Consultation outcome

Improving driving test availability and processes: consultation outcome

Updated 30 March 2023

Introduction

A consultation lets you give your views on new or changing government policies. We take your responses into consideration before government ministers make any final decisions.

We ran a consultation between 25 January and 8 March 2022 about changing some policies that affect learning to drive and driving tests. We wanted to get your views on ideas to:

• encourage learner drivers to be better prepared when they take their car driving test
• reduce the number of car driving test appointments that are wasted
• collect better data about how well driving instructors prepare learner drivers
• give learner drivers better information about driving instructors
• update when and how we carry out the eyesight check at the start of the driving test
• replace paper pass certificates with digital pass certificates

20,960 people responded to the consultation

Ministers would like to thank everyone who contributed their views to this consultation.

This chart shows a breakdown of who responded to the consultation.

Type of respondent	Percentage
Learner driver or rider	70.4%
Approved driving instructor (ADI) or driving school	14.0%
Experienced driver	8.9%
Newly-qualified driver (passed a car or motorcycle test in the last 2 years)	3.0%
Other	2.9%
HGV or bus trainer or training school	0.3%
Motorcycle trainer or training school	0.2%
Road safety organisation	0.2%
Industry representative organisation	0.1%

We asked respondents how many employees they have if they were a business. 3,716 respondents answered this question. This chart shows a breakdown of responses.

Number of employees	Percentage
1 to 9	40.1%
10 to 49	2.1%
50 to 249	0.3%
250 or more	1.0%
Do not know	0.7%
Not applicable	55.8%

We also received comments in writing. These have also been taken into account.

This document explains what:

• we proposed
• has been decided
• happens next
• feedback we received

Why we put these proposals forward

We currently have very high demand for driving tests. There are 3 main reasons for this:

• fewer tests than usual have taken place because of restrictions and other factors related to the pandemic
• learner drivers who are not yet ready to take their test have heard that waiting times are high, causing them to book earlier than they normally would
• the pass rate for driving tests - for many years, less than half of people pass on their first attempt, meaning they’ll need to take at least one more test

Many driving instructors tell us that some learner drivers want to pass their driving test as quickly and cheaply as possible. They say they are unable to stop their pupils from booking a test before they are ready.

We put forward some of these proposals because we think they’ll:

• encourage learner drivers to be better prepared for their driving test
• help to reduce the number of driving test appointments that are wasted
• give us more flexibility in how and when we can carry out driving tests

Other proposals were to help us to:

• find out more about what information learner drivers and their families want to know when choosing a driving instructor - which in the longer term will help learner drivers to find the best driving instructor for them
• move to replace paper pass certificates with digital versions, saving millions of sheets of paper each year

Summary of proposals and decisions

These tables summarise the proposals and decisions that have been made. They’re split into the different groups of people they will affect.

You can read more detailed information and analysis in the following sections after this summary, including how different groups of people responded.

Car learner drivers only

Proposal	Feedback about the proposal	Decision and next steps
People will need to wait 28 working days before being able to take another car driving test after failing one, rather than the current 10 working days	30.4% agree	Ministers would like to introduce the proposal. The date the change will take effect will be confirmed nearer the time.
People would need to move or cancel their car driving test at least 10 full working days before the appointment to avoid losing their test fee, rather than the current 3 full working days	48.5% agree	Ministers would like to introduce the proposal. The date the change will take effect will be confirmed nearer the time.

Driving instructors only

Proposal	Feedback about the proposal	Decision and next steps
Driving instructors would be legally required to display their approved driving instructor (ADI) or trainee driving instructor registration certificate in the windscreen of their car when they bring people for driving tests	54.2% agreed	Ministers would like to introduce the proposal. This will require primary legislation. In the meantime, we will work with instructors to encourage them to display their certificates.

Car learner drivers and driving instructors

Proposal	Feedback about the proposal	Decision and next steps
We want to know if learner drivers would benefit from having better information about driving instructors and their performance in preparing people to be safe drivers.	70.1% agreed consumers would benefit from knowing how well, on average, a driving instructor’s pupils did when they took their driving tests. 64.8% agreed that an ‘overall performance band’ would be a useful indicator of the driving instructor’s performance.	Ministers would like to introduce the proposal. We need to introduce primary legislation to do this. In the meantime, we will work with instructors to encourage them to provide meaningful information to learners.

Car driving tests, motorcycle tests, tractor tests and other specialist vehicle driving tests

Proposal	Feedback about the proposal	Decision and next steps
Change the law so that we can do the eyesight check in the driving test in any level of light (not just good daylight), and use more methods of checking people’s eyesight when they take the driving test	41.9% agreed with removing the need for the eyesight check to be done only in good daylight. 58.3% agreed with DVSA having the flexibility to do the eyesight check by other means.	Ministers would like to introduce these proposal. We will look at available options to introduce other ways to carry out the eyesight check that is not dependent on good daylight or reading a car number plate while making sure a driver’s eyesight is assessed consistently with the current test.

All types of theory tests, driving tests and motorcycle tests

Proposal	Feedback about the proposal	Decision and next steps
Issue digital pass certificates to people who pass their theory test and driving test, instead of paper versions.	62.7% agreed with issuing digital pass certificates for driving tests. 70.6% agreed with issuing digital pass certificates for theory tests.	Ministers would like to introduce the proposal. We will need to update legislation to do this. This will require changes to both primary and secondary legislation when an opportunity becomes available.

