Latest Government Advice on starting driving lessons and driving tests

This is an update about:

• how local alert tiers affect driver training and testing
  • waiting rooms

How local restriction tiers affect driver training and testing

The Government has confirmed that driver training and testing can safely restart as normal in areas in tier 1 and 2 when the current national restrictions end on 2 December.

The Government has also confirmed that driving lessons can restart in all tiers when the current national restrictions end on 2 December.

Additional measures for driving tests in tier 3 areas

Our top priority is to keep you, your pupils and our staff safe.

To allow us to continue testing in tier 3 areas we will restart car practical tests in tier 3 areas from 3 December and will be introducing additional safety measures in these areas.

These include:

• reducing the number of car practical tests our examiners carry out per day to 5 in tier 3 areas
  • anyone who has a car practical test booked in a tier 3 area who is exempt from wearing a face covering may have to delay their test until the area moves out of tier 3.

We will reschedule their test if we cannot find a volunteer driving examiner to conduct their test without them wearing a face covering

What this means to you and your pupils

We email everyone in a tier 3 area who has a test booked to let them know about the additional measures.

We’ll also be contacting anyone whose test has been affected by these additional measures to let them know what will happen next.

2 December tests

The Government has clarified that all car practical and theory testing can resume on 2 December in tier 1 and 2 areas.

We previously rescheduled tests booked for this day to a later date.

If you or your pupil had a practical test previously scheduled for 2 December in a tier 1 or 2 area we will be in contact with you today, 1 December, to offer the opportunity to rebook the test for 2 December.

We did not want to automatically rearrange your pupils test to 2 December in case you or your pupil were no longer available or in case your pupil needs refresher lessons with you before your test.

We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused for you and your pupils.

Waiting rooms

Following the successful reopening of waiting rooms in a number of locations, we are able to reopen a further 94 waiting rooms in early December.

We’ll be in touch soon with more information about this.

Making sure your candidates are ready

It is important that your candidates are prepared for their test before you present them. Some of your pupils might not feel ready as they have not been able to have any lessons over the previous 4 weeks.

If your pupil feels they are not ready to take their driving test and need more time to practice they can change the date for free by visiting GOV.UK.

If your pupils are unable to find a test slot at their chosen test centre, they should look further afield as they should be prepared to drive in areas they are unfamiliar with.