Paul Hooper v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors [2026] UKFTT 1142 (GRC)

[2026] UKFTT 01142 (GRC)Case Reference: FT/D/2026/0306
First-tier Tribunal
General Regulatory Chamber
Hearing Heard on: 22 July 2026Date 13 August 2026
Transport
Before
TRIBUNAL JUDGE KENNETH MULLAN
Between
PAUL HOOPERAppellantREGISTRAR OF APPROVED DRIVING INSTRUCTORSRespondentDetermined on consideration of the papers alone for AppellantDetermined on consideration of the papers alone for RespondentDecision: The appeal is REFUSED

Decision

[1]The appeal is REFUSED. MODE OF HEARING[2]The proceedings were held using CVP. The tribunal was satisfied that it was fair and just to conduct the hearing this way.[3]The hearing was conducted by a Judge, sitting alone. The Tribunal was satisfied that it was appropriate to conduct the hearing in this way.[4]The Appellant did not participate in the remote oral hearing. In section 10 of his Notice of Appeal, the Appellant ticked a box to indicate that he wanted his appeal to be heard without a hearing. There was no representative from the office of the Registrar.

BACKGROUND

[5]This appeal is from a trainee driving instructor who was granted two trainee licences under s.129 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“the Act”) and was then refused a further licence at the end of the twelve 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”.[2]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.[3]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 twelve 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”.[4]I am aware that when applicants apply for a trainee licence, they sign an application form, which includes a declaration that they have read the Department’s ‘Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) Register Guide’, which is available online. This Guide contains the following advice:
“Tell DVSA if you stop using your trainee licence. This will count in your favour if you need to apply for another licence.”
[5]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. (iii) The Appellant has already had two trainee licences which cover a period of 12 months. Moreover, by virtue of the Appellant having applied for a third licence before the expiry date of the second, 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;”
[6]In addition, the Registrar added further reasons which were specific to the individual case. Those discrete reasons are set out in below[7]Two licences were 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 were valid from 17 March 2025 to 16 March 2026. On 18 February 2026 the Registrar received an application from the Appellant for a third licence. Following notification to the Appellant that the Registrar was considering the refusal of his application for the third 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 12 March 2026. The Appellant has appealed against the decision dated 12 March 2026.[8]In his notice of appeal, the Appellant indicated that he did not wish to attend the oral hearing of his appeal but wished the Tribunal to consider the appeal on the papers alone.[9]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: - Since passing his driving ability test the Appellant has failed the instructional ability test once on 17 December 2025 and a further test on 11 May 2026 is marked as non-completed. Despite ample time and opportunity the Appellant has not been able to reach the required standard for qualification as an Approved Driving Instructor; and - The refusal of a third licence does not bar the Appellant from attempting the instructional ability test of the Register examinations. He does not need to hold a licence for that purpose, nor is it essential for him to give professional tuition under licence in order to obtain further training. The Appellant could attend a training course, or study and practice with an Approved Driving Instructor or give tuition on his own (provided that he does not receive payment of any kind for this). These alternatives are used by some trainees who acquire registration without obtaining any licences at all.[10]I have a copy of the DSA print-out, which shows that the Appellant failed the Part III test on 17 December 2025 and that another test on 11 May 2026 is marked as non-completed. The Appellant had booked a second attempt at the instructional ability test for 6 August 2026, but the outcome of that test is not known.[11]In his notice of appeal, the Appellant made the following submissions:
‘I believe the decision to extend my trainee licence is unfair and unjust due to the time that it is taken to get a date for my first part 3 exam and subsequently my second attempt at part 3. I unfortunately was not successful at my first attempt but we are allowed three attempts to pass. After I was successful in my Part 2 exam I then carried out the rest of my training in a timely manner online and with my mentor to allow me to then book the first attempt at part 3. I booked and paid for this online on the 11th of June 2025. As no date was available it was put ‘on hold’
