Instructor versus Examiner Assessments.

As driving instructors we should be aiming past the driving test. We want our pupils to pass as a consequence of driving safely, rather than facing the consequences of only being trained for a driving test. The question is how can this be done. 

 

Our pupils should be unlucky if they fail rather than lucky to pass. The more skilful our pupil is, the greater the chance of them passing their driving test. But what about after they pass. We normally will never see them again, or certainly not for driver development. 

 

The reality is that our pupils will normally only spend money on what is measured, which for the pupil is the driving test. Here it is prudent to remember that a driving test only samples parts of the syllabus, which means we should cover as much of it as possible.

 

Both ourselves and the examiners should be making assessments of our pupils driving. As instructors we should be making formative assessments whereas an examiner will be making summative assessments. So what are the differences.

 

Examiner (Summative) assessments:

 

 

Summative (Examiner) assessments are of a pupil’s learning against a set standard or benchmark. In our case the driving test.

 

The examiner will take them out and make an assessment of their driving by weighting or grading the faults according to the severity:

 

 

For greater detail of how this is done see the Dave Allen article in this edition.

 

Instructor (Formative) assessments:

 

 

If the summative assessment above is an assessment by a driving examiner of learning and to see how well they have learnt. 

 

A formative (Instructor) assessment is one for learning and will direct the learning.

 

So knowing how an examiner marks a driving test and how those faults are weighted is your knowledge of their summative assessment. This is not helping you much with your formative assessment of your pupil.

 

You need to know why they have made the fault and what is the best way for that particular pupil to fix it. In other words, how effectively you can coach a learner (and perform on a standards check) is based on your formative assessment of your pupil at that time and place.

 

Note here that I have said a standards check. Some might say that a standards check is not real instruction. They might then go on to say that the ability to pass a driving test is not real driving and they really learn after they have passed.

 

We might say that we have three ways of getting a pupil to do something:

 

 

By Rote

 

Tell them what to do or possibly show them. The pupil will likely do it with a view to passing their test. Rote learning is imposed with the pupils consent. Its object of passing a driving test is not serving our pupils a life skill and may often as not be cast aside as they really start to drive on their own.

 

By Reason

 

A pupil who understands when to check their mirrors and what effect their signals might have on others is more likely to be a safer driver after passing than one who just does the routine of MSM.

 

By Revelation

 

Better still a pupil who has reached the conclusion from your searching questions that a well formed MSM with everything nicely timed is more likely to keep it up after passing rather than just letting it go. 

 

The simple thing here is that the more the pupil is actively engaged in the answer the more likely they are to own the solution. More work for you but hugely satisfying when we get it right.

 

This is why the DVSA wants a client centred lesson. If I tell you to do something and I give you the reasons for doing it, you might very well do so until the circumstances that brought you to me change. This change for most of our pupils is passing their driving test.

 

At risk of being rather controversial, my personal opinion is that we as an industry are failing our pupils. An overall pass rate of about 50% for the driving test and an accident rate in the first year of about 20% is a damning indictment of our industry. 

 

I know lots of you will be doing much better than these figures suggest. But for every decent instructor like yourself there is another dragging those figures down to 50% and 1 in 5. Remember if you are reading this article my comment above is about the industry in general not someone like yourself.

 

Fault based driving instruction is faulty. Leave the summative fault based assessments of driving tests to the professional examiner. Make your assessment a formative one. Have a look at the 17 competencies and see how they relate to formative assessments.

© Liam Greaney

driving-pro.com

 

Hi, my intention of this article is to explain a commonly misinterpreted subject, which is how driving faults are marked on a driving test. I wanted to explain a commonly occurring misconception where pupils, PDIs and ADIs think examiners are inconsistent with their marking. 

It’s very difficult to teach assessment via a document, but I will try my best to explain. 

Driving examiners use a system called deviation from desired outcome and follow the DT1, which is guidance on how to conduct driving tests. See link at the bottom. The examiner watches for differences or deviations of what they would do and  compares that to what a pupil does whilst driving. This deviation is then fault weighted and placed into five different categories. These categories are either no fault, non-note-worthy fault, driver error, serious driver error or dangerous driver error.

