Newslink April marketing special

News
Big fall in pass rates when no duals involved
During Conference a delegate put the
following question to the DVSA: ‘Do
candidates fare better or worse on their
L-test if they take it in their own car, without
dual controls being present?’
The suggestion back was to “put an FOI in,
and find out.”
So Newslink did... read on for the answer!
In recent months there has been a lot of
debate around candidates taking their L-test
in their own cars, and as a consequence,
taking it without dual controls being present.
In particular ADIs have wondered whether
taking a test in a non-ADI car impacts on the
pass rate. Are examiners less inclined to pass
a candidate without duals being present, or is
the act of taking a test without your
instructor being involved likely to lend itself
to a greater chance of a fail – or a pass?
This has become an increasingly important
question as more and more learners,
desperate to obtain an L-test slot, have
booked tests without first checking with
their ADI that they are available on the day
and at the time in question – or whether they
are ready to take their test.
In addition, some ADIs have refused to
accompany their pupils on tests when they
think they are clearly not ready, particularly if
they feel a bad fail could impact on their TIP
score.
So, do candidates fare better in their own
cars, without duals, or does it make no
difference to overall pass rates?
We asked the DVSA, and the answer is,
yes, it does make a difference – and a quite
sizeable one at that.
We asked the DVSA ‘How many candidates
took their driving test (L-test) in a car which
did not have dual controls fitted, from
September 2023-February 2024.’
The answer may surprise you, as it is a lot;
in fact during that period 165,403 people
took tests in cars without dual controls.
We estimate that that period saw around
900,000 L-tests being conducted, so ‘own
car tests’ amounted to just under 20 per cent
of the vehicles used. That is a far higher
proportion than previously; in many years
‘own car’ tests made up far fewer than 10 per
cent of the whole.
And now the $64m question: how did they
do? The answer is... pretty badly!
At present the pass rate for the L-test as a
whole is reasonably high, at around 48.6%.
But for those taking a test in a vehicle
without dual controls, the pass rate is 42.6%
– that’s a drop of just over 12 per cent.
Impact on L-test waiting times
To put that in context, if candidates could
take their test only in an ADI’s car with duals
fitted, and the pass rates stayed the same,
based on 1.8 million tests a year, 10,000 more
people would pass the L-test every six
months. That would reduce the number of
candidates on the L-test waiting list by a
minimum of 20,000 a year.
Why a minimum? Because we are
assuming that every failure only takes one
more test; but as we all know, some
candidates will take multiple goes before
leaving the L-test scene with a pass.
So there we have it: if the DVSA stopped all
tests without dual controls, logic tells us we
would immediately reduce the waiting list by
at least 20,000 in a year. Over to you, DVSA.
For more on the DVSA at the MSA GB
Conference, see page 14
Peggy Hutchins: A titan of the Taunton ADI scene
Colin Lilly
Editor,
Newslink
As this issue of Newslink was being prepared
for publication, I heard the sad news of the
passing of a former MSA GB Member of the
Year, Peggy Hutchins.
Peggy was a formidable character who
was Chairman of the local Taunton
Association of Driving Instructors. She was
respected by her fellow instructors, the then
Driving Standards Agency and local authority
road safety officers.
She set up many young driver courses in
local schools supporting local trainers. One of
her proteges was Arthur Mynott, himself a
past MSA GB Member of the Year and
currently West Coast and Wales Chairman.
She always promoted the MSA GB to every
instructor she met, and highlighted the value
of being a member. It was in recognition of
her work for the association and driver
training in Somerset that she was named as
our Member of the Year in 2000.
In recent years she had been affected by
the conditions of old age and had been living
quietly in a nursing home where she passed
away on 30th March.
I am sure that many established driver
trainers in the Taunton area, her countless
former pupils and past and present members
of the MSA GB regional committee, of which
she was once the Deputy Chairman, will have
many fond memories of Peggy.
A celebration of her life will be held at
Taunton Deane Crematorium on Friday, 19th
April at 11.20am.
A true stalwart of the profession and of
this association: thank you, Peggy.
Rest in peace
14 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024