DVSA standards check: how to prepare and pass

The standards check is the assessment that keeps you on the ADI register. Most instructors know it exists. Fewer have read the marking sheet the examiner fills in, or know exactly where the pass line sits.

Everything about the check itself comes from GOV.UK's standards check guide unless stated.

What the standards check is

The standards check replaced the ADI check test on 7 April 2014. A DVSA examiner watches you give a client-centred driving lesson to one of your pupils and looks for evidence that you meet the national standard for driver and rider training.

That word "client-centred" is the heart of it. The examiner is watching how you teach, and in particular whether your pupil is involved in planning the lesson, understands how risk is shared, analyses their own problems and reflects on their performance. An instructor who gives technically excellent commentary but doesn't involve the pupil can still score poorly.

How often it happens

GOV.UK says: "You usually have an ADI standards check every 4 years." It also says you "might be asked to book a standards check based on your pupils' driving test results". That second route is DVSA's published indicators and triggers: hit the trigger point on 3 of 4 measures from your pupils' tests over 12 months and DVSA writes asking you to book. We explain them in our trigger points guide.

In practice, don't plan around a fixed cycle. Marian Kitson, the DVSA director responsible for enforcement, wrote in September 2026 that "in 2024/25, most ADIs did not receive a standards check" and that "there's no fixed time for when you might be called for a standards check, so it could happen at any point". She also said DVSA has been increasing the number of checks.

Some rules don't change:

• You'll get a letter from DVSA when you need to book.
• Booking is online and free.
• You have to take a check even if you don't have a car or aren't working as an ADI.
• You can be removed from the register if you don't book or go to your standards check.

Before the check

After you book, a DVSA examiner will call to ask whether you want a 30-minute phone call before your check. It covers how your pupils perform on driving tests, where you can get support, and what will happen on the day. If you accept, DVSA automatically sends you your driving test data report, so read it before the call.

You must bring your ADI registration certificate, a pupil and a car that meets the requirements.

Your pupil can be a partly trained learner, a fully trained learner or a full licence holder. A partly trained learner should be able to drive for 40 minutes without frequently stopping. Your pupil can't be an ADI or someone preparing for the ADI Part 3 test.

Your car must be roadworthy, safe and reliable (less than 3 years old or with a valid MOT), have working rear seat belts and show L plates (or D plates in Wales) if your pupil is a learner. You can't use a soft-top convertible or a car with 2+2 seating. If your car doesn't meet the rules, the check is cancelled and rebooked, and you can be removed from the register if you keep bringing a car that doesn't.

You can take your trainer or mentor with you, but they can't take part in the lesson.

What happens on the day

• The lesson lasts about 45 minutes.
• At the start, you and your pupil discuss the goals for the lesson and risk management. This should take no more than 3 minutes.
• Your pupil must drive for about 40 minutes.
• You can't spend the whole lesson on a manoeuvre, but you can include a short recap of one you taught before.
• You can stop safely during the lesson to give immediate feedback.
• At the end, you give your pupil about 3 minutes to reflect on their performance.
• Afterwards the examiner discusses your performance and gives you your grade. This takes about 15 minutes.

The 17 competencies

The examiner marks you on DVSA's standards check report form (ADI SC1). It has 17 questions in three groups.

Lesson planning (4):

1. Did the trainer identify the pupil's learning goals and needs?
2. Was the agreed lesson structure appropriate for the pupil's experience and ability?
3. Were the practice areas suitable?
4. Was the lesson plan adapted, when appropriate, to help the pupil work towards their learning goals?

Risk management (5):

5. Did the trainer ensure that the pupil fully understood how the responsibility for risk would be shared?
6. Were directions and instructions given to the pupil clear and given in good time?
7. Was the trainer aware of the surroundings and the pupil's actions?
8. Was any verbal or physical intervention by the trainer timely and appropriate?
9. Was sufficient feedback given to help the pupil understand any potential safety critical incidents?

