More than half of MOT testers have now completed their annual training and assessment but DVSA is urging the rest to do so or face being suspended.
With just over a month to go until the 31 March deadline, DVSA figures show that 30,950 testers still need to complete the training and assessment. Last year, 1882 were suspended for failing to do so. This compares to 5538 suspensions in 2018.
Every year, all 63,000 MOT testers have to carry out training and assessment on set topics to make sure they are competent and safe to carry out MOTs.
DVSA Product Manager, Simon Smith said: “DVSA’s priority is to help everyone keep their vehicle safe to drive.
“Annual training and assessment is a vital part of continuous improvement to maintain high quality MOTs. Last year more testers than ever completed their training and assessment on time.
“But to avoid the last-minute rush, testers should record their training and assessment results well before 31 March. We’re really pleased with the improvement from last year and I’d like to thank all those testers who did so.”
Annual training and assessment was introduced in 2016 as a programme of continuous improvement for testers so they are well informed about the work they do and keep up to date with new technology and industry requirements.
If suspended from testing, testers will need to complete all next year’s topics and take a demonstration test to be able to return to testing. This will lead to a delay while they are waiting to take a demonstration test.
Testers need to do at least three hours of training each year and a total of 16 hours in five years.