Now, this is the interesting bit, if a pupil doesn’t do something in accordance with  either the Highway Code, Driving the Essential Skills, the national driver or rider standard then the fault is not always marked by the examiner. Shock horror you may say, all faults or deviations should be marked, however this is related to the level of risk they cause to themselves, other roads users or static objects like traffic bollards and walls etc.

Let’s take a couple of examples to explain, 

Example one, a pupil is on a driving test in a parked position and is asked to move off whilst parked on a very quiet rural road, these are no roads or driveways in their blind spot and when after being asked to move off when safe they don’t check their blind spot, but do look in the relevant mirrors. Well what risk have they caused? Well, none, is the answer.

Now, let’s look at another example, when a pupil is moving off from a road which is in a very busy town centre, before moving off the pupil doesn’t check the blind spot. However, this time, a cyclist is directly alongside them, and the pupil’s car is just about to collide with the cyclist. Well, the examiner would dual control them, assuming a dual control brake is fitted and mark the fault as a dangerous error. 

Also, it must be noted that habitual driver errors would also eventually become a serious fault.

With serious faults there doesn’t have to be another road user present and if there is ‘actual’ danger the fault becomes dangerous.

When an examiner fault weights, they assess against three different criteria: does it have any affect on vehicle control, did it affect their safety, or did it breach the law?

However, does this make a difference to the way we teach our students to drive. Well in a way yes. One of the competencies on the SC/P3, says, ”Was the pupil encouraged to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning”.

A part of this means, are you getting your pupils to think for themselves and helping them to weigh up the risk by doing something or by not doing something in different situations. Our industry should be producing thinking drivers, not drivers who just drive a certain way to pass a driving test with a minimum amount of driving lessons and learn by rote. 

Rote learning is where you continuously repeat the same thing, but without understanding why you are doing it a certain way. However, some things are learned quite well through rote, namely vehicle controls, but the driving environment is different all the time and drivers should be able to learn through experience, however that’s a different article. 

This is the link to DT1- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-driving-examiners-carrying-out-driving-tests-dt1

Fault assessment flow chart

© Dave Allen

https://agradeinstructortraining.co.uk/

A driving test can only cover a portion of the syllabus. The limits on this are both time and geography. 

 

It would be wonderful to know that new drivers have been tested on the whole of the syllabus. But that is just not possible. In terms of time you are going to be within a 20 minute radius of the test centre. And for the most part a bit less than that. Allow for the pulling over and stopping a few times. Some time for manoeuvres and our radius gets less. 

 

Geography will also limit what can be tested. Years ago if you did not like roundabouts you could book a test on the Isle of Wight which only used to have one roundabout on the whole island. Please note that this has changed. 

 

Anyone who looks at driving test data will have noted that the pass rate for some of the Scottish islands is very good. The flip side of that is the pass rate for large inner city test centres is very poor. So it is logical to assume that the busier inner city test centres make the candidate have more interactions and therefore opportunities to fail. 

 

I am reliably informed that while the Scottish Islands may have less interaction with other road users. The ability to deal with sheep is very useful. Not something that us inner city instructors have any experience with whatsoever. 

 

Bearing in mind that passing the driving test allows your pupil to drive on any public road a vehicle of 3.5 tonne is the test enough. A sheep loving pupil from the islands may well find a busy inner city roundabout quite intimidating. By the same token our inner city jack the lad may find a flock of sheep rather bewildering.  

 

So how can we cope with this. Looking at the big picture, data from test passes should have 2 characteristics, reliability and validity.

 

The first is concerned with the consistency of the data and the second with its relevance. We are going to look at this first one in some detail and the performance dips that come with it.

 

Reliability:

 

 

  1. Test-retest. This looks at data over time. There will be two ways of looking at this. Repeating the test with the same examiner at the same time of day. Or doing it at different times of day.

 

 

To just keep repeating the same route at the same time with the same examiner is clearly a non-starter. Each test centre will have multiple routes which will test different aspects of the syllabus. Even if the route is the same, with the same cars, drivers and examiners.  Because we are all different from day to day, our decisions and those of other drivers will be different day to day. 

 

Will you keep getting the same results at a different time of the day. Clearly at different times of the day you will have a different number of interactions. Rush hour may have 200 interactions with other road users compared with 100 mid morning. One of the things that make the driving test unique is every driving situation is going to be different in some way. 

