Recently the DVSA announced new ADI standards checks to ensure more accurate and stringent assessment of driving instructors.
Previously, driving instructors were subject to assessments every four years to ensure they remained fit to coach learners to drive. That method was simple and straightforward and allowed driving instructors to work towards being better each time, but it did also leave room for improvement.
The new system is more complex and is based on a set of ‘indicators’ assessed over a 12-month period which decide whether or not a full standards check is required. When a learner driver goes to take their test, their ADI’s number is recorded. Using this data and data gathered from each test, the DVSA analyses against its criteria to determine the competency of the driving instructor. The indicators the DVSA will now use are as follows:
- average number of driving faults per test (5 or greater)
- average number of serious faults per test (0.5 or greater)
- average number of tests where the examiner had to take physical evasive action in the interest of public safety (10% or higher)
- overall pass rate during the 12-month period (55% or lower)
When an ADI reaches the trigger point for three or more of the above indicators, a request for a test is issued. Under these new guidelines, ADIs (approved driving instructors) could be assessed every single year. Conversely, an ADI could go years without being assessed if they never trigger any of the above three indicators each year. You can however request a DVSA standards check if you’d like to assess your ability.
I speak often about raising standards within this industry because it’s desperately needed – but I’m not sure this new structure is the way to go about it. The response by the DVSA to the many issues within the current system is flimsy, and it’s important to acknowledge that some of the criteria they’ve outlined doesn’t really give an accurate reflection of whether a driving instructor is competent or not. These new rules are also likely to create a lot more work for the DVSA, which already struggles under the weight of assessing and checking the 40,000 driving instructors in the UK.
That said, these rules are coming in to play, so we need to be prepared for them. So what implications could this have for driving instructors and their students?
What do the DVSA changes mean for instructors?
These new guidelines are likely to be a stressful development for many driving instructors, who are used to simply preparing for their ADI standards check on a 4-year basis. This method of assessment adds another element to the job with even more to consider, much of it out of your control.
That said, if you’re generally a competent and careful driving instructor, you shouldn’t be affected by these new standards check guidelines.
There are many holes in this system which could cause good driving instructors to fall foul of it and trigger a test. Several scenarios and issues could skew your score including (but not limited to) the following:
- Although we can refuse to drive a student to their test, generally we can’t force them not to take their test even if we know they aren’t ready. The responsibility for this scenario shouldn’t exclusively lie with us, especially when external pressures are often at play (parents, peers etc) and competent driving instructors do try to talk students out of taking their test too soon.
- Students are usually incredibly nervous on their test, even moreso than when in the car with their instructor or even on their own when they do pass. The presence of faults is naturally common and isn’t a fully accurate reflection of their driving ability (or the quality of their tuition).
- Using averages isn’t always fair or accurate – as just one pupil could push your average over when in reality your rates are low for everybody else.
- If faults are a concern for the DVSA, why pass a person who makes this many faults then make it the problem of their ADI at a later date?
What do the DVSA changes mean for learner drivers?
The intention of these quite drastic changes to the current assessment structure is to make learning to drive more effective and safer for learner drivers, but the DVSA may have missed the mark on that. It will naturally weed out any driving instructors who previously have been getting through by the skin of their teeth, but it will still leave learners open to less-than-great driving tuition that doesn’t set them up safely to go it alone on the roads (see my other blogs for details on this).
One thing learners and their parents may be displeased to hear is that this new guidance could delay them taking their test – but this could actually be a good thing. Far too many driving instructors send their students off for testing before they’re ready in situations where they subsequently scrape a pass, but equally many parents push their children into learning and passing their test as quickly as possible. When you consider that this puts young people in potentially serious and dangerous situations at the helm of a vehicle capable of killing themselves and others, delaying testing until they are absolutely ready can only be a good thing.