1. Encourage learner drivers to be better prepared when they take their car driving test

In this section:

What we proposed

We proposed that people will need to wait 28 working days before being able to take another car driving test after failing one, rather than the current 10 working days.

We proposed this to:

• reduce the number of people attempting the test when they’re not ready, because they would know they would have to wait longer to be able to take it again if they failed
• mean that people who fail have more time to take further training before taking the test again

What’s been decided

Ministers have decided to extend the period a candidate can take another car driving test from 10 working days to 28 working days.

They have decided this because:

• the period gives candidates time to take extra training
• it will have a positive impact on car driving test waiting times
• gaining more knowledge, skills and experience will help keep new drivers safe at the crucial point that they drive on their own for the first time
• better prepared drivers should have a positive effect on road safety
• one-third of learner drivers admit this will encourage them to only book their test when they are ready while waiting times remain the same - this increases to 42.8% if waiting times reduce

What will happen next

This change can be made by ‘secondary legislation’. This is law created by ministers under powers given to them by an Act of Parliament (primary legislation).

The Department for Transport will draft a document called a Statutory Instrument (SI) to make changes to the law. This will be published with an explanatory memorandum, which outlines the purpose of the SI and why the change is necessary.

When the change will happen

The dates the SI will be made and come into effect as law have not yet been confirmed.

Sign up for email alerts to be told when the dates are confirmed.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked 3 questions about this proposal. They were:

• to what extent people agreed that the minimum period between failing a test and taking another attempt should be increased from 10 to 28 working days
• whether the proposal would encourage people to only book their test when ready if waiting times remain the same
• whether the proposal would encourage people to only book their test when ready if waiting times were reduced

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To what extent do you agree or disagree that the standard period before which an unsuccessful candidate can make a further application for a test should be extended from 10 to 28 working days?

Overall, 20,940 respondents answered this question.

30.4% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 30.4% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 63.1% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 32.7% more people disagreed with this proposal than agreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	13.8%
Agree	16.6%
Neither agree nor disagree	6.5%
Disagree	19.1%
Strongly disagree	44.0%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	28.1%	6.7%	65.3%	100%
A newly qualified driver	28.4%	6.0%	65.7%	100%
An experienced driver	36.6%	5.5%	57.9%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	37.1%	6.1%	56.9%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	19.6%	3.9%	76.5%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	35.3%	5.9%	58.9%	100%
An industry representative organisation	52.4%	0.0%	47.6%	100%
A road safety organisation	74.3%	5.1%	20.5%	100%
Other	35.4%	9.0%	55.5%	100%
Total	30.4%	6.5%	63.1%	100%

Responses to the proposal, indicated that 31% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with this proposal. 63% of all respondents responding strongly disagreed or disagreed that the standard period before which an unsuccessful candidate can make a further application for a test should be extended from 10 to 28 working days.

Learner drivers consisted of 70% of all respondents. 28% of learner drivers strongly agreed or agreed with this proposal, 7% neither agreed nor disagreed. This left a majority of 65% who either strongly disagreed or disagreed with the standard period before which an unsuccessful candidate can make a further application for a test being extended from 10 working days to 28 working days.

Newly qualified drivers held a similar opinion, as did ADIs. 28% of newly qualified drivers strongly agreed or agreed, 6% neither agreed nor disagreed and the majority, (66%), strongly disagreed or disagreed with the proposal to extend the standard period before which an unsuccessful candidate can make a further application for a test being extended from 10 working days to 28 working days. 37% of ADIs strongly agreed or agreed and 57% strongly disagreed or disagreed with the proposal.

Respondents felt that extending the period to when a learner driver can rebook a test was unfair and that it would penalise those learners who failed their driving test due to ‘silly errors’ because of feeling nervous on the day.

As a newly qualified driver , I agree that clients should take at least 28 days when fail to re-book their practical test.

28 days wait for test would make people books tests and hope to be ready since it will be at least 4 weeks in advance.

I think the idea of enforcing a time limit of 28 days on rebooking tests after failing is counter productive. I failed a test on Wednesday, got a cancellation the next Saturday, and passed! If I had waited any longer I would have forgotten much of what I had been preparing for.

If a driver makes one or more silly mistakes that are due to nervousness, it is unfair to penalise them with a delay of 28 days, when they do not necessarily need more practice and tuition, they simply need a different set of circumstances and maybe even just a different examiner..

The points brought up were mostly good, the eyesight test and the premise of extending but for a learner you care a lot about the cost of learning to drive and extending the rebook to a whole month and extending number of days needed to cancel to 10 days were good ideas but I think were extended by too much. Having to wait a whole month means you have to book lessons for that month costing more money (although that’s not a problem at the moment since you can’t book a test within 6 months anyway! Which is ridiculous) Most people would only make a small mistake on their test so wouldn’t need that much time to prepare, and if you think you would you’d book a test further in advance anyway…

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If the measure would encourage learner drivers to only book a test when they’re ready

We asked people who said they were learner drivers to what extent they agreed that the measure would encourage them to only book when they were ready.

14,753 respondents answered these questions.

1 in 3 learner drivers said the change would encourage them to only book their test when they were ready while waiting times remain the same

Question	Total who agreed	Neither agree not disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
Would encourage me to only book my test when ready if waiting times remained the same	33.3%	13.1%	53.6%	100%
Would encourage me to only book my test when ready if waiting times were reduced	42.8%	15.0%	42.2%	100%

Comments submitted included:

I don’t see how extending from 10 to 28 days to book a re-test is going to help with the pass rate of students.