 

The above starts to make the point that pupils should be able to deal with situations rather than places. A take away from this is get your pupil used to driving in places where they are not familiar with the roads. 

 

Watch for the performance dip when they try somewhere new. Take them to different places. If they can cope with that with you in a place they are not familiar with. They are more likely to be able to cope with an unfamiliar place when they are with a stranger like the examiner.

 

  1. Interrater. This looks at different examiners and do they give the same result. They obviously do for our serial failures. We have all heard the comment about a pupils’ chance of passing depending on which examiner they get.

 

 

Some examiners tend to be friendly and chatty and get the pupil to relax. Others tend to be more formal to allow the candidate to concentrate. The problem is you have no idea which examiner you will get. But also what is right for your pupil. 

 

Is there a performance dip when someone other than the instructor is sat with your pupil. 

 

Now it is not practical for your pupil to be out with different instructors all the time. But what you, the instructor can do, is adopt a different persona. You change your manner from friendly, banter loving instructor to that of a more formal demeanour. Would that affect your pupil. Or maybe the other way round if you are more formal with your instruction. 

 

Another alternative is having someone else in the car. It could be someone known to the pupil like their mum or dad. It could be someone known to you. Obviously you clear it with the pupil first. But the bottom line is can they cope with a different person sitting next to them. Does having someone new in the car produce a performance dip?

 

  1. Internal consistency. Will different parts of the test produce the same result. A driving test does not have the time to test all parts of the syllabus of learning to drive. So what will happen is the various test routes will test as much of the National Syllabus as geographically possible for that centre.

 

 

This will give rise to a variety of routes which if nothing else, will stop local people from being bothered by having the same area used all the time. Also this stops us from learning, then teaching a route parrot fashion.

 

Would your pupil fail if they got a certain maneuver. Would a dual carriageway or a narrow road cause your pupil problems. Have they covered enough of the syllabus. Or to put it simply, would your pupil pass or fail  with a different route and what does that mean for their safety when passed.

 

My favourite performance dip to look for here is lane changing. We are all aware of how they might slow down to let the car coming from behind get past. And before you know it they are travelling too slowly and are being overtaken and boxed in. Crossroads and large roundabouts all create the performance dip. It’s all about how they interact with the other road user.

 

Another performance dip is the concentration one. It seems that a lot of test fails come on the 30 minute mark. How many times does a pupil blow it at the last moment? But surely that means that their driving is not intuitive enough.

 

Validity:

 

 

  1. Construct: Does this conform to our knowledge and theory of what is being tested (driving safely). 

Highway Code

The Highway Code and Driving The Essential Skills will form the core of our knowledge of that. While an individual route may not cover everything. The Theory Test and its high pass mark will give it good coverage of The Syllabus.  

 

  1. Content. Does this cover all aspects that it should.

 

Stock Photo ID: 1127743439

 

Is all of The Syllabus from The DVSA covered. Clearly it can not for a huge range of reasons. What can not be tested on a practical driving test can be covered on The Theory Test. But knowing what to do in bad weather or the dark is not the same as showing what to do. 

 

Because of geographical and time restraints the range of the syllabus can not be covered. But the range of test routes an individual centre has along with the spread of them between examiners should go some way to meeting this requirement.

 

The test candidate will only be asked to do one manoeuvre but it is wise to know all four. We have no way of knowing which one of the four they will be doing. The same will go for all parts of the syllabus. 

 

  1. Criterion. Are there other valid measures of a person’s ability to drive.

 

 

What other ways could you test a person’s ability to drive. It’s a very practical skill for something that could be up to 3.5 tonne MAM and driven at up to 70 mph on a public road. Surely we should only let someone be able to do that if they can demonstrate the skill to do so safely. Hence licensing and testing. Which is then followed by enforcement.

 

The bottom line is that the driving test will stay pretty much the same as it has always been. The changes to it reflect the changes in society. If we can get our pupils over the performance dips they will stand an excellent chance of passing and being a safe driver.

 

These performance dips are:

 

As instructors we should certainly do our best to cover all of the syllabus. The question might be what can we take away from looking at a driving test this way:

© Liam Greaney

driving-pro.com

Everything you might want to know about Driving Tests, Theory Tests and Driving Instructors.

