Newslink December final

For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com
Ready to Pass
The DVSA’s Ready to Pass campaign was
praised for raising awareness of the standard
candidates needed to reach for their test, but
Carly Brookfield suggested a follow-up
campaign was needed to highlight the
problems created by failing to appear for
tests and using third party booking apps -
even going as far as suggesting that learners
could be sanctioned for failing to attend
numerous times, perhaps by not allowing
them to book a test for a period.
“We need a tough and direct message to
get out there, to stop people paying over the
odds by booking tests through apps...
perhaps we need to block people out of the
system if they ‘fail to appear’ for tests several
times,” suggested Carly.
The clear problem was those running the
bots were several steps ahead of the DVSA;
“it’s a sad fact that the digital criminals are
always ahead of the rest of society.”
Mike Yeoman said his area of Hull was
constantly receiving requests for lessons
from people outside the area, and such
moves were undermining the business model
of being able to book L-tests.
Focus on L-tests
Switching all warrant card-holding staff to
cover L-tests had led to the cancellation of
many Part 3 tests, ORDIT assessments and
Standards Checks. On the latter, only those
ADIs who had previously failed a Standard
Check, or whose pupils’ test performances
were causing concern, would now receive one
for the time being, and it was highly unlikely
that any other Standards Checks would take
place before the start of April.
The same was true of ORDIT assessments,
but anyone whose ORDIT registration was
due to lapse needn’t worry, as this pause in
activity would not lead to them losing their
position on the ORDIT register.
One online participant asked the NASP
representatives if they considered the
Standards Check and ADI Part 3 exam old
fashioned and entirely in keeping with the
modern demands placed on an ADI. NASP
agreed it seemed dated, and the DVSA was
concerned about the quality of training some
new PDIs were receiving. Unfortunately the
current situation meant it was impossible to
do anything about it: any reforms of the
system had been placed on the backburner as
the DVSA sought to tackle test waiting times.
TIP initiative
The DVSA’s Test Information Programme
(TIP) was reaping some benefits: it was
becoming clear that a small number of ADIs
were bringing learners to test who were not
up to the standard, with Lynne Barrie saying
that there were some ADIs with a 90 per cent
test failure rate. These instructors were now
being identified, and would receive a
Standards Check.
However, NASP still believed that the
timing for bringing in TIP was poor, given
L-test waiting times. While it was easy for
the DVSA to say learners shouldn’t have a
test unless they were clearly ready to pass, it
was difficult to convince a pupil to cancel a
test when they knew the waiting time at
their local DTC was as high as five months.
The DVSA has tweaked the parameters on
the TIP after pressure from NASP, and fewer
ADIs were now falling into the ‘concern’
category over their pupils’ L-test
performance. The number of ADIs in this
category had fallen from 10,000 – a quarter
of the Register – to 4,000. NASP would
continue to keep a sharp eye on how TIP was
working.
Testing and training reforms
There was a certain amount of frustration
creeping in to NASP’s conversations with the
DVSA over reforms to its tests and processes.
Continued on page 16
NEWSLINK n DECEMBER 2023 15