Every approved driving instructor (ADI) on the DVSA register is subject to a Standards Check — a one-hour assessment of your teaching ability conducted by a DVSA supervising examiner. It happens at least once every four years, and it can be triggered sooner if concerns are raised about the quality of your instruction.
Understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for — and how to prepare — is the difference between a Grade 6 and a Grade 1 that puts your licence at risk.
What Is the Standards Check?
The Standards Check replaced the old Check Test in 2014. Unlike its predecessor, which focused heavily on the examiner watching you teach, the Standards Check is a competency-based assessment across three domains. It reflects modern coaching principles: the examiner isn't just watching what your pupil does — they're watching how you facilitate learning.
You can bring your own pupil or use a DVSA-arranged volunteer. The session runs for approximately one hour on public roads, and the examiner sits in the rear of the vehicle observing throughout.
How It's Graded
The examiner scores you across three competency areas, each rated on a 1-3 scale:
| Score | Label | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Good | Consistently effective — the pupil is actively involved in their own learning |
| 2 | Sufficient | Mostly effective with some gaps — acceptable standard but room to improve |
| 1 | Unsatisfactory | Significant weaknesses — learning is being impeded |
Your three domain scores are combined for an overall grade out of 6. You need a Grade 4 or higher to maintain your ADI registration.A Grade 3 or below means your registration is at risk and you'll be required to attend a remedial training programme before reassessment.
The Three Competency Areas
1. Lesson Planning
The examiner looks at whether you identified and agreed the lesson aims and objectives with the pupil, whether those goals were appropriate for their ability, and whether you adapted the plan as the session unfolded. A pupil who sits passively while you recite a syllabus is a red flag. A pupil who helps set their own goals and understands why they're practising a particular skill is exactly what the examiner wants to see.
2. Risk Management
This covers how you kept physical risk at an appropriate level throughout the lesson. The examiner assesses whether you used dual controls appropriately (or unnecessarily), whether you gave timely verbal interventions when needed, and whether the level of risk was suitable for the pupil's current ability. Physical interventions should be rare — verbal guidance and well-structured prompts should do most of the work.
3. Teaching and Learning Strategies
This is often where Standards Checks are won or lost. The examiner looks at whether you used a variety of teaching techniques, whether you encouraged the pupil to analyse and correct their own performance, and whether your feedback was constructive and timely. A pupil-centred approach — one where the learner is thinking, not just reacting to your instructions — scores significantly better than instructor-led chalk-and-talk delivery.
“The examiner isn't assessing your pupil's driving. They're assessing whether your teaching is making your pupil a better, more self-aware driver. Those are two very different things.”
DVSA-qualified ADI examiner
Common Reasons ADIs Score Below Grade 4
- Over-instruction. Talking continuously instead of allowing the pupil to process and self-correct. The examiner wants to see the pupil thinking, not just following a stream of commands.
- Misaligned lesson goals. Setting targets that are too easy or too challenging for the pupil's current ability — or not involving the pupil in setting the goals at all.
- Feedback that tells rather than teaches. Saying “you were too close to the kerb” vs. asking “how did you feel that corner went?” — the second prompts self-reflection and is valued far more highly.
- Excessive dual-control use. Using the dual controls as a first response rather than a last resort undermines the pupil's development and signals a risk-management failure to the examiner.
- No recap or consolidation. The examiner expects a structured debrief that connects the lesson back to the agreed objectives. Many instructors skip this.
How to Prepare
The ADIs who consistently score Grade 5 and 6 share one common trait: they treat every lesson the same way they'd teach on Standards Check day. There's no special performance — the check is simply a window into their normal practice.
Practically, that means:
- Open every lesson with a clear goal-setting conversation that involves the pupil
- Use the DVSA's own Standards Check form to self-assess regularly — it's freely available and maps directly to what the examiner uses
- Record or reflect after sessions: were you doing the thinking, or was your pupil?
- Use fault data to structure targeted practice, not just to catalogue errors
How Passmark Helps
One of the most effective ways to prepare for a Standards Check is to demonstrate that your teaching produces measurable results — and that you can articulate those results to your pupil.
Passmark's digital DL25 logging gives you a live, structured record of every fault pattern, severity distribution, and improvement trend across your pupil's lessons. When your Standards Check happens, you can show — not just tell — that your teaching approach is producing systematic improvement against the exact criteria DVSA examiners use.
More importantly, the platform supports pupil-centred teaching: pupils can see their own readiness score, review their fault history, and engage meaningfully in goal-setting conversations before each lesson. That kind of engaged, self-aware learner is precisely what a Grade 6 looks like from the back seat.
What Happens If You Fail?
A Grade 3 overall (or a score of 1 in any single competency area) results in a supervised practice requirement. You'll receive a notice from the DVSA and be required to complete a period of development before a re-check is arranged. Repeated failure or a Grade 1 overall can result in removal from the ADI register.
If you receive a low grade, act immediately. Contact a DVSA-approved local development group, review your teaching approach honestly, and treat the reassessment as a structured improvement target — not just a hurdle to clear.
Key Dates and Logistics
- Your Standards Check is due within 4 years of your last check (or your initial qualification)
- The DVSA will contact you in advance to schedule — but you can also request a voluntary Standards Check if you want to self-assess
- The check takes approximately 1 hour, usually conducted in your own vehicle
- Results are given immediately after the session by the supervising examiner
- You can bring any pupil at an appropriate stage of training — early-stage learners often work well since the examiner can see structured, foundational teaching