 

Click here.

“There’s a red car behind me, a good distance away, the vehicle approaching has a right signal on. There’s a warning for a sharp bend to the left with a side road on the right, my brake lights are on, slowing, slowing, slowing. It’s clear to take the right junction, nobody has followed me in, and I’m ok to accelerate”.

That was an example of commentary driving or, as it now seems to be more commonly named, spoken thought. It is proven to enhance concentration and alertness.

It’s a skill that many driving instructors have developed, and some of those ADIs recognise the benefit of encouraging learner drivers to talk out loud too.

But why does it work? Let’s look at the physiology of the brain to learn what’s going on.

Brain and its functions

The brain is zoned into areas that have specific functions. We know this by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or more specifically a specialised version of it known as functional MRI (fMRI).

Using fMRI, we can put a person in an MRI scanner, ask them to do certain things such as speak, listen to music, look at a picture etc, and then see which parts of the brain receive more blood flow. Thus, we can infer which parts of the brain are more active during certain activities. It’s quite fascinating to see parts of the brain light up on a screen.

Brain and its functions

The key to alertness is that we want to encourage multiple parts of the brain to be active at the same time: we want more of the “brain centres” to be used. And this is what commentary driving achieves.

We see something, for example, a road sign or a brake light, and then the visual cortex of the brain lights up.

If we then say out loud the name of the road sign, we recruit the memory and the speech parts of the brain too. Take it one stage further and say out loud what we intend to do in response to the sign, and we additionally made the problem-solving part of the brain spring into life.

The words that are spoken, then go back into the driver’s ears and, that’s the auditory cortex, or hearing centre, activated. More brain activity equals more alertness and concentration.

But what if we could find a way to illuminate even more regions of the brain: would that lead to even more increased concentration? The Japanese would agree that it does help, and they even have a specific word for it:

Shisa Kanko

指差喚呼

Translating as pointing and calling, the technique adds in deliberate arm movements, thus also involving the motor cortex of the brain. Initially developed for use on the Japanese railway system, it quickly migrated into building sites and hospitals as a way of improving safety through increasing awareness. And Shisa Kanko is also in use on the New York Subway system. See YouTube: Japan Points the Way to Better Safety.

So, is there any reason why the technique cannot be used to supplement the existing benefit of spoken thought? Clearly, large arm movements are not practical while operating a steering wheel, and it’s probably going to cause some pain if the driver accidentally pokes their finger at the windshield.

But the beauty of the technique is that the movement doesn’t need to be a big gesture to remain effective; simply raising a finger to point at a road sign while calling it out loud or pointing at the mirrors being checked before moving off or reversing is just as good, as it still brings the motor cortex to life. It may even be beneficial as part of pre-drive checks or cockpit drill.

Personally, I have been using Shisa Kanko in driving lessons for about four years and have found it very effective with learners who have ADHD and dyslexia. And it works like a dream when working out who has priority when turning right at those pesky confusing mini roundabouts!

Point: ‘you go’.

Point ‘you stay’.

The above article is from one of our members books.

Click here to see on Amazon

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has today (Wednesday 18 December 2024) set out a plan to reduce driving test waiting times.

The 7-point plan recognises that the government needs to take action to fix the driving test booking system and get new drivers on the road.

Stopping learner drivers being ripped off

Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, said:

Passing your driving test is a life changing opportunity for millions – but sky-high waiting times for tests in recent years have denied that opportunity to too many people.

No one should have to wait 6 months when they’re ready to pass, travel to the other side of the country to take a driving test or be ripped off by unscrupulous websites just because they can’t afford to wait.

The scale of the backlog we have inherited is huge, but today’s measures are a crucial step to tackle the long driving test wait times, protect learner drivers from being exploited, and support more people to hit the road.

1. Recruit and train 450 driving examiners

DVSA will recruit and train 450 driving examiners across Great Britain.

The jobs were advertised on the Civil Service jobs website in 2 phases in:

DVSA is continuing to recruit and is now training candidates who were successful during the first of these recruitment campaign. They will start doing driving tests over the coming months.

2. Review and improve the rules for booking driving tests

DVSA will review and improve the driving test booking system to make sure that learner drivers can book their driving test easily and efficiently.