I really DO NOT think the wait time for rebooking a test should be extended at all. When I failed a test for a silly mistake, I was ready to retake a week later after working on it with my instructor…

I disagree with waiting 28 days too Ree-book [sic] a test because lots of people are just nervous the first time so after failing the first time they know what to expect and are more relaxed so I think it’s more to due with being nervous than not being prepared.

With 5-6 months waiting times to book a test, I don’t see how extending from 10 to 28 days to book a re-test is going to help with the pass rate of students. It will only add more time on top of the current waiting times.

I think you are not considering the cause of most fails, which in my opinion is anxiety, Extending the period that a drive can book another test after failing will just cause more pressure and anxiety to pass the test on the first time,,

Extending rebooking isn’t fair as lots of people don’t pass first time although they are ‘ready’ they just have nerves; so by extending to 28 days rebooking just means more wasted money on driving lessons as well as time.

I think the increase from 10-28 days to retake a test should be temporary due to the current demand since the pandemic. I also think that that test day times should be extended for this period to accommodate the demand.

2. Reduce the number of car driving test appointments that are wasted

In this section:

What we proposed

We proposed that people would need to move or cancel their car driving test at least 10 full working days before the appointment to avoid losing their test fee, rather than the current 3 full working days.

We proposed this to give more chance for appointments to be used by someone else.

What’s been decided

Ministers have decided to extend the notice period a candidate must give to change or cancel a car driving test from 3 full working days to 10 full working days.

They have decided this because:

• it is currently difficult for DVSA to make tests cancelled with 3 working days’ notice available to another candidate, which means that a test slot is wasted
• it will free up wasted test slots, which means these slots can be offered to other candidates to make tests available more quickly

What will happen next

This change can be made by ‘secondary legislation’. This is law created by ministers under powers given to them by an Act of Parliament (primary legislation).

The Department for Transport will draft a document called a Statutory Instrument (SI) to make changes to the law. This will be published with an explanatory memorandum, which outlines the purpose of the SI and why the change is necessary.

When the change will happen

The dates the SI will be made and come into effect as law have not yet been confirmed.

Sign up for email alerts to be told when the dates are confirmed.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked one question about this proposal. It was to what extent people agreed with changing the short notice cancellation period.

To what extent do you agree or disagree that we should change the short notice cancellation period for car driving tests from 3 working days to 10 working days?

20,861 respondents answered this question.

48.5% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal

In total, 48.5% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 42.8% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 5.7% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	25.7%
Agree	22.8%
Neither agree nor disagree	8.8%
Disagree	15.9%
Strongly disagree	26.9%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	48.7%	8.9%	42.3%	100%
A newly qualified driver	48.1%	8.8%	43.2%	100%
An experienced driver	47.9%	8.8%	43.3%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	46.8%	7.2%	46.0%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	44.0%	20.0%	36.0%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	46.3%	14.9%	38.8%	100%
An industry representative organisation	47.6%	14.3%	38.0%	100%
A road safety organisation	61.5%	2.6%	35.9%	100%
Other	51.0%	11.4%	37.6%	100%
Total	48.5%	8.8%	42.8%	100%

Learner drivers consisted of 70% of all responses to this proposal. Of them, 48% agreed to some degree with this proposal and 42% strongly disagreed or disagreed.

Responses from ADIs completing this question, mirrored learner driver responses with 47% strongly agreeing or agreeing and 46% either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

Responses from the remaining categories confirm a similar view.

10 day cancellation isn’t useful if unwell at short notice…

It is extremely irresponsible to consider increasing the cancellation period from 3 to,10 days and unfair on the learner driver.

I think 14 days cancellation period would be better.

Although i think increasing the cancellation window before the test would help put off people taking their test early, i strongly believe that increasing the wait time before re-booking the test is a bad idea.

3. Collect better data about how well driving instructors prepare learner drivers

In this section:

What we proposed

We proposed that driving instructors should be legally required to display their approved driving instructor (ADI) or trainee driving instructor registration certificate in the windscreen of their car when they bring people for driving tests.

We proposed this to:

• encourage driving instructors to only bring people for their driving test if they’re confident they will pass
• help us improve our ability to identify and prioritise which driving instructors most need help and support to provide high-quality training
• mean that we can treat all driving instructors bringing pupils for tests consistently

What’s been decided

Ministers would like to require ADIs to display their certificate during the test, subject to the legislative opportunities being available to do so.

They have decided this because it will allow driving examiners to record all driving instructor’s personal reference numbers on the certificates. This will then allow us to link the driving test back to the driving instructor, allowing better information for learner drivers.

What will happen next

It will be necessary to update the legislative position to do this. This will require both primary and secondary legislation. We plan to make provision which requires primary legislation when an opportunity is available.

In the meantime, it’s important for us to take action to improve the information for learner drivers about the instruction available. So we’ll prioritise our work to continue encouraging instructors to voluntarily display their certificates when they bring candidates for tests.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked one question about this proposal in the consultation. It was to what extent people agreed with ADIs being required to display their certificate during driving tests.

In a separate survey with ADIs, we also asked if they had ever removed their certificate for a driving test and why they had done this.

The driving instructors’ National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP) also carried out a survey with ADIs asking for their view on DVSA mandating the display of certificates during driving tests.

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To what extent do you agree or disagree that ADIs should be required to display their certificate during the driving test?

20,583 respondents answered this question.