Teaching and learning strategies (8):

10. Was the teaching and learning style suited to the pupil's learning style and current ability?
11. Was the pupil encouraged to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning?
12. Were opportunities and examples used to clarify learning outcomes?
13. Was the technical information given comprehensive, appropriate and accurate?
14. Was the pupil given appropriate and timely feedback during the session?
15. Were the pupil's queries followed up and answered?
16. Did the trainer maintain an appropriate non-discriminatory manner throughout the session?
17. At the end of the session, was the pupil encouraged to reflect on their own performance?

Each competency is scored 0 to 3. The form describes the scores as:

• 0: no evidence
• 1: demonstrated in a few elements
• 2: demonstrated in most elements
• 3: demonstrated in all elements

The maximum is 51 (17 × 3).

How grading works

You also fail automatically if:

• you score 7 or less in the risk management section, or
• the examiner stops the lesson because you've put yourself or someone else in danger.

Risk management has five competencies, so 15 is the maximum there. A score of 7 or less, an average of 1.4 or less across those five, fails you whatever your total.

You get your grade and the completed report by email at the end of the check.

If you fail

You'll have up to 2 more attempts to pass. If you fail 3 times, you're removed from the ADI register and have to retake the ADI qualifying tests to join again.

If you can prove the examiner didn't follow the regulations, you can complain to DVSA. If DVSA agrees, you may be able to take another check, but your original result can't be changed.

What examiners look for

The marking sheet tells you what to show. In practice:

In lesson planning:

• Did you involve the pupil in deciding what to work on? Client-centred learning starts before the car moves.
• Is the level right? A pupil with a test in two weeks shouldn't be doing basics. A nervous beginner shouldn't be on a dual carriageway at rush hour.
• Did you change the plan when the lesson showed you something new?

In risk management:

• Did you agree, out loud, who is responsible for what, including when you'll use the dual controls?
• Were your directions clear and early enough?
• Did you step in at the right time, and then explain what happened?

In teaching and learning strategies:

• Are you asking questions that make the pupil think, or giving answers that make them passive?
• When something goes wrong, do you ask the pupil to analyse it ("what do you think happened there?") or do you tell them?
• Is your technical information accurate?
• Did the pupil get time to reflect at the end?

A trap worth watching: the pressure of being observed can push you back into telling mode. The marking sheet rewards the opposite.

Practical preparation

Record your lessons. With your pupil's written permission, record a few lessons and watch them back. Look for how much you tell versus ask. (The new code of practice says you must not share images or videos of pupils without explicit written consent.)

Practise the opening 3 minutes. Agreeing goals and risk management is short but it sets up lesson planning and risk management scores. Practise asking "what would you like to work on today?" and agreeing how you'll share responsibility for risk.

Score yourself against the SC1 form. Read all 17 questions and score a normal lesson against them. Our free standards check calculator uses the same 17 competencies and grade bands.

Pick a pupil you know well. You can choose which pupil you bring. Choose one at a stage you're comfortable teaching, so you can focus on the process of teaching rather than managing a difficult lesson.

Work with a coach. An ORDIT trainer or a senior ADI who sits in and marks against the SC1 form gives you an outside view. GOV.UK suggests finding a training course after you've booked.

Read your data report. It shows the faults your pupils picked up on test, by category. That tells you where to focus.

On the day

Teach the way you prepared to teach. Changing your style because you're being watched tends to break the flow of the lesson.

Keep an eye on the clock: no more than 3 minutes to agree goals and risk, about 40 minutes of driving, about 3 minutes of pupil reflection at the end.

Resources

• ADI standards check guide (GOV.UK)
• ADI standards check marking sheet, SC1 (DVSA)
• National standard for driver and rider training (DVSA)
• Standards check indicators and triggers (DVSA)
• Request your ADI driving test data report (DVSA)

If you involve your pupils in lesson planning, agree how risk is shared, ask more than you tell and give them time to reflect, you're already teaching the way the SC1 form marks. Orbit's standards check tools let you score yourself on the same 17 competencies between checks.