4,000 people have attended these events and visitors were able to:
In this blog post, I’ll update you on why we are holding these events, explain how you can support these events, and what learners are saying about them.
So far, we’ve held 23 events for you or your pupils and their families in:
Waiting times are a lot higher than we would like and we are keen to do as much as possible to help prepare learners, especially in the areas with higher waiting times and pass rates are lower than national average.
The Ready to Pass? campaign website is a great way of us doing this. We all learn differently whether that be through our experiences and face-to-face conversations. So, some of our driving test centre managers and their examiners have volunteered to organise and run events outside their normal testing hours in their areas to help learners in their local communities.
1 in 5 people who fail their driving test say the main reason was because they were nervous on the day. We want to give learners the opportunity to meet our examiners as this may help to reduce their nerves in the build-up to their driving test. This is because learners who meet an examiner before their test are more likely to feel at ease with their test day examiner.
On the day, our examiners will explain to your pupils what happens on the test, from the waiting room through to the show me, tell me questions. There is also an opportunity for your pupils and their families to ask driving examiners questions about their role on test day, and what learners can and cannot do.
This is important as it gives learners an indication of what to expect on their driving test. For example, a couple of common questions our examiners get asked is whether the learner can ask the examiner questions whilst on their driving test or if they can listen to music during their test.
Learners and parents who attend are given a copy of the ‘Ready to Pass?’ checklist and a drivers record as tools that they can use to check if they are ready for their driving test and record their progress.
Our data shows that 82% of learners who attended one of our driving test centre events felt more confident about their upcoming driving test.
This is what some learners said:
“I’ve just come back from the open day and want to thank you and all the staff for putting on such a helpful and informative event. I was pleasantly surprised by the massive turn out which goes to show how popular something like this is.”
“I think the open day was a brilliant idea as it took away some of the unknown about the actual test. It really calmed my nerves to see the place and get to meet some of the examiners.”
“I passed this morning. Thank you for doing the open day.”
This a great example of what we can achieve when we work together, and it's fantastic there has been such a good turn-out and support for these events.
We have also carried out surveys for those who attended the open days. We found that:
The events so far have had a real community feel which is great as we all need to work together to support learners.
Our upcoming events are:
Date | Test Centre |
29 March 2023 | Hendon |
01 April 2023 | Goodmayes (London) |
15 April 2023 | Gillingham |
22 April 2023 | Loughborough |
30 April 2023 | Mitcham |
13 May 2023 | Burgess Hill |
13 May 2023 | Garretts Green |
20 May 2023 | Lee on Solent |
If you are based in one of these local areas and think your pupils would benefit from attending an event, you can:
Most of these events do not require you book a place. Your pupil, their parents and you can just turn up on the day.
]]>The format of the approved driving instructor (ADI) part 3 qualification test and the ADI standards check have been in place for several years. I believe they are a significant improvement on the previous assessments.
They provide an opportunity for ADIs and trainee driving instructors to show their skills and how they can help pupils better prepare to drive safely and independently. However, it’s time to think about whether we need to make further changes to ensure all pupils are getting the highest standards of instruction from all ADIs.
This survey asks for your feedback on the proposal to raise the pass mark of the standards check from 31 out of 51 to 33 out of 51. The pass mark for the ADI part 3 test will remain the same at 31.
I want to use this blog to explain the reasons behind the suggestion and how I feel it can help to raise the standard of teaching for your pupils.
It’s reasonable to think that as driving instructors become more experienced, their skills and competencies will improve and they should become better instructors, providing a higher standard of training to their pupils.
We recommend that driving instructors undertake regular continuing professional development (CPD) throughout their career to support their growth as professionals. You can find driving instructor training on GOV.UK
As a result, we would expect experienced ADIs to perform at a higher level than an inexperienced potential instructor taking their qualification test.
The proposed increase in the standards check pass mark is very achievable. It would help us all to continue raising standards within the driver training industry. It would also show to learner drivers and their parents that, once qualified, instructors not only maintain their skills but develop and improve them.
Last year we introduced an engagement call for candidates with ADI examiners before standards checks.
We recently added a compulsory engagement call to the official register of driving instructor training (ORDIT) assessments as well.
This has had a positive response from those who have been able to take advantage of this opportunity. The impact of any increase in the standard check pass mark would feature in these conversations alongside support and advice on how to best prepare for the assessment.
You can fill in the survey here.
I encourage all ADIs to read it and share your thoughts with us, not just on raising the standards check pass mark but also on how we can best continue to raise professional standards of driver training.
Improving the standard of teaching is an ongoing process and we need your support to help us make the right changes to offer the best level of training to your pupils.
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