Haroon Shabbeer Raja v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

1. This is an appeal against the decision of the Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors (“the Registrar”), dated 11 th August 2025, refusing the Appellant’s application for a third trainee licence.

2. I have been provided with a 22-page bundle for the purpose of this appeal, containing a number of documents, including the Notice of Appeal and the Appellant’s written representations which were made upon receipt of notification that the Registrar was considering refusing his application for a third licence.

3. The Appellant was granted two trainee licences by the Respondent, covering the period of 20 th June 2024 to 19 th June 2025. On 24 th June 2025, the Appellant applied for his third trainee licence.

4. On 9 th July 2025, the Registrar notified the Appellant by email that consideration was being given to refusing the application, and they were asked to make written representations in response within 14 days of the date of that email.

5. The Appellant responded with written representations on 15 th July 2025, stating that he had experienced difficulties in obtaining a Part 3 test date, and that he was the sole carer for his elderly, disabled mother, which had impacted upon his ability to manage certain administrative deadlines.

6. On 11 th August 2025, the Registrar gave the Appellant notice under section 129(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 that he was refusing his application for a second trainee licence. The following reasons were given for the Registrar’s refusal of the Appellant’s application for a second licence: (a) That although the Appellant has caring responsibilities, he would have been aware of this before starting the training process. (b) That he had already been granted two trainee licences of six months’ duration for the purpose of gaining sufficient experience to pass the final part of the ADI Qualifying Examination (i.e. Part 3). This is considered to be a more than adequate period of time in which to do this. (c) That it was not Parliament’s intention that candidates should be issued licences for as long as it takes them to pass the examination. (d) The trainee licence system must not be allowed to become an alternative to registration as a fully qualified Approved Driving Instructor.

7. The Appellant was informed in that notice that he may appeal against the decision to this Tribunal within 14 days from the date of that notification, and that if he did appeal it, his present licence would continue in force until the appeal is decided.

8. The Appellant’s reasons for his appeal are stated in his Notice of Appeal, dated 18 th August 2025, and are summarised as follows: (a) That he has completed over 40 hours of training for his Part 3 test. (b) That his Part 3 test which was booked for 4 th June 2025 was cancelled by the DVSA at short notice due to examiner unavailability and was rescheduled to 28 th July 2025. (c) Booking a test was extremely difficult and took him several months to secure the original date on 4 th June 2025. (d) As the sole care for his elderly, disabled mother, who requires full-time support due to severe mobility issues, his ability to meet some deadlines has been affected, but he has always remained committed to the profession. (e) That he has received excellent feedback from his pupils, many of whom have passed their driving tests on the first occasion, and his teaching is valued by the driving school owner.

9. In the Response to the appeal, dated 10 th December 2025, the Registrar reiterated the reasons for given in his Notice of 11 th August 2025 for refusing the application for a second trainee licence, and made the following additional submissions: (a) 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, providing 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. (b) By virtue of having applied for a third licence before the expiry of the first, that licence has remained in force to the present time and has permitted the Appellant to continue to give paid instruction until the determination of this appeal. (c) That the refusal of a second licence does not bar the Appellant from attempting the Part 3 test. He does not need to hold a trainee licence for that purpose, nor is it essential for him to give professional tuition under licence in order to obtain further training. By way of example, some trainees acquire registration without obtaining any licences at all, and it is open to an individual to attend a training course, or study or practise with an Approved Driving Instructor or give tuition on his own (provided that he does not receive payment of any kind for this). (d) Since passing his driving ability test, the Appellant has failed the instructional ability test (Part 3) twice and has cancelled two more such tests booked for 28 th June 2024 and 16 th December 2024. Regrettably, the DVSA cancelled one test booked for 4 th June 2024. However, despite ample time and opportunity, the Appellant has not been able to reach the required standard for qualification as an Approved Driving Instructor. Legal Framework

10. Section 123(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“ the Act ”) prohibits the giving of instruction paid for by, or in respect of, a pupil in the driving of a motor car, unless the instructor’s name is on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors or that person is the holder of a current licence issued under section 129(1) of the Act .

