Learner drivers looking for a good instructor to choose could soon base their choice on public rankings of the UK’s 40,000 driving instructors.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has expressed concerns over the current standards of driving tuition. In response, its considering making Ofsted-style ratings for registered driving instructors accessible to the public so that learner drivers can avoid teachers deemed to be of poor quality.
Recent statistics from the DVSA say that nowadays, less than half of all driving tests are passed and some students end up retaking their test more than thirty times.
Last year, just 48.6 per cent of all driving tests were passed, which is 0.4 per cent less than the year before. One learner driver in Liverpool took 39 attempts to pass their driving test last year, while two others in Weston-Super-Mare required 36 attempts.
The DVSA says that the disappointing stats are partly to blame on poor quality driving instructors. While the DVSA perform regular assessments on driving instructors, only 30 per cent achieve the organisation’s highest possible ranking.
Driving instructors are currently not obliged to report their assessment scores to students and just three per cent do so voluntarily. But in an interview with The Times, the DVSA’s chief executive, Gareth Llewellyn, said that more driving instructors should share their rankings publicly, otherwise the DVSA will publicly share the information for them.
