The Driving Skills Test will be carried out from the Staniforth Road Licensing Office. For information about the test please telephone the number stated on this page.
Booking your test
Tests can only be booked in person at the office on Staniforth Road. The fee must be paid at the time of booking and the Theory/Knowledge Test receipt or results letter must be shown.
Candidates wishing to postpone or cancel a test must give at least 3 full working days' notice, this excludes weekends and bank holidays (NB cash refunds are not available). The fee will be forfeited if insufficient notice is given. Only one test may be booked at any one time. A subsequent test may only be booked when the result of the previous test in known. If there is fog, ice, snow or high winds on the day of the test, please telephone us to ensure that your test will still be conducted.
The test will last for about one hour and the candidate will be expected to be capable of reading a number plate at the prescribed distance (Class 2 requirements, ie bus or lorry) prior to taking the test.
Vehicle for the test
Candidates must provide their own vehicle for the test. This must be an ordinary, roadworthy vehicle with a manual transmission, unless they hold an automatic driving licence only or have a disability that prevents them driving manual vehicles.
Please note that in this case you will be issued a certificate, stating automatics only, and not covered for driving manual transmission taxis (the car must be up to MOT standard ). Please note – no repairs to the car will be allowed if the car is not up to standard at the time of the test. A car covered by a hire agreement from a commercial company is not a suitable vehicle for use in the Taxi Driving Skills Test.
The car presented at the time of the test must be used on the test.
Candidates must not take their test in a car that is plated (ie Private Hire) unless they hold and can produce a valid Private Hire/Hackney Licence from the same authority which issued the plate.
When you take your test
Candidates must produce their full driving licence at the time of the test, for holders of photo-card licences both parts must be presented. This must show the correct postal address and be signed in ink.
At the time of the test candidates must also produce 3 recent identical passport sized photographs.
If head restraints are standard on the vehicle that the candidate is going to use, they must not have been removed.
Failure to comply with any of the above will result in the test not being conducted and your fee will be forfeited.
Important
It is in the interest of the candidate to ascertain that the car they intend to use is insured for the purpose of taking the Taxi/Private Hire test as they will be required to sign a document to that effect. The candidate must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the examiner a safe, yet progressive style of driving within the law and prevailing conditions having regard for the safety, welfare, convenience and comfort of other road users and passengers carried. All assessments will include any 3 of the following manoeuvres: Emergency Stop, Left Hand Reverse, Right Hand Reverse, Turn in The Road, Reverse Park. He/she must show an above average knowledge of the principles of good driving, road safety and prove that this knowledge can be applied in practice. Candidates are strongly recommended to obtain and study both the ‘Highway Code’ and the Driving Standards Agency book the ‘Driving – The Essential Skills’, available from all good bookshops. Candidates will receive the result of their test through the post.
All other parts of the procedure are conducted by the Licensing Section of the City Council, based at Staniforth Road, where further information can be obtained.