11. The circumstances in which a person may be granted a trainee licence are detailed within Section 129 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“ The Act ”), and the Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005 (“the Regulations”). The granting of a trainee licence permits applicants to provide instruction for payment before they are qualified and placed on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors. The granting of a trainee licence under section 129(1) of the Act is: “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.”

12. To qualify as an Approved Driving Instructor, applicants must pass the ‘Qualifying Examination’, comprised of three parts: the written examination (‘Part 1’); the driving ability and fitness test (‘Part 2’); and the instructional ability and fitness test (‘Part 3’).

13. The whole qualifying examination must be completed within two years of passing the Part 1 examination, and whilst there is no restriction on the number of attempts a candidate may take the Part 1 qualifying examination, Parts 2 and 3 permit only three attempts at each. Should an applicant fail to comply with these requirements, the entire examination would need to be retaken (i.e. Parts, 1, 2 and 3). However, they would not be permitted to retake any part of the examination until 2 years after the date when they passed their Part 1 examination – see Regulation 3(3) of the Regulations .

14. Upon passing Part 2, an applicant may be granted a trainee licence. The granting of a trainee licence permits applicants to provide driving instruction for payment before they are fully qualified and on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors ( s.123(1) of the Act ). It is possible to qualify as an Approved Driving Instructor without having held a trainee licence.

15. Section 129(3) of the Act permits the Registrar to “refuse to grant a licence under this section to an applicant to whom such a licence has previously been issued” . However, he must give written notice stating that he is considering the refusal of the application and give particulars of the grounds upon which he is considering this ( s.129(7) of the Act ). Once notice of this consideration has been given, section 129(8) (c) provides that: “before deciding whether or not to refuse the application, the Registrar must take into consideration any such representations made within that period.”

16. The period referred to within that section is a period of 14 days from the date when notice was given by the Registrar ( s.129(8) (a) of the Act ), and the Registrar is not permitted to decide to refuse the application for the licence until after this period has come to an end ( s.129(8) (b)).

17. Section 129(6) provides as follows: “Notwithstanding any provision of regulations made by virtue of subsection (5) above prescribing the period for which a licence is to be in force, where a person applies for a new licence in substitution for a licence held by him and current at the date of the application, the previous licence shall not expire– (a) until the commencement of the new licence, or (b) if the Registrar decides to refuse the application, until the time limited for an appeal under the following provisions of this Part of this Act against the decision has expired and, if such an appeal is duly brought, it is finally disposed of.”

18. The Appellant’s right of appeal and the powers of the Tribunal to determine this appeal are set out within s.131 of the Act . The Tribunal may make such an order as it thinks fit.

19. When making its decision, the Tribunal stands in the shoes of the Registrar and takes a fresh decision on the evidence available to it, giving appropriate weight to the Registrar’s decision as the person tasked by Parliament with making such decisions.

20. It is for the Appellant to show, on the balance of probabilities, that the Respondent’s decision was wrong. The Appeal Hearing

21. The Appellant gave evidence at the hearing in which he confirmed the reasons for having cancelled his two previous Part 3 test dates on 28 th June 2024 and 16 th December 2024. He stated that the first test he cancelled was as a result of his trainer not having availability to complete the required forty hours of training with him before that test date. In relation to the second test he cancelled, he explained that his mother, who is registered disabled and for whom he is the primary carer, had been waiting for some four months for a physiotherapy appointment at the hospital, and this clashed with his test date. He didn’t feel that he could or should cancel the appointment for his mother in these circumstances, and so he felt that he had no option but to cancel his test date. In terms of who else might have been in a position to assist him with the care of his mother on that second occasion, he referred to his younger brother, who will sometimes be able to help, but that he lives somewhere else and is therefore not always able do so.