To do this, DVSA will follow these steps:

  1. Launch a call for evidence about the current rules and processes, which DVSA has done today (18 December 2024).
  2. Analyse the evidence and develop proposals to improve the rules and booking system.
  3. Run a consultation on the proposed improved rules.
  4. Introduce the improved rules – changing the law if necessary.

This work will take time to complete, and it will take some time for learner drivers and driving instructors to see improvements. But it will help to make the system fairer for learners and better protect them from being exploited.

Your experience of booking and managing car driving tests

Share your experience and views of booking and managing car driving tests to help DVSA develop proposals to improve the rules and processes.

The call for evidence closes at 11:59pm on 11 February 2025.

Experience of booking and managing car driving tests.

3. Introduce tougher terms and conditions for the service driving instructors use to book and manage car driving tests for their pupils

DVSA will introduce a set of tougher terms and conditions for the service driving instructors use to book and manage driving tests for their pupils.

These new terms and conditions will come into force on 6 January 2025.

They set out that only driving instructors or businesses that employ driving instructors can use the service to book car driving tests.

The new terms and conditions make it clear that driving instructors and businesses must not book driving tests on behalf of learner drivers they are not teaching.

They also stop driving instructors and businesses from using a learner driver’s details to book a driving test that they have no intention of that particular learner driver using. This is sometimes done to create a placeholder so the test can be swapped to another learner driver later.

If anyone breaks the terms and conditions, DVSA can:

4. Consult on new proposals to increase the amount of time people have to wait to book another test in certain situations

DVSA will run a consultation on new proposals to increase the amount of time people have to wait to book another test if they either:

Learner drivers currently have to wait 10 working days before being able to book another test. The consultation, which will launch at a later date, will set out the full details of the potential options.

5. Increase the amount of notice you need to give to change or cancel a car driving test without losing the fee

DVSA will increase the amount of notice people need to give to change or cancel their car driving test without losing their fee to 10 clear working days.

It’s currently set at 3 clear working days. DVSA consulted on proposals to increase this in 2022.

This change will:

DVSA is working to bring in this change from spring 2025. The exact date has not yet been confirmed. DVSA will let learner drivers and driving instructors know when the date is confirmed.

Learner drivers will still be able to apply for a refund in cases such as illness or bereavement.

DVSA will continue to pay out-of-pocket expenses for any car driving tests it cancels with fewer than 3 clear working days’ notice while it conducts a review of its out-of-pocket expenses process.

6. Explore changing the current 24-week limit on how far ahead car driving tests can be booked

DVSA will explore ways of changing how far ahead car driving tests can be booked. This is currently set at 24 weeks.

Any changes DVSA makes will be made so it can better understand how many people want to take a driving test at each test centre.

7. Encourage learner drivers to be better prepared for their driving test through the ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign

DVSA will continue to run its ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign, which 95% of users rate as useful, to encourage learner drivers to take the right action to prepare for their driving test.

Research from DVSA shows that about 23% of learner drivers take their first attempt at the driving test within one month of starting driving lessons.

The campaign aims to change this behaviour, and focuses on helping learner drivers to:

It also encourages people who are not ready to pass to move their test back.

Reducing waiting times

The actions being taken will help DVSA to provide 1.95 million car driving tests between April 2024 and March 2025 and to reduce the waiting time to 7 weeks by December 2025

Both of these targets have been confirmed in the DVSA business plan for 2024 to 2025.

A message from Lilian Greenwood MP, Minister for Future of Roads

I wanted to tell you how excited I am to be working with you on our shared ambition to improve road safety in Great Britain.

Driving instructors are the unsung heroes of road safety. You patiently guide learner drivers through the complexities of driving, helping them to learn the skills and knowledge they will use for the rest of their lives.

Your expertise and dedication help make Great Britain’s roads among the safest in the world. Without your invaluable contribution, the roads would be far less safe for everyone.

Fixing things to get Britain moving
In recent years, your job has been made harder and more stressful by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. Things you rely on, like being able to book driving tests for your pupils when they are ready, have not been working.

That’s why when I started this job in July, I made it a priority for us to reduce driving test waiting times. Getting a driving licence is a passport to employment and opportunities for so many young people. It’s a vital part of our plan to increase living standards across every part of the country.

