Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many appeals on practical driving tests were (a) heard by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and (b) found (i) in favour of and (ii) against the appellant in each year since 2009-10.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a complaints procedure, which is published on GOV.UK.

Current law does not allow the test result to be overturned; the examiner’s decision is final.

Complainants have the right to appeal if they think the examiner did not carry out their practical test in line with regulations.

If the complainant lives in England and Wales, they have six months after the test date to appeal to the Magistrates court about the way the test was conducted. The Magistrates court can look at whether the test was carried out in accordance with regulations; however, it cannot change the result of the test. Should the Magistrates court find that the test was not conducted in line with regulations, it may offer a compensation payment or free retest.