54.2% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal

In total, 54.2% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 15.5% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 38.7% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	28.0%
Agree	26.2%
Neither agree nor disagree	30.4%
Disagree	6.9%
Strongly disagree	8.6%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	53.7%	33.9%	12.4%	100%
A newly qualified driver	49.9%	33.5%	16.6%	100%
An experienced driver	55.9%	28.1%	15.9%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	54.3%	14.9%	30.8%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	54.9%	31.4%	13.7%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	63.3%	25.0%	11.7%	100%
An industry representative organisation	60.0%	10.0%	30.0%	100%
A road safety organisation	79.0%	7.9%	13.2%	100%
Other	60.7%	26.8%	12.5%	100%
Total	54.2%	30.4%	15.5%	100%

The law currently says that driving instructors must display their registration certificate in their front windscreen when they’re charging money (or money’s worth) for driving lessons. However, the law does not say they must also display the certificate when they bring people for driving tests. Even though the law does not require it, most driving instructors do voluntarily display their registration certificate.

From experience at test centres, some driving instructors remove their certificate if they’re less confident that the learner driver will pass the test. This means that the test outcome is not included in the driving instructor’s performance data.

Almost 35% of all respondents strongly agreed or agreed with this proposal. A large amount, 30%, neither agreed or disagreed, which might suggest they did not understand the question or that they had no strong views either way.

Learners were by far the largest group to complete this question, at 70%. Of them, 54% were in favour, 34% neither agreed nor disagreed, leaving 12% strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

Comments included:

Adi should display badge and show their pupils’ test record to potential customers.

At last a proposal to make it mandatory to display an ADI badge if u present a pupil for test…

The new plan of asking driving instructors to display a badge and display their performances on DVSA-s website is one of best ideas and it will help not only learners but will help passing rate increase as well because it will cause all driving instructors to be more competitive when it comes to preparing a learner for their test.

ADIs or driving schools made up 14% of all survey respondents to this proposal. Of them, 54% strongly agreed or agreed and 31% disagreed at some degree. Although the majority of ADIs were in favour, comments highlighted concerns about potential impacts:

Currently the data collected from tests where the ADI’s badge was displayed is incorrect on multiple occasions. The proposal is to publicly display incorrect information that has a huge commercial impact on ADI’s & the profitability of their businesses.

ADIs take trusted colleagues’ pupils to test in the event of mechanical breakdown/sickness. Forcing to display a badge for a pupil you have not taught, will eradicate this practice, leading to more wasted tests.

Those identifying themselves as ‘experienced drivers’ formed 9% of survey completers. Of those, 56% agreed to some degree, 28% neither agreed nor disagreed and 16% disagreed to a degree.

Comments highlighted some areas of concern, for example about the ability of ADIs to influence performance on test, taking candidates with disabilities to test and the socio-economic background of the candidates. Comments included:

ADIs who teach deprived pupils will have a poorer pass rate than those who teach priveleged [sic] pupils. ADIs who teach ASD pupils (myself) will have a poorer pass rate. This does not make them worse ADIs. ADIs take trusted colleagues pupils to test in the event of mechanical breakdown/sickness. Forcing to display a badge for a pupil you have not taught, will eradicate this practice, leading to more wasted tests.

Other comments related to ‘type of ADI badge (pink or green)’[2] and to ‘private cars being used on test day’ and whether apportioning a pass or fail result for those to the ADI would be fair.

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ADIs who have removed their certificate

In separate surveys with driving instructors during 2022, we asked if they had ever removed their certificate for a driving test and the reasons why.

The surveys were run:

• from 25 January 2022 to 15 February 2022 (6,289 driving instructors responded)
• from 27 September 2022 to 17 October 2022 (3,286 driving instructors responded)

Survey	Have not removed their certificate	Have removed their certificate	Total
January to February 2022	86.6%	13.4%	100%
September to October 2022	87.1%	12.9%	100%

Of those who have removed a certificate, the main reasons given for doing this were:

• they had not taught the pupil they were bringing to the test
• the pupil was not ready for the test, but insisted on taking it anyway
• by mistake - for example, when cleaning the car
• they were not happy with how DVSA uses data to prioritise who takes a standards check
• they felt the pupil was ready to take the test, but factors like nerves might affect the pupil’s performance

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NASP survey

The driving instructors’ National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP) carried out a survey with driving instructors in March 2022. It included a question about this proposal. In total, 1,426 ADIs responded to NASP’s survey.

What is your view on DVSA mandating the display of badges (certificates) on test (to enable them to capture more test data)?

Response	Response rate
No issue with that	77%
Not acceptable	23%

4. Give learner drivers better information about driving instructors

In this section:

What we proposed

This proposal was different from the others. It was the start of trying to find out what information learner drivers and their families would find useful when choosing a driving instructor.

We wanted to know if learner drivers would benefit from having better information about driving instructors and their performance in preparing people to be safe drivers.

What’s been decided

Ministers would like to share performance information about ADIs, subject to the legislative opportunities being available to do so.

What will happen next

It will be necessary to update legislation to do this. This will require both primary and secondary legislation. We plan to make provision which requires primary legislation when an opportunity is available.

However, it is important for us to take action now to enhance information for learner drivers about the instruction available as they prepare for their tests. We do not believe it is appropriate to delay this. For this reason, we plan to move forward with this initiative and design a scheme on a voluntary basis.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked 4 questions about this proposal. They were:

• to what extent people agreed that consumers would benefit from knowing how well driving instructors’ pupils did when they took their driving tests
• whether there would be any benefits or risks resulting from consumers knowing this
• to what extent people agreed that an ‘overall performance band’ would be a useful indicator of the driving instructor’s performance
• what other information people would find useful in choosing an instructor

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To what extent do you agree or disagree that consumers would benefit from knowing how well, on average, a driving instructor’s pupils did when they took their driving tests?

