From the DVSA:

More examiners to be vocational examiners

DVSA remains committed to supporting the government in addressing the HGV driver shortage.

We are working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and using their facilities and vehicles to train 22 of our existing examiners to do vocational tests.

The training is taking place at the MoD training base in Leconfield, in East Yorkshire, where examiners will be trained to carry out HGV and PCV tests.

Limiting the effect on car driving tests

When the 22 existing car test examiners are fully trained, their scheduled test appointments will be carried by local driving test managers and other warrant card holders where possible.

This will help to minimise the disruption to car tests.

Any tests that cannot be covered in this way will be rearranged to the next available date. We will contact the person who booked the test to let them know how their test has been affected. If you have booked an affected test on behalf of your pupil you need to let them know.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

What will be the impact on car driving test waiting times?

We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact this will have on car driving test waiting times.

We are currently training new car driving test examiners and more will start their training soon. We plan to use these new examiners to cover the tests of new vocational examiners to minimise the impact this will have on car tests.

Will vocational examiners still carry out car driving tests?

We need to make sure we make best use of our resources including using all available test appointments.

Any vocational test appointments not booked the day before they are due to take place will be converted to a car test appointment. We will keep this approach under review.

When the demand for vocational tests in their local area allows, these examiners will still be available to carrying out car driving tests.

 

Latest survey extended

We are extending the deadline for our driving instructor survey by a week to Tuesday 15 February at 11:59pm to give you more time to give us your views.

Over 3,000 instructors have had their say – don’t miss out on the opportunity to complete the survey.

Why your feedback is important

This survey aims to gain more insight into the current challenges faced by you and your pupils and should only take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

We are particularly keen to find out about your pupils who cancel their tests last minute, and how often you display your badge.

We want to hear from more of you so we can fully assess if the situation is improving following our last survey.