Did You Know?

As a member of SADSSA you will have the additional benefit of automatically being a member of the ADINJC, the body that protects it’s members and is your voice in negotiations with the DVSA.

You have the option then to upgrade your membership of the ADINJC to Premium level and qulaify for a 50% discount. You can obtain the required discount code by contacting the membership secretaryHERE!.

The ADINJC form can be found at their website HERE!

The SADDSA Committee

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DVSA Christmas and New Year opening hours

DVSA will be closed at times during Christmas 2023 and New Year 2024, but their online services and information will still be available.

Find out about our Christmas and New Year opening hours, including opening times for:

driving test centres
DVSA vehicle test stations
customer service centres

You can also check the last date to change or cancel a theory test or driving test.

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SADDSA are hoping to see you all at our next quarterly meeting.  

We are looking forward to welcoming our guest speaker, Terry Lefteri, whose talk is entitled ‘Power Up Your Lessons’

Terry has been an ADI for 25 years and is co-Owner/director of LDS Driving School, he is the owner of Cogo Driving School & owner of Done Stressing Coaching.  He is also trained in Body and Face Expression Reading and is an accredited Business coach and mentor.

Meeting Details

Date 9th October 2023 at 7:30 pm
Venue: – Park Street Baptist Church, 2 Penn Road, Park Street, St Albans AL2 2QF

Members and non-members are welcome to attend
Admission is free to Association Members
Non – Members are asked to contribute £5 on entry
As usual refreshments will be available.  On this occasion we would ask for a donation for the refreshments.  Any money collected will be donated by SADDSA to Children In Need to support the charity Louise Walsh, who sadly passed away in August, supported.
Finally, there are still places available for the First Aid Course on the 25th October 2023.  Please contact us for further details.
We look forward to seeing you all there, please spread the word.
The Committee
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First Aid Course Wednesday 25th October 10 – 14.30

St Albans & District Driving Schools Association has organised another First Aid Course for Wednesday 25th October. We use a local certified training provider called Staying Alive and have found them to be good, informative and friendly during our three previous courses. The course is a practical one and will be held at the Park Street Baptist Church hall, the same hall where we now hold our regular meetings. The course will include CPR and Defibrillator training. Attendees will receive a First Aid booklet (handy for your glove box) and a certificate which will be valid for 3 years.

The course will run from 10.00 to 14.30 on the day, with a 30 minute comfort break at 12. Tea, Coffee, biscuits will be provided from 9.45 and a light finger buffet lunch will be provided at 12. The doors will open at 9.30.

The cost of the course for early bird bookings, payment received prior to Monday 18th September, is £35 for SADDSA & WADDIA members, which is being subsidised by SADDSA to encourage participation. Non members, family and friends are also welcome to attend with their cost being £50. For late bookers the cost is an additional £10.

To put these costs into perspective the DIA has recently run a Zoom First Aid Course costing £50 and a Practical Course costing £129.

If you would like this opportunity to learn about life saving First Aid techniques or would just like to update your First Aid skills please contact our Secretary Tim on this email address – secretary@saddsa.co.uk

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Tim McKernan SADDSA Secretary.

secretary@saddsa.co.uk

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DVSA Webinar on Mock Test

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Stevenage Test Centre Open Day: Saturday 29 July

DVSA would like to invite you to come to an open day at Stevenage driving test centre if you use the test centre.

The open day is for driving instructors, learner drivers, their families, and anyone with an interest in road safety.

When the open day is:

Saturday 29 July 2023, 9.00am to 1.00pm

Location: Stevenage Driving Test Centre,

Session 1: 9.00am to 9.30am
Session 2: 9.30am to 10.00am
Session 3: 10.00am to 10.30pm
Session 4: 10.30am to 11.00am
Session 5: 11.30am to 12.00pm
Session 6: 12.00pm to 12.30pm
Session 7: 12.30pm to 1.00pm

Space is limited, please book you place onto one of the sessions using this link.

 82% of people who came to a driving test centre open day in the past said it helped them feel more confident about their upcoming driving test.

What’s on during the open day

If you come to the open day, you and your pupils will be able to:

  • meet and talk with driving examiners
  • learn more about the driving test and what driving examiners assess
  • find out more information about our ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign
  • find out the top reasons why people do not pass their driving test in Stevenage and St Albans

We’ll be inviting people who have a test booked at Stevenage and St Albans between 31 July and 9 November to attend.

Please encourage your pupils to book a space – especially if you think they’ll benefit from visiting the test centre and talking to driving examiners to help reduce their nerves.

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How DVSA are dealing with bots

Aritcle taken from the DVSA website blog…

Driving examiner checking the physical provisional driving licence ahead of a testAs you might know, the high waiting times for driving test appointments have led to a rise in the use of automated bots that exploit the driving test booking service. This can result in the reselling of appointments, often at inflated prices.

In this blog post, I want to explain what bots are, the challenges they pose, and the steps we’re taking to deal with this issue.

Understanding bots

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, ‘bots’ are automated software programs that perform specific tasks over the internet. They’re designed to mimic human behaviour and can be programmed to carry out various actions – including searching for and reserving driving test appointments.