20,917 respondents answered this question.

70.1% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 70.1% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 16.1% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 54% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	33.8%
Agree	36.3%
Neither agree nor disagree	13.8%
Disagree	7.1%
Strongly disagree	9.0%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	79.2%	12.9%	7.9%	100%
A newly qualified driver	77.3%	11.0%	11.7%	100%
An experienced driver	74.3%	13.8%	12.0%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	20.4%	18.8%	60.8%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	52.0%	28.0%	20.0%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	61.5%	21.5%	16.9%	100%
An industry representative organisation	66.7%	4.8%	28.5%	100%
A road safety organisation	76.4%	7.9%	15.8%	100%
Other	72.2%	13.1%	14.6%	100%
Total	70.1%	13.8%	16.1%	100%

70% of all respondents strongly agreed or agreed with this proposal to give learner drivers better information about driving instructors through knowing how well, on average, a driving instructor’s pupils performed when they took their driving tests.

Among learners, who made up the majority of respondents, 79% strongly agreed or agreed with this, whereas only 20% of those ADIs who completed this question, strongly agreed, or agreed with the proposal. The majority of ADIs, 61%, strongly disagreed or disagreed with it, raising concerns about impacts, especially from those ADIs who specialise in instructing learners with neurodiverse needs or learners from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Comments included:

I choose Instructors that have a website that displays the success of their students.

I think it’s important to display information about the number of students so you can avoid someone selecting an inexperienced instructor who had been lucky with passes.

If the examiners pass rate and overall performance would be displayed for the public and instructors than [sic] it would make sense.

It would be helpful from a students point of view to find the best instructor that has the highest pass rate. This will also benefit some of these instructors however for others who may just have fallen unlucky when finding pupils it would prove different.

Personally I do not advertise as all my business is purely from recommendation. As I specialise in special needs training my average pass rate is well below what the DVSA may expect. If I am being forced to publish my data then I will refuse to take on special needs pupils. So a really bad idea all round!!

How willing they are to help pupils who are nervous or have additional needs. Examples of this being autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia. These pupils might not return a higher pass rate but the human condition of nervousness and test anxiety can’t be dismissed as a factor in test outcomes, nor should it reflect on the instructor. My fear is that these proposals will create a culture of selective teaching. A high pass rate is not always a reflection of an ADI’s all round ability. Human emotion has to be factored in to test outcomes rather than just assuming the tuition has been below standard.

Some instructors specialise in pupils with special needs. They will need far more training and may pass second time. Publishing simple pass figures would not be fair to these ADIS.

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Do you think there would be any benefits or risks resulting from this?

20,900 respondents answered this question.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Benefits only	28.2%
Benefits and risks	46.9%
Risks only	9.9%
Do not know	15.0%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Benefits only	Benefits and risks	Risks only	Do not know	Total
A learner driver	31.3%	48.5%	4.5%	15.7%	100.0%
A newly qualified driver	27.5%	55.2%	7.3%	10.0%	100.0%
An experienced driver	35.3%	43.7%	8.2%	12.8%	100.0%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	7.2%	40.4%	39.1%	13.3%	100.0%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	15.7%	70.6%	9.8%	3.9%	100.0%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	35.8%	40.3%	7.5%	16.4%	100.0%
An industry representative organisation	35.0%	35.0%	25.0%	5.0%	100.0%
A road safety organisation	48.7%	25.6%	12.8%	12.8%	100.0%
Other	31.0%	42.5%	8.2%	18.3%	100.0%
Total	28.2%	46.9%	9.9%	15.0%	100.0%

Overall, about 47% of all respondents say benefits and risks would result from this proposal, with 28% saying benefits only, 15% indicating don’t know and almost 10% thinking there would be risks only.

This reflected learner responses. 49% of learners saying there are benefits and risks, 31% saying benefits only, 16% indicating don’t know and 4% saying risk only.

For ADIs, their responses showed a leaning towards there being a risk of some sorts to this measure. 40% of them chose benefits and risks, 39% saying risks only and 7% choosing benefits only.

This shows that ADIs, while thinking there could be a benefit to this measure, have some concerns about its impact. This is reflective in comments submitted.

There are certainly benefits to knowing about a driving instructor’s competency before booking lessons with them; I think this is blindingly obvious. However, this is the responsibility of the learner and their family, not the DVSA.

Potential benefits to pupils choosing an instructor, but again may not be an accurate representation of their teaching.

I think this would only benefit older more experienced drivers. New ADI’s like myself are still learning and growing so I think it would look like we weren’t as good as them. Although we may not be YET.

Risks to driving instructors [sic] reputations which could be based on an inaccurate poor performance of pupils such as those failing under the pressures of exam conditions and making mistakes which they usually would not.

Pass rates do not matter, im [sic] more interested in teaching method, syllabus order, how they handle drivers who may find it hard to learn.

I think that encouraging instructors to maintain a high pass rate would lead to the risk of them refusing pupils who have failed tests previously. This would be discriminatory.

I think it’s important to display information about the number of students so you can avoid someone selecting an inexperienced instructor who had been lucky with passes. Such as person x has a pass rate of 78% based on 954 tests, looks better than person y has a 100% pass rate based on 3 tests.

A driving instructor’s performance cannot be judged purely on his or her pass rate. My pass rate is way above average, however most of my students are young, able bodied and mostly, agile minded, however this is not the case for all instructors.

