ADUK Archive

Morning All,

As a former DSA examiner who conducted numerous Part 2 tests, may I comment? I don't propose to enter a debate about an individual test, just make some general observations.

The purpose of the Part 2 is to establish whether a prospective ADI is a basically safe driver. It is biased mostly towards town driving and manoeuvring. The fleet Part 2 is different, in that it is aimed, mostly, at open road driving, and there is only a single manoeuvre. In reality, hardly anyone applies for a fleet Part 2 - those wishing to qualify as a fleet Instructor usually attend an accredited training course, rather than take the DSA exams.

I do not recall anyone failing for their mode of negotiating bends. The important thing was that the candidate was safe.

Some reasons for failure were:

1) Too close to traffic ahead.

2) Lack of progress.

3) Manoeuvring, especially the right reverse and the bay park. Parallel parking was usually done quite well.
Almost unbelievably, a steady trickle of fails occurred on the turn-in-the-road. Observation on manoeuvres
was often poor: in particular, relying on mirrors, instead of carrying out effective all round observation.

4) Failing to stop at stop signs - not a huge number, but a steady trickle.

All of the above points could cause in a serious fault to be marked, resulting in a fail. It is also possible to fail a Part 2 by accumulating more than six driver faults. Candidates with weak mirror use often fell into this category.

In my experience, philosophical differences in technique appear to have had little bearing on the outcome of a test. It is probably fair to assume that some candidates drove in a Roadcraft-based style, as many candidates were retired, or about to retire, members of the police. The main point was that a solid, safe drive was demonstrated.

Regards,

Russ

PS Did I mention that I do not propose to discuss individual tests?

Russ_H wrote: those wishing to qualify as a fleet Instructor usually attend an accredited training course, rather than take the DSA exams.

I am a little confused as I was told on this site that to be a fleet instructor for vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, the DSA tests had to be taken and passed - has this changed

ROG wrote:

Russ_H wrote: those wishing to qualify as a fleet Instructor usually attend an accredited training course, rather than take the DSA exams.

I am a little confused as I was told on this site that to be a fleet instructor for vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, the DSA tests had to be taken and passed - has this changed

No they dont , there are company's out there who offer DSA fleet accredited courses, i.e if you take and pass the RoSPA Diploma in Advanced Instruction it give direct access to the register, you need to be an ADI first though. The RoSPA diploma consists of a theory test which is based on the highway code and roadcraft which you are expected to give explanations to your answer (so you must know roadcraft inside out), A high Gold standard drive with role play from the examiner acting as the stooge to see if you can identify analyse and correct faults , I was examined by Bob Smalley and a presentation on a subject given to you about something from roadcraft, if you pass this it then gives you access to the register

Sorry, but I'm confused by the reply above. In one part you say you do not need to pass the DSA exams to get on the fleet register, but you contradict by saying you must be an ADI

Renny wrote:Sorry, but I'm confused by the reply above. In one part you say you do not need to pass the DSA exams to get on the fleet register, but you contradict by saying you must be an ADI

You need to be an ADI to be on the fleet register, there is 2 routes you can take, the DSA accredited courses or through the DSA themselves, either route will get you on the register. Anyone can do the RoSPA Diploma but to gain access on the register you must be an ADI ,Hope this helps

daz6215 wrote:there is 2 routes you can take, the DSA accredited courses or through the DSA themselves

how do they differ

Morning Again,

If you wish to become a DSA registered fleet instructor, you must already be an ADI.
Assuming that you are an ADI, there are two ways to become fleet registered. Either
take the three stage DSA exam (which is purely an exam) or attend a training course
that has been accredited by DSA.

The cheaper of the two options is to take the exams, but hardly anyone does. The more
expensive way is to attend a course, which is by far the more popular option.

Regards,

Russ

Well everybody, it finally arrived this morning!

I just can't be bothered to paraphrase the letter, so I am going to cut and paste the whole wretched thing for you all to read:-

"Dear ***

Re: Examiner Recruitment Update

Earlier this year you were informed that your time on the Merit List had been extended by six months. This was due to the reduction in demand for driving tests that was being experienced.

I am sorry to advise you that as this extension has now passed, your name has been removed from the merit list. I appreciate this will be a disappointment to you.

Our recruitment practices are governed by the Civil Service Commissioners requirements, which govern all appointments into the Civil Service. In order to meet the requirement of not limiting fair and open competition an applicant pool has to be refreshed and recent assessments conducted. We are therefore unable to hold your application on file any longer.

I would like to make you aware that unless you indicate otherwise, your contact details will be added to our interested parties list. This is so that we can write to advise you of any driving examiner vacancies which may arise over the next 12 months. Although nothing is planned at this moment in time, the situation will be reviewed on a regular basis. Please note that you will be required to complete all stages of the recruitment process if you wish to apply again.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in becoming a driving examiner and to wish you all the best for the future.

Yours sincerely"

******


So, there we have it. I submitted my application 2 years ago, I put my job/career 'on hold', eagerly awaiting an invitation to go to Cardington - yet this is what it has come to. I am not known for my lack of words, but I am presently speechless.

Having had the pleasure of dealing closely with the DSA for (too) many years, and spent 4 weeks 'training' with them to become a delegated driving examiner, I am not at all surprised by this. Luckily I no longer have to suffer their petty ways. You have my condolences.

Afternoon one and all.

Recently, I noticed an ADI sent an email to DSA via Twitter asking when they are likely to be recruiting for Driving Examiners only to be informed that they do not have any current or future plans regarding Recruitment.

I regularly visit the website, but it appears exactly the same information that it has been for about a year now which is really frustrating for those who are interested in joining the civil service. Also, I have briefly studied DSA's business plan and from what I can gather they have had a reduction in the number of driving tests especially for cars which they state is down to the recession and that they need to make quite alot of savings financially.

Can anyone else shed any further light on this issue, reference Recruitment for Driving Examiners?

LGV tests are also down due to the introduction of the initial driver cpc as well as this recession

Yes ROG, your absolutely right regarding the demand for LGV tests. It would appear that demand for all the categories that DSA examine appear to be down.

However, I feel that DSA do not help themselves reference the recession because yet again, they have increased their prices on Theory and Practical Tests. If they had delayed their price increases until the recession had started to improve they could have limited the reduction in demand for tests. This would also help ADI's with their workloads as well. Obviously, these multi purpose test centres may have some influeunce with DSA increasing their prices.

Speaking for myself as an ADI I have seen my workload being reasonably busy to having no work whatsoever. Some may say, or assume I have bad pass rates, but that is not true as the majority of my pupils passed 1st time, occasionally some passing on their 2nd attempt.

I do think the Managment of the DSA and their contractors would never survive in the real world.

Yes, absolutely correct, no complaints there...

White Shadow wrote:Afternoon one and all.

Recently, I noticed an ADI sent an email to DSA via Twitter asking when they are likely to be recruiting for Driving Examiners only to be informed that they do not have any current or future plans regarding Recruitment.

I regularly visit the website, but it appears exactly the same information that it has been for about a year now which is really frustrating for those who are interested in joining the civil service. Also, I have briefly studied DSA's business plan and from what I can gather they have had a reduction in the number of driving tests especially for cars which they state is down to the recession and that they need to make quite alot of savings financially.

Can anyone else shed any further light on this issue, reference Recruitment for Driving Examiners?

Dsa are curretly recruiting for examiners, i hve been on interested parties list for well over a year, and had a letter from Dsa last week, they also have put several posts on twitter since recriutment started on Nov 27th.