Today (Wednesday 18 December), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has set out a plan to do just that. You can read the details on the GOV.UK website.

We have also published our business plan for 2024/25 which includes targets to reduce car driving tests to 7 weeks by December 2025 and to provide 1.95 million car driving tests by March 2025.

I look forward to working with you all to make your working life easier while you train the next generation of drivers.
With your hard work, expertise, and support, I know we will get the job done.

Yours sincerely,

Lilian Greenwood MP

Minister for Future of Roads

Earlier in the year the DVSA published an updated list of the reasons why learner drivers fail their driving test in Great Britain.

They ran a webinar for approved driving instructors to go into the list in more detail and over 750 instructors join them for the webinar.

If you didn’t manage to join them on the day, they’ve today published a blog post from Amanda Lane and Graham O’Brien from the DVSA driver policy team who ran the session.

It gives an overview of the webinar and also answers some of the questions we weren’t able to cover on the day.

You can read the blog post on DVSA Despatch and also watch a recording of the webinar.

Lynne Barrie ADI, ORDIT trainer and ADINJC President:

DVSA carry out an annual ADI survey in order to help them understand the experiences of ADIs and the challenges they face, the survey is relevant in England, Scotland and Wales and is anonymous. Personally I think these type of surveys are useful for us all to learn from so it’s a shame that only 5,620 ADIs responded in 2024 when at the end of March 2024 there were 40,984 of us! Therefore only about 13.7% of all ADIs completed the survey. DVSA say that the data in the report has a confidence level of 99% within +/- 2 percentage points.

This means that if it was repeated with different samples of all ADIs, 99 times out of 100, the results would be within +/- 2 percentage points of the figures shown in this report.

I think its worth looking at some of the main results but you can also read the full results at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-as-a-driving-instructor-survey-2024-results/working-as-a-driving-instructor-survey-2024-results

Some interesting findings so you can compare yourself and consider any changes you may want to make:

1. Lesson prices are rising:

Nearly half of instructors now charge between £36 to £40 per hour. 16.4% charge between £41-£45 and 3.5% charge £46-£50 an hour. The south-west shows particularly interesting trends, with significantly higher rates than other regions. In 2023 the most common price charged was £31-£35 an hour.

2. More instructors can take on new pupils

Availability for lessons has increased since June 2023, 36.6% can take on new pupils, but with striking regional variations. London instructors are more than twice as likely to have space for new pupils compared to those in Scotland.

Also interesting is that 59.8% of ADIs spend at least 25 hours working each week. 23.4% work 35 hours or more a week.

3. Satisfaction with our work as ADIs

It seems we enjoy our work and think it’s rewarding as a career choice. Over 90% of instructors report feeling content in their role. 87.5% of ADI have this career as their main work. 66.2% feel they can strike a good work and life balance but 17.1% find that difficult. 61.8% of ADIs intend to continue in their role for at least another year and 62.9% for at least another 3 years.

4. The type of cars we teach in

I’m surprised that only 4.0% of those completing the survey used electric cars for tuition. 14.6% use a hybrid car whilst petrol cars accounted for 64% and diesel was 19.8%. Personally I thought the electric vehicles would have been higher.

5. Professional development shows clear benefits

61.6% of ADIs have done some form of CPD (continuing professional development) in the last 12 months and 67% believe they can access CPD when they want to.

DVSA believe there is a link between continuing professional development and instructor success. Those who invest in CPD are more likely to charge higher rates, with most reporting improved performance.

6. Physical health

When it comes to the above only 22.3% of ADIs rated this as very good which is concerning, 42.6% as good, 25.7% as fair and 7.2% as poor. Worth noting is that in the past 12 months many ADIs have suffered from musculoskeletal conditions which include conditions that affect joints, bones, muscles, or areas of the body (for example, back pain or neck pain). Its easy to see why that may be the case with our sedentary work so consider putting in some strategies to try to overcome it such as routine exercise, stretching exercises, exercise even if only a walk around the car between lessons and watching for weight gain which could aggravate these conditions as well. Otherwise seeking some medical guidance.

7. Mental health

Only 26.7% of ADIs considered this as very good and 38.4% as good. 26.7% of you have carer responsibilities as well as your ADI work. DVSA didn’t ask why ADIs mental health was poor but this could be money worries, physical health worries, stress from the work and dealing with the pupils and their parents or of course other underlying factors causing anxiety.