Although every candidate that is presented for test is test ready the results can never be predicted due to factors outwith the ADI’s control, nerves, weather conditions, other road users. Therefore I feel it would be unfair to judge an instructor on their pass rate rather than the process and effort an instructor puts into a pupils training and the tireless months of tuition.

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To what extent do you agree or disagree that an ‘overall performance band’ would be a useful indicator of the driving instructor’s performance?

20,881 respondents answered this question.

64.8% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal that an ‘overall performance band’ would be a useful indicator of the driving instructor’s performance

In total, 64.8% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 16.1% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 48.7% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	25.7%
Agree	39.1%
Neither agree nor disagree	17.1%
Disagree	9.3%
Strongly disagree	8.8%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	72.4%	17.7%	9.8%	100%
A newly qualified driver	69.2%	18.6%	12.2%	100%
An experienced driver	71.5%	14.8%	13.6%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	21.0%	15.6%	63.3%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	41.2%	29.4%	29.4%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	66.2%	16.9%	16.9%	100%
An industry representative organisation	66.7%	4.8%	28.6%	100%
A road safety organisation	78.4%	8.1%	13.5%	100%
Other	68.9%	14.5%	16.6%	100%
Total	64.8%	17.1%	18.1%	100%

About 65% of all respondents agreed to some degree, but there was a substantial difference in how individual groups responded.

72% of respondents identifying themselves as learner drivers or riders, were in support of this, as were the majority of other groups of respondents. However, just 21% of ADIs respondents strongly agreed or agreed. The majority of them, 63%, strongly disagreed or disagreed with this question.

Some comments highlighted that although overall respondent support was positive, concerns remain. Comments included:

I think it would be useful to know the above so you can see how good independent instructors are compared to driving schools…

Many instructors may be grade A and have a high pass rate, myself included. But some instructors may not be friendly and patient, which is all some anxious pupils need. So it’s a double edge sword.. I have many pupils come to me due to there current instructors finding them difficult to teach them, so the instructor quits on them. So performance bands wouldn’t help with this.

Overall performance and honest recommendation is always useful, however have done almost 200 hours of driving with instructor and I have failed 4 times due to the nerve wrecking situation to which examiners usually don’t help at all.

The driving instructor performance although helpful does not necessarily determine whether a learner passes or not. Its all about teaching style and having someone who knows the knowledge and makes the learner feel comfortable.

Whilst I see why publishing performance rates might help select an instructor, I feel it would create an unnecessary and unfair amount of pressure and work stress for instructors making them more selective and thus harming learners access.

I am a bit concerned that some instructors will discriminate against slow learners as this will impact their performance ratings.

Other comments mentioned the possibility of extra pressure resulting from these measures.

Unfortunately test results don’t always accurately reflect an instructor’s credibility. I have had both periods with lots of test passes, and then periods where students have made mistakes. It’s just how it goes. I feel this information, if made too public, could be misinterpreted, and put great instructors under additional pressures that they don’t need.

I wouldn’t find this useful as it could put implications onto the learner from the instructor so they could maintain their >success rate you’re talking about improving the experience for everyone but me being a nervous learner who’s had to do 4 tests and one being cancelled on the day due to uncontrollable shaking you are only putting more pressure on the learner!

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What other information would you find useful in choosing an instructor?

6,939 of all respondents to the consultation answered this question.

Learner drivers and riders made up 61% of the respondents, ADIs made up 21% of respondents and 10% were experienced drivers. The remaining 8% consisted of the other categories who completed the consultation.

Many respondents said having learner reviews would be more beneficial and knowing how well an ADIs would be able to support learners with neurodiversity needs.

This latter point also highlighted concerns about publishing performance statistics without other information. Comments referred to the potentially adverse impact on those ADIs who pride themselves in supporting learners who have neurodiversity needs or experience anxiety, data being incomplete, and testing candidates using private cars. Comments included:

Some instructors specialise in hard to teach pupils such as, disabled, autistic and dyslexia pupils. These instructors would be at a serious disadvantage than others. I am disabled so I can fully understand the problems this will cause.

I have a background in education and supporting learning needs, I am trying to support these kind of learners to drive but this raises challenges and doesn’t always lead to a first time pass.

Other comments about choosing an instructor included:

The manner and personality of an instructor is as important as their performance, particularly if you teach students with severe anxiety/adhd/aspergers/autism etc as I do.

As well as pass rates (which may have an adverse effect on some instructors but benefits for consumers) I would find information on how they conduct their lessons useful i.e how patient they are, whether they are friendly, what has been the experience of others and whether the instructor was there to help you learn or just take your money etc. Almost like a google review.

If pupils were encouraged to go online and put their experiences with instructors it would give others a more honest insight.

Parents and young people are more interested in looking at Facebook and Google reviews…

5. Update when and how we check someone’s eyesight at the start of the driving test

In this section:

What we proposed

We proposed changing the law so that we can:

• do the eyesight check in the driving test in any level of light - not just good daylight
• use more methods of checking people’s eyesight when they take the driving test

We proposed this so we can provide driving tests at more times, and can have more flexibility to test eyesight if there are not many parked vehicles nearby.

What’s been decided

Ministers would like to introduce the proposals to:

• do the eyesight check in the driving test in any level of light - not just good daylight
• use more methods of checking people’s eyesight when they take the driving test

We will look at options available to introduce an alternative means to conduct an eyesight test that is not dependent on good daylight or reading a car number plate, but that will continue to ensure a driver’s eyesight is assessed consistently with the current test.

