NEWS ADI Check Test to be replaced The familiar Check Test will be replaced next year for a new Standards Check. THE approved driving instructor check test will be replaced with a new ‘standards check’ from April 2014. The DSA published the ‘National standard for driver and rider training’ in 2011, setting out the skills, knowledge and understanding that you need to be an effective trainer. The new check test will assess how well you meet the standard, which is why it’s being called a ‘standards check’. New standards check The examiner assesses whether your instruction helps a person learn in an effective way. So the examiner observing you giving a normal lesson to a real pupil. There will be a new form, which will have 3 assessment areas: • Lesson planning • Risk management • Teaching and learning strategies The form will give you clear and specific feedback about your strengths and areas where you can develop your competence. Booking standards checks The proposed consultation on modernising driver training will ask for views on making the standards check booking process fairer. Options include: • An online booking facility • Whether you should pay a separate fee for the standards check A separate fee would be in line with the government’s ‘user pays’ principle. It would split the single registration fee into separate fees – one when you register, and one when you book the standards check. THE INSTRUCTOR l Fire stations to host driving tests Practical driving tests from fire stations have been approved. IT WAS confirmed by Road Safety Minister, Stephen Hammond, on Saturday 16th March that fire stations will begin to host driving tests. The driving tests will be available from the Salford fire station in Greater Manchester every Tuesday and Thursday from 16 April. A number of other fire stations in the Manchester area could also offer tests in the future. All tests will be conducted by Driving Standards Agency (DSA) examiners. The move is part of an initiative to offer a more local service for driving test candidates. As well as using conventional test centres, DSA is working with public and private sector partners to provide driving tests in areas that don’t have a local test centre. Practical driving tests are already available from some branches of Halfords, and earlier this month Nottingham Trent University also started hosting tests. Stephen Hammond said: “By working alongside Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) the Driving Standards Agency is ensuring people taking their driving test have access to a more convenient option. This partnership is a great example of how the public sector can work together to reduce costs and provide a better service.” Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: “This is a really exciting partnership as GMFRS is the first fire service in the country to see its stations host driving tests. It’s an example of the Service’s innovative approach to road safety, because firefighters are called to road traffic collisions to cut people from the wreckage of cars and sadly many of them involve young drivers.” www.ukdic.co.uk