8. Driving test availability

Not surprisingly driving test waiting times emerged as the most frequently cited concern by ADIs, also one no doubt that is causing stress. The vast majority agreed they use the Ready2Pass campaign and find it useful.

Hopefully you will find this information of interest or even be able to use some of it to change some of your current work, i.e. the price you charge. We do very important work and should charge accordingly.

I would urge more of you to fill in the next survey in 2025.

New data reveals that Bexleyheath, Braintree, and Welwyn Garden City are among the UK areas with the highest percentage of drivers holding points on their licences, highlighting a concerning trend of traffic violations in commuter-heavy regions.

This is according to a new report by used car specialists, Available Car. Based on multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the DVLA and an analysis of full license holders across the UK by postal town, the report uncovers the extent of reckless driving.

In Bexleyheath, southeast London, over one in four drivers (26.80%) have points on their licence. As a busy commuter hub with dense traffic and a challenging road network, the pressures of city driving and increasing Low Emission Zone regulations may be contributing factors.

Similarly, commuter towns like Braintree and Hayes rank among the top five, with congestion, rush-hour traffic, and heavy vehicle volumes likely worsening driving infractions.

Rank

Postal Town

License Holders

Total Points

% who have points

1

Bexleyheath

7,291

1,954

26.80%

2

Braintree

12,390

2,277

18.38%

3

Welwyn Garden City

9,714

1,754

18.06%

4

Hayes

25,509

4,215

16.52%

5

Dunfermline

27,921

3,772

13.51%

6

Halifax

63,119

8,329

13.20%

7

Uxbridge

38,393

4,916

12.80%

8

Dereham

15,708

2,008

12.78%

9

Bridge of Orchy

40

5

12.50%

10

Chippenham

21,241

2,632

12.39%

Dunfermline, Scotland, also stands out with its proximity to Edinburgh. High volumes of through traffic combined with a mix of historic and modern roads may contribute to elevated points, alongside regional differences in enforcement practices.

As the Christmas season approaches and roads become busier, this data serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of safe driving to avoid adding to these statistics.

From being under the influence to careless and inconsiderate driving to operating an uninsured vehicle, there are several ways you could get points added to your licence.

As the festive season approaches, roads across the UK grow increasingly busy with people travelling to see loved ones, attend events, and complete last-minute shopping. This surge in traffic coincides with a rise in potential driving hazards, making safe driving more critical than ever.

In addition to postal towns, the report also exposes the regions with the most dangerous, law-breaking drivers.

While London holds the highest number of licence holders overall, including those with points, Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West, and the East Midlands surpass the capital in the percentage of drivers with points on their licences. These regions combined have almost 537,467 offenders holding points for unlawful road use in the UK.

Rank

Region

Licence Holders

Drivers with Points

% who have points 

1

Yorkshire and The Humber

2,152,506

178,108

8.27%

2

South West

2,326,389

175,894

7.56%

3

East Midlands

2,429,221

183,465

7.55%

4

London

4,432,561

307,345

6.93%

5

Wales

1,760,190

117,017

6.65%

6

West Midlands

2,782,579

184,933

6.65%

7

West Midlands

2,782,579

184,933

6.65%

8

North West

2,973,883

197,309

6.63%

9

South East

4,628,695

302,017

6.52%

10

North East

1,132,286

73,205

6.47%

Yorkshire and the Humber stands out as a region with a challenging driving environment, blending busy urban hubs like Leeds and Sheffield with rural roads and major motorways. The diversity of road types presents risks, from congestion-related issues in cities to speeding violations on quieter rural roads. The region’s weather—often foggy, wet, or snowy during winter—further compounds these risks, contributing to more accidents and licence points.

In contrast, Scotland boasts the UK’s safest drivers, with less than 5% of licence holders accumulating points. Argyllshire leads the way, where only 1,637 of the 38,735 registered drivers have points, setting a standard for responsible driving.

The research also revealed the most common driving offence across the UK is exceeding the statutory speed limit on a public road and, followed by exceeding the statutory speed limit on motorways and no insurance.

See the full research here: https://www.availablecar.com/news/britains-most-reckless-drivers/