What will happen next

We are exploring alternative means of assessing eyesight. This is being done with DVLA’s Medical Panel. This is necessary because DVLA is the driving agency responsible for licensing drivers and it is important for any new procedures to meet the standards that currently apply. It will be necessary to ensure that any alternative is thoroughly tested and assessed to ensure it replicates the requirements of the current test and is sufficiently rigorous.

In the consultation, a majority of respondents supported the proposal for DVSA having the flexibility to conduct the eyesight test by means other than reading the number plate attached to the vehicle. This will enable us to provide driving tests at more times, in different levels of light, and will give us the flexibility to test eyesight if there are few vehicles parked nearby.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked 2 questions about this proposal. They were:

• to what extent people agreed with removing the need for the eyesight test to be conducted in good daylight
• to what extent people agreed with DVSA having the flexibility to do the eyesight check by means other than reading the number plate attached to the vehicle

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with the removal of the need for the eyesight test to be conducted in good daylight?

20,913 respondents answered this question.

41.9% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 41.9% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 31.8% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 10.1% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	17.4%
Agree	24.5%
Neither agree nor disagree	26.3%
Disagree	18.2%
Strongly disagree	13.6%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	42.8%	26.3%	30.8%	100%
A newly qualified driver	40.8%	19.7%	39.4%	100%
An experienced driver	38.3%	25.6%	36.1%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	39.9%	28.7%	31.4%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	67.4%	15.4%	17.3%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	30.3%	22.7%	47.0%	100%
An industry representative organisation	28.5%	28.6%	42.9%	100%
A road safety organisation	28.2%	10.3%	61.6%	100%
Other	41.1%	26.6%	32.3%	100%
Total	41.9%	26.3%	31.8%	100%

Almost 42% of all responses strongly agreed or agreed with the removal of the need for the eyesight test to be conducted in good daylight. About 32% strongly disagreed or disagreed and 26% neither agreed nor disagreed. This was consistent for learner drivers and ADIs’ responses.

However, for newly qualified drivers the split was much narrower - 41% agreed to some degree, 39% disagreed to some degree and 20% neither agreed nor disagreed.

Respondent’s comment included:

In my opinion learners should have a compulsory certificate from an optician prior to applying for a provisional licence. A couple of weeks prior to test date attend an optician to obtain a certificate confirming their eyesight is still good for driving. On test day in conjunction with the certificate the examiner still required to carry out an eyesight test.

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with DVSA having the flexibility to do the eyesight check by means other than reading the number plate attached to the vehicle?

20,908 respondents answered this question.

58.3% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 58.3% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 18.1% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 40.2% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	22.8%
Agree	35.5%
Neither agree nor disagree	23.7%
Disagree	10.2%
Strongly disagree	7.9%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	57.9%	24.2%	17.8%	100%
A newly qualified driver	61.9%	17.1%	21.0%	100%
An experienced driver	59.1%	21.3%	19.6%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	58.1%	24.6%	17.3%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	67.3%	17.3%	15.4%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	63.1%	16.9%	20.0%	100%
An industry representative organisation	57.2%	23.8%	19.0%	100%
A road safety organisation	48.7%	10.3%	41.0%	100%
Other	58.7%	24.4%	16.8%	100%
Total	58.3%	23.7%	18.1%	100%

A majority of respondents supported the proposal for DVSA having the flexibility to conduct the eyesight test by means other than reading the number plate attached to the vehicle. About 43% of all respondents strongly agreed or agreed, 18% strongly disagreed or disagreed and almost 24% neither agreed nor disagreed.

Learner drivers made up 70% of all respondents to this question, of this group, 58% either strongly agreed or agreed, 24% neither agreed nor disagreed and 18% either strongly disagreed or disagreed.

The next highest group were ADIs, consisting of 14% of overall respondents, of who 58% either strongly agreed or agreed, 24% neither agreed nor disagreed and 18% either strongly disagreed or disagreed, which is consistent with the proportions of learner drivers’ responses.

Experienced drivers made up 9% of respondents to this question. Their responses mirrored learner drivers and ADIs with 59% strongly agreeing or agreeing, 21% neither agreeing nor disagreeing and 20% either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

The remaining respondents followed a similar pattern of response.

Respondent’s comment included:

I do not understand why a road safety organisation such as the DVSA conducts such a rudimentary eyesight check as asking someone to read a number plate from the very short distance of only 20m. If we’re going to be serious about road safety, then anyone wishing to apply for a driving licence should be required to take a full eyesight examination with an optometrist.

6. Replace paper pass certificates with digital pass certificates

In this section:

What we proposed

We proposed that we issue digital pass certificates to people who pass their theory test and driving test, instead of paper versions.

We proposed this to:

• support DVLA’s work to introduce a digital driving licence
• save the use of more than 2 million sheets of paper each year

What’s been decided

Ministers would like to modernise the administrative process of notifying candidates that they have passed their test by replacing the current paper pass certificates with digital test pass certificates.

What will happen next

It will be necessary to update legislation to do this. This will require both primary and secondary legislation. We plan to make provision which requires primary legislation when an opportunity is available.

We will need to make sure that the electronic record, when provided without a paper version, will be available to successful candidates as soon as a test is passed.

Feedback we received about this proposal

We asked 4 questions about this proposal. They were:

• what people had used their paper pass certificate for (if they had passed a driving test in the last 2 years)
• to what extent people agreed with the introduction of a digital pass certificate for the driving test
• to what extent people agreed with the introduction of a digital pass certificate for the theory test
• whether there would be any benefits or risks resulting from the move to digital certificates

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If you’ve passed a driving test in the last 2 years, please tell us what you used your paper pass certificate for?

