The 4 DVSA trigger points that get you called for a standards check

Every ADI knows the standards check exists. Fewer know that DVSA publishes the rule it uses to pick some of the instructors it calls in. It watches four numbers from your pupils' driving tests. Reach the trigger point on three of them in a rolling 12 months and DVSA "will write to ask you to book a standards check".

That rule is in DVSA's guidance on standards check indicators and triggers, last updated in May 2023.

When you get a standards check

The standards check is the assessment that keeps you on the ADI register. It replaced the ADI check test on 7 April 2014. GOV.UK says two things about timing:

• "You usually have an ADI standards check every 4 years."
• "You might be asked to book a standards check based on your pupils' driving test results."

DVSA admits it hasn't carried out enough of them. In September 2026 Marian Kitson, the DVSA director responsible for enforcement, wrote that "in 2024/25, most ADIs did not receive a standards check, which isn't enough to give you confidence that standards are being maintained consistently". She added that "there's no fixed time for when you might be called for a standards check, so it could happen at any point", and that DVSA has been increasing the number of checks.

It has a lot of instructors to get round. DVSA's annual report for 2025-26 puts the register at more than 44,000 qualified ADIs, plus 5,500 trainee licence holders.

The same blog is clear that the triggers aren't the whole story: "When we select ADIs for a check, we take a varied approach and performance indicators are just one part of the picture, not the only thing we look at."

The 4 indicators and their trigger points

DVSA uses data from the car driving tests your pupils took in the last 12 months, on a rolling basis:

Source: DVSA indicators and triggers. The driving fault trigger rose from 5 to 6, and the serious fault trigger from 0.5 to 0.55, on 17 May 2023.

• 3 or 4 triggers reached: DVSA writes asking you to book a standards check.
• Fewer than 3: you're "less likely" to be asked, but you "might still be asked to book a standards check during each 4-year registration period".

How the tests are linked to you

The data covers pupils you brought for a car driving test with your ADI badge in the windscreen, at every test centre you've used. DVSA records your ADI number from the badge at the start of each test.

That makes the badge matter. DVSA's new code of practice says you should display it when your pupil takes their test, "whether in your car or their own", to improve the accuracy of your data.

The 5-pupil threshold

The indicators only apply if you bring 5 or more pupils for driving tests in a 12-month period. If you bring fewer, or you don't teach learners, DVSA says you will have to take one standards check "once during each 4-year period you're registered as an ADI".

Trigger point 1: average driving faults of 6 or more

What it means: across all your pupils' tests in the last 12 months, the average number of driving faults per test is 6 or higher.

What you can control: how finished your pupils are when they sit the test. Pupils who pass with plenty of minor faults still count towards this average, so aim for pupils whose minor faults are rare by test day.

How to stay under it: use mock tests marked the way an examiner would mark them, and don't treat a pupil as ready because they'd scrape a pass.

Trigger point 2: average serious faults of 0.55 or more

What it means: the average number of serious faults per test across your pupils is 0.55 or more. That's a little over one serious fault for every two tests.

What you can control: recurring weaknesses. If the same serious faults keep appearing (observation at junctions, response to signs, use of mirrors), look at how you're teaching those skills.

How to stay under it: after every failed test, sit in on the debrief if you can, note the serious fault, and track which ones repeat across pupils.

Trigger point 3: examiner physical action in 10% or more of tests

What it means: in 10% or more of your pupils' tests, the examiner had to take physical action, meaning they took control of the car to avoid an incident.

What you can control: this is a safety indicator, and 10% is 1 test in 10. If your pupils sit 10 tests in a year, one test where the examiner takes control reaches it. With small numbers, each incident moves the percentage a lot.

How to stay under it: a pupil who still relies on you touching the dual controls in lessons isn't ready to drive alone with an examiner.

Trigger point 4: pass rate of 55% or lower

What it means: 55% or fewer of your pupils' tests in the last 12 months were passes.

The awkward fact: the national car test pass rate was 50.0% across 1,998,621 tests in 2025/26 (DVSA table DRT121A, car test data). An instructor whose pupils pass at exactly the national average is below 55%, so already meets this trigger. For that instructor, it's the other three indicators that decide whether the letter comes.

What you can control: your test-readiness decision. Pupils who book before they're ready drag the rate down.

How to stay above it: set clear test-readiness criteria and apply them consistently. Encourage pupils to book a later test if they aren't ready. The new code of practice says you "should" do exactly that.

A worked example

This is one of DVSA's own examples. Over 12 months your pupils took 30 tests:

• 255 driving faults in total: an average of 8.5 per test (trigger reached)
• 17 serious faults: an average of 0.57 per test (trigger reached)
• the examiner took physical action in 3 tests: 10% (trigger reached)
• 18 passes out of 30: a pass rate of 60% (trigger not reached)

Three of four triggers are met, so you need to take a standards check. Note the pass rate here is well above the national average. A good pass rate doesn't protect you if the faults and interventions are high.

Check your own numbers

You don't have to guess. You can request your ADI driving test data report from DVSA. It covers the last 12 months and shows:

• pupils who took a test, tests taken and tests passed
• tests you accompanied
• your overall pass rate
• average driving, serious and dangerous faults per test
• how many times an examiner took verbal action (ETA/V) or physical action (ETA/P)
• faults recorded against each category on the test report

DVSA aims to send it within 28 days, because it prioritises instructors who have been asked to book a check. If you've already been asked to book one, don't request it: DVSA sends it automatically when you accept the phone appointment about your check.

Other routes to a standards check

The triggers aren't the only way in. Once the new code of practice is in force, it says that if you don't comply with it, the ADI Registrar may issue a formal warning, carry out a standards check or investigation, or suspend and remove you from the register. And as the September 2026 blog says, performance indicators are "just one part of the picture".

What happens when you're called in

GOV.UK's standards check guide sets it out:

1. You get a letter telling you to book. Booking is online and free.
2. Book it. You can be removed from the register if you don't book or go to your standards check, and you have to take one even if you don't have a car or aren't working as an ADI.
3. A DVSA examiner calls to offer a 30-minute phone call before the check, covering how your pupils perform on driving tests, where to get support and what will happen on the day.
4. You give a lesson. The examiner watches you give a client-centred lesson to one of your pupils for about 45 minutes. Your pupil can be a partly trained learner, a fully trained learner or a full licence holder, but not an ADI or someone preparing for Part 3.
5. You get your grade at the end, with the report by email: 43 to 51 is Grade A, 31 to 42 is Grade B, 30 or less is a fail. You also fail if you score 7 or less in risk management, or the examiner stops the lesson for safety.

If you fail, you get up to 2 more attempts. Fail 3 times and you're removed from the register and have to retake the ADI tests to rejoin.

Our standards check preparation guide covers the 17 competencies and how to prepare.

What DVSA won't tell you

DVSA publishes the four triggers but not the rest of its selection method. The September 2026 blog calls it "a varied approach". So staying under the triggers lowers your chance of a letter. It doesn't mean you won't get one.

The triggers look at a rolling 12 months of results, so they pick up a pattern rather than one bad month. And keep your badge in the windscreen on test day, so DVSA links the right tests to you.

If you run your pupil records on Orbit, pupil management tracks each pupil against the DVSA syllabus, and Orbit's standards check tools let you score yourself on the 17 competencies before the examiner does.