. I then in due course received a date of 17th of December 2025 so almost six months away. This was out of my control and I had no say on the date. Unfortunately I was not successful on my first attempt. The following day 18th of December 2025 I went online and booked and paid for my second attempt. Again no date was available so it was put ‘on hold’ again until I eventually got a date of May 11th 2026. So the time between my first attempt and the date of attempt to is five months. Again I had no control or say over the date. So as you can see it will be 11 months since I first applied for the test up until my 2nd attempt. This has had an impact on the validity of my Trainee Licence which are only valid for six months. I have not had a shortage of pupils since my franchise started and giving lessons and coaching from my mentor has been done in a timely manner. I was unsuccessful in my first attempt and feel that if my appeal is not granted and my trainee licence is not extended I will not get to take my second attempt and have subsequently needed my 3rd attempt. People fail for all sorts of reasons and should not be penalised for it. You will be aware of the current backlog of PDI test exam dates which is beyond our control and is not unique to just myself but it's affecting most PDI’s at the moment. Indeed throughout the process we were sent emails and messages stating that unless our theory was running out very shortly (mine was not) we could not call PAD/DVLA to try and get an earlier test date, so as stated earlier the test dates were beyond our control. Just to reiterate finally yes this will be a third licence extension but as stated I believe I have carried out everything in a timely manner and the backlog of test dates I believe has been a major contributing factor as to my present position’[12]In section 9 of his notice of appeal, which is headed ‘Outcome of Appeal’ the Appellant stated:
‘In light of the progress I have made toward my full qualification I respectfully ask for a reconsideration of this extension. Denying this request would not only halt my professional development but would also result in significant hardship after the substantial time and resources I have invested in my training. I am fully prepared to complete my final qualifying examinations within the requested period and am committed to upholding the high standards of a driving professional. Thank you for your time and for considering the merits of my appeal.’
[13]The submissions made by the Appellant in his notice of appeal reflect parallel submissions made by him in his written representations to the Registrar. REASONS[14]As at the date of this decision the Appellant had had the benefit of a Trainee Licence for 16 months. In my judgment he has now had more than enough time in which to gain practical experience in giving instruction.[15]The Appellant has not provided any evidence to corroborate his assertion that he has not been able to make bookings for the Part III test. He has stated that he (and other trainee licence holders) had been informed that unless ‘our theory was running out very shortly’, they should not call to attempt to get an earlier test date. He has not provided any documentary evidence to support this assertion.[16]In his written representations to the Registrar and in his notice of appeal, the Appellant has referred to the booking for his second attempt at the Part III examination on 11 May 2026. As noted above, in the Appellant’s DVSA record, the result of the test on that date is marked as ‘non-completed’. There is no reason proffered for that entry and no evidence that the Appellant contacted the office of the registrar to indicate an outcome.[17]I have also noted that the Appellant made a further booking for the Part III examination on 6 August 2026. Once again, I have no record of the outcome of that test if it did, in fact, take place.[18]As such, the Appellant has obtained bookings for the Part III examination since the expiry of his second trainee licence, which, to an extent goes against his assertion of non-availability of Part III appointments.[19]The Appellant has submitted that he has not had ‘… a shortage of pupils since my franchise started’ and that ‘… giving lessons … has been done in a timely manner.’ He has also asserted that refusal of a third trainee licence would ‘… result in significant hardship after the substantial time and resources I have invested in my training.’ In this regard, the Appellant should note that a trainee licence is not granted for the purpose of earning an income but to allow a reasonable period of six months at a time within which to gain experience of tuition in order to prepare for the Part III examination.[20]As was noted by the Registrar, the refusal of a second licence does not bar the Appellant from attempting the instructional ability test of the Register examinations. He does not need to hold a licence for that purpose, nor is it essential for him to give professional tuition under licence in order to obtain further training. The Appellant could attend a training course, or study and practice with an Approved Driving Instructor or give tuition on his own (provided that he does not receive payment of any kind for this). These alternatives are used by some trainees who acquire registration without obtaining any licences at all.[21]As noted above, I am aware that when applicants apply for a trainee licence, they sign an application form, which includes a declaration that they have read the Department’s ‘Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) Register Guide’, which is available online. This Guide contains the following advice:
“Tell DVSA if you stop using your trainee licence. This will count in your favour if you need to apply for another licence.”
[22]The Appellant chose not to return his licence.[23]I have given credit to the Appellant for his stated commitment to a career as a professional ADI.[24]I uphold the Registrar’s decision and accept and endorse the reasons given for that decision by the Registrar as set out in the Statement of Case. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed with immediate effect. Kenneth Mullan Judge of the Upper Tribunal 7 August 2026