22. The Appellant confirmed that he had managed to take two Part 3 tests, but that unfortunately he had been unsuccessful on both occasions. In-between those two tests, he explained that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) had cancelled a scheduled test on 4 th June 2025 due to a shortage in examiners. This concerned him as his second trainee licence was due to expire at the end of that month. Following the expiry of his second trainee licence, the Appellant explained that the DVSA placed a lock on his account which prevented him from book any further Part 3 tests. He states that he paid £140 to remove the lock on his account, and that since failing his second attempt at the Part 3 test on 28 th July 2025, he has struggled to secure another test date, having been looking 5 or 6 times per day since then. He confirmed that he has not been placed on a waiting list for a Part 3 test. He explained that he hasn’t been able to work since his trainee licence expired, and that he has had to sell his car to make ends meet. This was the same car that he was using to provide instruction with, and he states that this had made things financially difficult for him, as he has no other source of income. Discussion and Conclusions

23. As the Appellant did not make an application for a third trainee licence until 24 th June 2025, section 129(6) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 does not apply. That provision stipulates that a currently held licence will not expire until the appeal is finally disposed of, but this will only be the case where the Registrar has refused an application for a new licence and that application was made before the expiry of the currently held licence. In the Appellant’s case, his application for a third trainee licence was made on 24 th June 2025, but his second trainee licence expired on 19 th June 2025. This late application has therefore deprived him of this appeal right, and it was therefore unlawful for him to receive payment for any instruction he gives to a pupil from the date that his licence expired. Although it was submitted by the Respondent that the Appellant’s licence has continued to run until the determination of this appeal, for the reasons I have set out, this is not the case.

24. It is a common theme that it is sometimes taking longer to secure a Part 3 test date than trainee licence holders would hope for. However, as is submitted by the Respondent, it was not Parliament’s intention that candidates should be given licences for as long as it takes them to pass the examination. Although the Appellant effectively suggests that he has been hindered to a degree by the lack of available test dates, he has in fact managed to secure four Part 3 test dates within the currency of his first and second trainee licences, though it is acknowledged that one of those tests was cancelled by the DVSA. As he accepts, he cancelled two of those test dates himself, the first of which he admits that he was not ready for because his instructor did not have sufficient time before that test to adequately train him. It would perhaps have been open to him to engage with an alternative trainer in these circumstances. Whilst I sympathise with his need to provide care for his mother, he has known about her issues since before he commenced his journey to become an Approved Driving Instructor, and in the absence of any documentary evidence which shows that he has either not been provided with sufficient number of pupils by his driving school, or alternatively, that he has been unable to train sufficiently for some other good reason which he could not have anticipated, it is hard to accept that he has not had long enough to gain sufficient practical training to prepare him for the Part 3 test. Although it is unclear what the reasons were for granting him a second trainee licence, it is undoubtedly the case that the Registrar did so to give him a further opportunity to gain sufficient practical training. However, despite it being a common misunderstanding, it is not the case that individuals are entitled to the continual renewal of trainee licences until they pass their Part 3 test. The six-month period of such licences is set on the basis that this is an adequate period to prepare for the Part 3 assessment, as it is not necessary to hold a trainee licence in order to either prepare for or take the Part 3 test. It is submitted by the Respondent that six months is a very reasonable period within which to reach the qualifying standard in the examination, and in particular, to obtain any necessary practical experience in tuition. The Appellant has had the benefit of a full 12 months in which to gain practical experience.

25. The Appellant is not restricted in being able to take his final attempt at the Part 3 test without a current trainee licence. He must take the test before the expiry of the two-year period which began to run from the date that he passed his Part 1 test, however, which was 27 th March 2024. He therefore has until 27 th March 2026 to do this. Should he take that test, he will either be placed on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors, should he be successful, or alternatively, should he fail the test or not take the test within the permitted timeframe, he will then be required to begin the entire examination process again, staring with the Part 1 test. However, he would not be permitted to do so until after 27 th March 2026.

26. For the reasons I have set out above, I am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the Registrar was wrong in deciding not to grant the Appellant’s application for a third trainee licence in the circumstances of this case.

27. The Appeal is dismissed. Signed: Date: Judge Armstrong-Holmes 22 nd January 2026