Anthony Basden v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

The appeal is ALLOWED.

The hearing was conducted by a Judge, sitting alone, and was determined on consideration of the papers alone. In his Notice of Appeal, the Appellant had ticked a box to indicate that he wanted his appeal to be decided without a hearing.

This appeal is from a trainee driving instructor who was granted a trainee licence under s.129 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“the Act”) and was then refused a further licence at the end of the six months’ period. A licence under s.129(1) is granted “for the purpose of enabling a person to acquire practical experience in giving instruction in driving motor cars with a view to undergoing such part of the examination as consists of a practical test of ability and fitness to instruct”.

The circumstances in which trainee licences may be granted are set out in s.129 of the Act and in the Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005 (“the Regulations”). In order to qualify as an approved driving instructor an applicant must pass the qualifying examination, which is in three parts: the written examination; the driving ability and fitness test; and the instructional ability and fitness test (see reg.3(2)). Each part must be passed in the stated order and before the next part is attempted. Three attempts at each part are permitted but the whole examination must be completed within two years of passing the written examination (but subject to reg.3(4)(c) which permits a further attempt at the Part Three test outside the period if the booking was made within it). Failure so to complete requires the whole examination to be retaken. A trainee licence may be granted under s.129 of the Act once the driving ability and fitness test has been passed. The holding of a trainee licence is not a prerequisite to qualification; on the contrary, many applicants qualify without having held such a licence.

It is self-evident that the grant of a trainee licence enables applicants to instruct for payment before they are qualified. The Appellant did so and failed to pass the instructional ability and fitness test within the six months’ period. The Appellant applied for a further licence prior to the end of this period and by s.129(6) of the Act “where a person applies for a new licence in substitution for a licence held by him and current at the date of application, the previous licence shall not expire until an appeal is finally disposed of”. The effect of this is that the Appellant has been able to continue to instruct under his licence, despite the expiry dates. Of course, if prior to disposal of the appeal he passes the instructional ability and fitness test, he then ceases to be a trainee and is no longer eligible for a further trainee licence. If on the other hand he fails this test after three attempts, the appeal is itself also bound to fail since by reg.13(2)(d) of the Regulations a further trainee licence may not be granted if the instructional ability and fitness test has been failed “more than twice”.

When the Appellant applied for a trainee licence he signed an application form, which included a declaration that he had read the Department’s booklet ADI 14. This booklet contained the following advice:

“If you are not using the licence for any reason, you should return it to us. Although you will not receive a refund for lost training time, we will know that you have not had full use of the licence, and this will be a factor in deciding whether to issue a subsequent licence.”

The Registrar gave the following general reasons for refusal:

“(i)

The purpose of the provisions governing the issue of licences is to afford applicants the opportunity of giving instruction to members of the public whilst endeavouring to achieve registration. The system of issuing licences is not and must not be allowed to become an alternative to the system of registration.

(ii)

The licence granted to applicants is not to enable the instructor to teach for however long it takes to pass the examinations, but to allow up to six months experience of instruction. This provides a very reasonable period in which to reach the qualifying standard in the examination and, in particular, to obtain any necessary practical experience in tuition. Moreover, by virtue of the Appellant having applied for a second licence before the expiry date of the first, that licence has remained in force to the present time and will allow him to continue to give paid instruction until determination of the appeal.”

In addition, the Registrar added further reasons which were specific to the individual case. Those discrete reasons are set out in below:-

A licence was granted to the Appellant under section 129 of the Act for the purposes of enabling him to undergo the examination of his ability to give instruction in the driving of motor cars and was valid from 5 August 2024 to 4 February 2025. On 28 January 2025 the Registrar received an application from the Appellant for a second licence. Following notification to the Appellant that the Registrar was considering the refusal of his application for the second licence, the Appellant made representations to the Registrar. After considering those representations, the Registrar decided to refuse the application and notified the Appellant of that decision by way of correspondence dated 19 February 2025. The Appellant has appealed against the decision dated 19 February 2025.

In the Statement of Case the Registrar has set out the reasons for the refusal of the application. These included the general reasons set out in paragraph 5 and the following reasons specific to this Appellant:

I have a copy of the DSA print-out, which shows that the Appellant failed the Part III test on 30 April 2025.

In his notice of appeal, the Appellant made the following submissions:

As stated by the Appellant attached a number of items of evidence in support of his written submissions.

The submissions made by the Appellant in his Notice of Appeal reflect parallel submissions made by him in his written representations to the Registrar.

The reference to the Appellant not complying with the conditions of her first licence is connected to the condition set out in regulation 15(3) of the Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005, as amended. Regulation 15(3) provides:

As was noted above, the Appellant has already had the advantage of a trainee licence which gave him a period of six months during which he has had the opportunity to giving instruction to members of the public whilst endeavouring to achieve registration. I have noted the Registrar’s submission that this provides a very reasonable period in which to reach the qualifying standard in the examination and, in particular, to obtain any necessary practical experience in tuition.Moreover, by virtue of the Appellant having applied for a second licence before the expiry date of the first, that licence has remained in force to the present time and will allow him to continue to give paid instruction until determination of the appeal. Accordingly, as at the date of this decision the Appellant has had the benefit of a Trainee Licence for 10 months.

Nonetheless, I accept that the Appellant has had difficult issues which have impacted on his ability to undertake training and prepare for the instructional and ability test. Although not required, there is further evidence to corroborate what he has said in his Notice of Appeal, including confirmation of the problems which he had with his car, his trainer’s illness which impacted on his ability to undertake training and his family circumstances.

Further, I have noted his stated commitment to the pursuit of a profession career in the provision of driving instruction and have noted that he made efforts to undertake the required training by engaging another trainer.

In these circumstances, and on balance, I am prepared to ALLOW the appeal.