Guidance

Book and manage driving and riding tests for your pupils: privacy notice

Updated 12 November 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dvsa-privacy-notices/book-and-manage-driving-and-riding-tests-for-your-pupils-privacy-notice

1. About this service

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) provides the service to book and manage driving and riding tests for your pupils. DVSA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport (DfT).

We carry out practical tests in Great Britain. This service allows you to book, change or cancel tests for your pupils.

DVSA provides the practical test business service to registered users in the driver training industry. This lets you have greater flexibility in booking practical driving tests and the block booking of practical tests with flexible allocation of candidates.

The data controller for DVSA is DfT - a data controller determines the reasons and how personal data is processed. For more information see the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Data Protection Public Register. DfT’s registration number is Z7122992.

We may use GOV.UK Notify to send you emails or text messages about your pupil’s test. This is a service provided by the Government Digital Service, which is part of the Cabinet Office. We are the data controller for your data within that service. The Cabinet Office is the data processor.

2. What data we need

All personal data relating to the trainer booking organisation and individual is provided by the user on account creation with your consent. Registration is optional, however, you will not be able to receive the services without creating an account.

2.1 DVSA practical test business service

The personal data we collect from you to manage your business will include:

  • business name
  • business address
  • telephone numbers
  • email addresses
  • business interests (such as car, bike or lorry)
  • an electronic signature
  • personal reference numbers for approved driving instructors
  • payment details - including card numbers (card numbers are encrypted and access is restricted), dates the card is valid from and to)
  • prefunded accounts – prefunded account name

2.2 Pupils

The personal data we collect from you to book and manage tests on behalf of your pupils will include:

  • driving licence number
  • theory test pass certificate number
  • disability, health conditions and learning difficulties, if you say the pupil needs reasonable adjustments for their driving test
  • the language you’ve selected for the pupil to use when taking the test (English and Welsh)
  • the driving instructor’s personal reference number, if you choose to give it
  • theory and driving test results
  • information about past health and safety incidents that stop you from booking online, or where you’ve asked us to stop your pupil’s details being used to book, change or cancel a driving test online

Personal data is processed to enable collection of fees for the delivery of driving tests.

Your pupil’s personal data will be supplied by the training school and entered into the DVSA practical test business service in line with the book and manage your driving test privacy notice.

2.3 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

The personal data we collect about your candidates from DVLA will include entitlement details such as:

  • name
  • address
  • current and previous driving licence numbers
  • entitlement
  • test category
  • dates of entitlement
  • disqualification details
  • extended test details

The lawful basis for processing this data is legal obligation.

The lawful basis for processing this data is:

  • The Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended) specifically Part III and V (vocational licences), sections 125, 132, 159a and 162A
  • The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2864) (as amended), specifically Part III, Schedule 8, Schedule 11
  • Part V of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended by the Road Traffic (Driving Instruction by Disabled Persons) Act 1993
  • Road Safety Act 2006 (changes not enacted), section 36 to 43 and Schedule 6
  • The Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1902) (as amended), specifically part II and V, schedules 1 and 2
  • The Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007 (as amended) (SI 2007/605) (made under powers in European Communities Act 1972, Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988; and Finance Act 1973) specifically regulations 5 and 8

3. Why we need it

We need the personal data we collect from you to:

  • register and approve you to administer practical test bookings through the DVSA practical test business service
  • administer a practical test booking which includes an entitlement check to ensure the pupil is entitled to take the test
  • monitor your business activity on the service to prevent any misuse
  • make sure the driving instructor is available at the time of the pupil’s test (we only do this if you choose an instructor at the time of booking a candidate’s test)
  • take a payment for the driving test and provide a refund if you need to cancel the test
  • take a payment to top up a pre-funded account (if applicable)
  • send a booking confirmation email (if applicable) to enable the business to organise and manage its pupils training programmes
  • contact you if we need to change a test appointment or let you know about disruption to our services
  • contact you if the way the driving test works is changing
  • make reasonable adjustments for any disability, health condition or learning difficulty declared at the time of booking
  • send the candidate details to DVLA so they can issue a licence (where your pupil has passed their test)
  • produce anonymised statistics and reports
  • ask you to take part in research projects to help us understand how easy our services are to use and how we improve road safety
  • send email and text messages to your pupil to make sure they’re properly prepared for their driving test
  • send text message reminders about when the driving test is to your pupil
  • to send email and text messages to research road safety in recently passed drivers

4. What we do with it

We collect, use and store the data you give us for the reasons set out in this policy.

We will not:

  • sell or rent your data to third parties
  • share your data with third parties for marketing purposes

We will share your pupil’s personal data with DVLA, where they pass their test, so they can issue a licence.

We will share your data if required to do so by law – for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.

5. How long we keep your data

We will only keep your personal data for as long as it is needed for the reasons set out in this policy or for as long as is required by law.

We will hold:

  • your business details, as long as the business remains open; where a business is closed, details will be retained for 7 years
  • electronic copies of driving test reports for your pupils for 5 years
  • paper copies of driving test reports for your pupils for 2 years

We only hold your pupil’s personal data shared by DVLA to check their eligibility to take a driving test for 10 days from the date the test is booked.

Where we ask you to take part in research projects, we shall tell you at that time how long we’ll hold your personal data for.

6. Where it might go

Our IT infrastructure and technology has been checked to make sure it is safe and secure. Any supporting contracts that help us run the service are compliant with data protection law.

7. Protecting your data and your rights

The DVSA personal information charter sets out what steps are taken to protect your data, and the rights you have over your data.

8. Automated decision making and profiling

Your data is not subject to automated decision making or profiling as defined in data protection legislation.

9. Changes to this notice

We may change this privacy notice at our discretion at any time.

When we change this notice, the date on the page will be updated. Any changes to this privacy notice will be applied to you and your data as of the revision date.

We encourage you to periodically review this privacy notice to be informed about how your data is protected.

10. How to contact us

If you have any questions about anything in this document or if you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled you can contact the DVSA data protection manager

DVSA data protection manager

Data Protection Manager
DVSA
1 Unity Square
Nottingham
NG2 1AY

Contact DVSA customer services if you have a query that is not about how your personal data is used.

You may also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator.

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