1,684 of those 20,960 who completed the survey left a comment.

Reason	Percentage
Not applicable	51.1%
Did not use their certificate	19.4%
Proof of licence or passing the test	8.7%
Kept it as a mark of achievement	5.5%
Used it in social media posts	2.4%
Used the theory test certificate to book a driving test	2.4%
Used the driving test certificate to apply for their full licence	1.7%
Used it for car insurance or ID purposes	1.4%

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with the introduction of a digital pass certificate for the driving test?

20,911 respondents answered this question.

62.7% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 62.7% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 19.3% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 43.4% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	34.4%
Agree	28.3%
Neither agree nor disagree	17.9%
Disagree	9.5%
Strongly disagree	9.8%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	62.9%	17.7%	19.3%	100%
A newly qualified driver	62.0%	15.1%	23.0%	100%
An experienced driver	70.8%	15.2%	14.0%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	54.7%	21.7%	23.6%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	76.9%	7.7%	15.4%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	65.7%	11.9%	22.4%	100%
An industry representative organisation	71.5%	14.3%	14.3%	100%
A road safety organisation	71.1%	13.2%	15.8%	100%
Other	69.6%	18.2%	12.3%	100%
Total	62.7%	17.9%	19.3%	100%

Our proposal to introduce a digital pass certificate for the driving test received the majority of support across all groups of respondents. Overall, about 63% of all those who answered the question either strongly agreed or agreed with it, 19% strongly disagreed or disagreed and 18% neither agreed nor disagreed.

This matched learner drivers and riders’ opinion about introducing a digital pass certificate for the driving test. A smaller majority of ADIs, 55%, either strongly agreed or agreed with the proposal, 24% strongly disagreed or disagreed and 22% neither agreed nor disagreed.

A higher proportion of experienced drivers, 71%, strongly agreed or agreed with the proposal to introduce a digital pass certificate for the driving test, 14% strongly disagreed or disagreed and 15% neither agreed nor disagreed.

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with the introduction of a digital pass certificate for the theory test?

20,911 respondents answered this question.

70.6% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal

In total, 70.6% of respondents agreed with the proposal and 12.8% disagreed with the proposal. This means that 57.8% more people agreed with this proposal than disagreed with it.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Strongly agree	38.7%
Agree	31.9%
Neither agree nor disagree	16.6%
Disagree	6.5%
Strongly disagree	6.3%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Total who agreed	Neither agree nor disagree	Total who disagreed	Total
A learner driver	70.3%	16.1%	13.6%	100%
A newly qualified driver	74.2%	13.8%	12.0%	100%
An experienced driver	73.3%	15.5%	11.2%	100%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	68.4%	21.0%	10.7%	100%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	94.2%	0.0%	5.8%	100%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	76.1%	10.4%	13.5%	100%
An industry representative organisation	71.4%	14.3%	14.3%	100%
A road safety organisation	74.3%	12.8%	12.8%	100%
Other	75.1%	15.9%	9.0%	100%
Total	70.6%	16.6%	12.8%	100%

The proposal to introduce a digital pass certificate for the theory test met with a slightly higher level of agreement. Overall, about 71% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed, 13% strongly disagreed or disagreed and 17% neither agreed nor disagreed.

Of those, 70% of learners agreed or strongly agreed, 68% of ADIs also strongly agreed or agreed. This was mirrored by the other groups who completed the question.

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Do you think there would be any benefits or risks resulting from the move to digital certificates?

20,896 respondents answered this question.

This chart summarises how people responded overall.

Response	Percentage
Benefits only	37.2%
Benefits and risks	39.9%
Risks only	8.0%
Do not know	15.0%

This chart summarises how different types of respondents answered this question.

Type of respondent	Benefits only	Benefits and risks	Risks only	Do not know	Total
A learner driver	36.4%	41.1%	7.7%	14.8%	100.0%
A newly qualified driver	37.7%	41.7%	9.1%	11.5%	100.0%
An experienced driver	41.8%	37.2%	7.8%	13.3%	100.0%
An approved driving instructor or driving school	35.9%	36.6%	9.5%	18.0%	100.0%
A motorcycle trainer or training school	48.1%	40.4%	7.7%	3.8%	100.0%
An HGV or bus trainer or training school	40.9%	33.3%	15.2%	10.6%	100.0%
An industry representative organisation	52.4%	19.0%	14.3%	14.3%	100.0%
A road safety organisation	43.6%	41.0%	10.3%	5.1%	100.0%
Other	46.5%	33.4%	4.9%	15.3%	100.0%
Total	37.2%	39.9%	8.0%	15.0%	100.0%

Overall, about 37% thought there would be benefits only, about 40% benefits and risks, 8% risks only and 15% did not know, to the move to digital certificates.

These results were in line with learner and ADIs’ responses. 36% of them said benefits only, 41% thought benefits and risks, 8% indicted risk only and 15% did not know.

ADIs’ responses followed a similar pattern but had a slight difference. 36% saying benefits only, 37% saying benefit and risk, 10% risk only, and 18% did not know.

Experienced drivers and road safety organisations had a slightly higher proportion saying benefits only and slightly lower on the benefits and risks percentage.

Just one comment was made regarding this proposal.

Digital certificates are a fantastic idea however if technology does not work which it often doesn’t in rural Scotland, then you have a problem. The consultation questions do not bring any useful suggestions to the table except for digital certificates.