The DVSA runs theory and practical driving tests in Great Britain for cars, motorcycles, lorries, buses, coaches and specialist vehicles. It approves driving instructors and motorcycle trainers, approves MOT testers, carries out roadside checks on commercial drivers and vehicles, monitors vehicle recalls and approves Driver CPC training. It also supports the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain and the Northern Ireland transport regulator, and employs around 4,900 people. Northern Ireland is administered separately, so a school operating there works to different arrangements.
Charging for car lessons requires registration as an approved driving instructor. The route runs through three DVSA tests: Part 1 theory at £81, Part 2 driving ability at £111 and Part 3 instructional ability at £111. Parts 2 and 3 must be passed within two years of passing Part 1, otherwise the whole process restarts, and registration must follow within 12 months of qualifying. The first registration certificate costs £300. Registration then runs for four years, with renewal at £300 and a fresh DBS check. An instructor who has passed Part 2 can apply for a six month trainee licence at £140 to gain teaching experience before qualifying. Fees as published on GOV.UK, checked 6 September 2026.
An ADI usually takes a standards check every four years. DVSA also monitors a set of indicators, including pupils' driving test results, which can bring a check forward. A DVSA examiner observes a 45 minute client-centred lesson with a genuine pupil and marks 17 competencies across lesson planning, risk management, and teaching and learning skills. Each scores 0 to 3, giving 51 marks in total. A score of 43 to 51 is Grade A, 31 to 42 is Grade B, and 0 to 30 is a fail. Seven or fewer marks in risk management is an automatic fail, as is having the lesson stopped on safety grounds. A fail allows up to two further attempts. Three fails means removal from the register and retaking the qualifying tests. Failing to book or attend also leads to removal.
A car practical test costs £62 on weekdays and £75 in the evening, at weekends and on bank holidays, with anything from 4.30pm counting as an evening test. The car theory test is £23. Rates checked 6 September 2026. New car test appointments are released 24 weeks ahead at 6am each Monday, and cancellation slots appear at any time, with no waiting list. A car test can be moved twice before it has to be cancelled and rebooked at full price. Avoiding a second fee requires ten full working days' notice, counting Monday to Saturday and excluding Sundays and public holidays. Pupils must book their own car test, and DVSA states it is against the law to book one for someone else. Instructors cannot change, swap or cancel a pupil's car test. The separate instructor business service covers motorcycle, lorry, bus and ADI qualifying tests.
If your school runs to DVSA deadlines, check three things in a diary system. First, the test date should be a field on the pupil record in its own right, with an alert built on the DVSA working day rule of Monday to Saturday excluding Sundays and public holidays, so the ten working day mark surfaces while the fee can still be protected. Ask whether that reminder is a plain calendar countdown or a genuine working day calculation, because the two drift apart around bank holidays and the difference costs a test fee. Second, look closely at what any test finding or booking feature actually does. Pupils have to book and change their own car tests, so a system that offers to do it for them or that hunts cancellation slots automatically puts the school on the wrong side of the rules. Third, check for per instructor fields covering ADI number, certificate expiry, standards check due date and grade, plus pass rate reporting by instructor, since pupils' test results feed the indicators that can bring a standards check forward. A school with several instructors should be able to see every registration expiry on one screen.
Fees, scores and booking rules come from DVSA guidance on GOV.UK (become a car driving instructor, ADI standards check, driving test cost, change your driving test, and book and manage driving tests for your pupils), checked on 6 September 2026; DVSA revises fees and booking rules, so confirm any figure before relying on it.