FT/D/2025/0156 - [2025] UKFTT 01216 (GRC)

Section 123(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1998 (the 1998 Act) prohibits the driving instruction for payment unless the instructor’s name is on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors (the Register) or he is the holder of a current licence issued under Section 129(1) of the 1998 Act.

Section 125(5) of the 1998 Act imposes a condition for an Approved Driving Instructor to submit themselves for a check test if required to do so by the Registrar.

Under Section 128(1) the Registrar may remove the name of a person from the register if he is satisfied that any of the relevant conditions was fulfilled:

One of those relevant conditions is a refusal to undergo a check test.

Thus, where an Approved Driving Instructor refuses to undergo a check test within the current registration period, the Registrar may remove that person from the Register under section 128(2)(c) of the 1998 Act.

An appeal against the decision of the Registrar to remove a person from the Register can be made to this tribunal.

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. The burden of satisfying the tribunal that the Registrar’s decision was wrong rests with the Appellant.