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Driving Instruction: Recruitment

Asked by Neil O'BrienConservativeDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 20 November 2025UIN 91658

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new driving instructors have been hired since January 2015.

Answered by Simon Lightwood

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not employ driving instructors. By law, approved driving instructors (ADI) cannot work as examiners at the same time as being a registered instructor, even temporarily.

Whilst DVSA does not have the power to either increase or limit the number of ADI, the number of instructors on DVSA’s ADI register has increased in the last few years.

The attached spreadsheet shows the number and percentage of practical driving test bookings, where the initial test candidate’s driving licence number was subsequently changed to a different driving test candidate’s licence number, in each month since March 2025.

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