Guidance

Become a car and trailer driver trainer

What you need to know to teach people how to drive a car and trailer (category BE) including eligibility, skills and how to get accredited.

• From: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
• Published: 18 May 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

To become a car and trailer driving instructor you must have a car and trailer driver licence category BE - you’ll have this if you’ve passed your car driving test.

If you also want to teach people to drive cars without a trailer, you need to qualify and register as an approved driving instructor (ADI).

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has recognised 3 accrediting organisations that can:

• train you to become a car and trailer trainer if you’re new to training
• accredit the training you provide

What skills you’ll need to get

To be able to teach people to drive a car and trailer, you’ll need to get skills in:

• preparing to train learner drivers
• designing learning programmes
• enabling safe and responsible driving
• managing risk to yourself, your pupils and third parties
• evaluating and developing your knowledge, understanding and skills in the driver training industry

Read the national standard for driver and rider training to find out more about the skills you’ll need.

Find training to help you get these skills

You can contact either:

• accrediting organisations
• driving instructor training course providers (check with them if they provide courses than can help you train as a car and trailer trainer)

Accrediting organisations

National Register of LGV Instructors
www.lgvinstructorregister.com
lgvinstructorregister@rtitb.com

Skills for Logistics
www.skillsforlogistics.co.uk
training@skillsforlogistics.co.uk

Safe Towing Scheme
www.safetowingscheme.co.uk
info@safetowingscheme.co.uk

Premises and equipment you need

You’ll usually need:

• training vehicles and trailers
• access to an off-road area where you’ll teach people reversing manoeuvres (the size will depend on the type of vehicle training you’ll be providing)
• cones and other equipment to mark out your area

Decide how you’ll run your training courses

You need to decide:

• how you want to set up your business
• how much you’ll charge for training you provide
• how you’ll advertise your training
• how you’ll check your pupils have the right category of driving licence to tow - they can give you a code to check their licence information online
• how you’ll manage risk in your business
• what type of insurance you need
• what your terms and conditions will be for your customers
• how you’ll tell your customers what you’re doing with their personal data

You must be registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and pay an annual data protection fee because you’re processing personal data.

What you need to include in your training

You’ll be teaching your pupils to:

• prepare the vehicle, trailer and its contents for daily use (find out about basic safety checks)
• drive the vehicle while towing, following the rules in The Highway Code
• reverse with the trailer, uncouple and recouple
• drive safely and efficiently

You need to decide how you want to do this - for example, by e-learning, in-vehicle training and assessments.

Read the car and trailer towing syllabus to learn what you’ll be teaching.

Carry out assessments

If you choose to carry out assessments as part of your training package, you can use these documents that used to be used for car and trailer driving tests:

• the ‘show me, tell me’ vehicle safety questions
• the reversing exercise part of the test

You can read the guidance that driving examiners used to carry out car and trailer driving tests.

Get accredited

You can choose to get accredited as a car and trailer driving instructor by accrediting organisations recognised by DVSA if you:

• are becoming a car and trailer trainer
• already have experience of being a car and trailer trainer

When you’re accredited you will be:

• listed as an accredited trainer on the accrediting organisation’s website
• able to offer your services to more customers - for example, some employers will insist their staff use an accredited trainer
• able to advertise that your training has been accredited by a recognised accrediting organisation, which is proof that you’re competent and quality-assured
• part of an industry-wide recognised scheme, following DVSA syllabus and standards

How it works

You need to apply to each accrediting organisation that you want to be accredited by. You can apply to more than one.

Each accrediting organisation has its own:

• process to accredit you (they will recognise your existing experience if you’ve been a trainer for some time)
• fees
• terms and conditions
• process for you to keep your accreditation

Every accrediting organisation will accredit your training that covers the basics of how to tow.

Each organisation also specialises in accrediting specific types of training for different uses, such as:

• caravans
• horse trailers
• boats
• plant and machinery

Check with the accrediting organisation to make sure they cover the type of training you want to get accredited.

How to get accredited

Contact the accrediting organisations to find out how to get accredited by them.

National Register of LGV Instructors
www.lgvinstructorregister.com
lgvinstructorregister@rtitb.com

Skills for Logistics
www.skillsforlogistics.co.uk
training@skillsforlogistics.co.uk

Safe Towing Scheme
www.safetowingscheme.co.uk
info@safetowingscheme.co.uk

Published 18 May 2022