Bots are developed to work at a much faster speed than humans, so they’re an attractive tool for people who want to exploit our systems.

Using bots, organisations can swiftly find and secure available slots more quickly than individual customers.

These organisations will hold on to these test appointments until they can resell them at a higher price. This means that those who are ready to take their test can struggle to find one at a date and time of their choice.

This practice makes it harder for everyone and can lead to people resorting to pay over the odds for an appointment. While this is unfair, it’s not illegal.

Finding ways to stop ever-advancing bot technologies

The challenge for us is to find ways to stop bots from accessing the booking site without affecting genuine learners and ADIs trying to use the service.

We do some basic things that you’d expect, like using a CAPTCHA test to check if a user is human if we suspect it might be a bot.

Example of the CAPTCHA test on the online driving test booking service

We also use other more advanced bot protection measures. We’re not going to go into details of what those are, as that information could help people get around them.

But as we step up our measures, the technologies the profiteers are using continue to advance. They can often be adjusted to get around changes we make.

It’s a difficult balancing act

We work hard to stop bots, and it’s very technical work.

Due to the complexities involved in differentiating between bots and genuine users, there can be times where the steps taken to prevent automated access result in inconveniences for our customers.

A recent change to the service did just this and we know that some of you will have received an ‘error 15’ message when trying to book a test. We are sorry for any inconvenience this caused.

Example of error 15 message from GOV.UK

If you’re experiencing any problems accessing the booking service, there is a list of workaround published on GOV.UK. These are updated if any new errors are reported.

If these workarounds do not help there are details about what to do next on the GOV.UK page.

More protection is coming

We do have some more changes up our sleeves that will support our efforts in making sure the booking process is fair for all.

Again, we’re unable to go in to too much detail as it will give the game away. But please be reassured we are constantly looking for ways to disrupt organisations and people who are using the system unfairly.

Education and communication can help

We understand why people will resort to using services that offer to find cancellations. But we also know that some of these services might collect personal data that learners might not expect or be comfortable with.

It’s important for you to remain vigilant about sharing information as well. The recent phishing email being sent to ADIs shows that you are being targeted as well.

Remember to only share your information if you are 100% certain the person asking for your data is who they say they are. You can find more information about spotting scam emails on the action fraud website.

So it’s really important that learners check the terms and conditions about how their data will be used.

To help raise awareness of the dangers we are:

  • providing comprehensive information and guidance on our official channels, including GOV.UK and our social media platforms through our ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign
  • working with other organisations such as driving schools, regulatory bodies, and social media influencers to circulate information about the risks of third-party services
  • encouraging learner drivers to report any misuse of their details related to driving test bookings to our data protection manager or the Information Commissioner

By educating learner drivers about the risks of using third-party services, we aim to empower them to make informed decisions and avoid being exploited.

Example of social media messages educating learner drivers about how to book their driving test safely
Example of social media messages educating learner drivers about how to book their driving test safely

We have focused on promoting the use of official DVSA channels for driving test bookings, which ensures a safe and secure process for all learners.

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Update on industrial action 

DVSA services: Update on industrial action

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union has announced that its members will take part in further discontinuous strike action on:

  • 15, 16 and 19 June in London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales
  • 22 and 23 June in North-east England, north-west England, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, and parts of London

DVSA has been informed that the Cabinet Office has made an offer of a settlement and the PCS national executive committee is considering its response. DVSA continues to monitor progress in this matter as negotiations continue.

We are unable to confirm what level of impact the planned strike action might have on our services.

Not all DVSA staff are PCS members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike. So, we will not know which staff are participating in strike action until it takes place.

Driving test centres

PCS has told DVSA the strike action will affect driving examiners employed at a number of driving test centres. You can find a list of affected driving test centres on GOV.UK.  

Tests might also be affected at other driving test centres that are not listed. DVSA will not know this until the strike action takes place.

If your pupil has booked a test themselves

We’re contacting all pupils who have a test booked on one of the strike dates in an affected region. This will tell them that they them should attend their test as planned unless DVSA contacts them. Or they can also choose to change the date of their test if they want to.

If you have booked a test for your pupil

Talk to your pupil to tell them that their test may be affected by the strike action.

If they want you to, you can change the date of their test now through your normal online booking system. You must give at least 3 clear working days’ notice to change the test date, or you’ll have to pay again.

If they do not want to change the date, they should turn up for their appointment as planned. If the test cannot go ahead, the test will be rescheduled for the first available date, and they’ll be able to claim out-of-pocket expenses. They must have turned up for their test to be able to do this.

Rescheduling some tests in advance

To help minimise the impact of the strike action we are rescheduling some tests in advance.

We will email candidates who this will affect ahead of the strike action. If you have booked a test for your pupil that is affected and you receive the message, you must let them know.

Customer service centre

Our customer service centre might be affected by the strike action, and it may take longer than usual to answer your query. The customer service centre will be open from 8am to 4pm on 15, 16, 19, 22 and 23 June.

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SADDSA AGM Coming Up Soon!

SADDSA are pleased to announce the date and venue for the annual general meeting to be held as notified below.

Annual General Meeting
Date 3rd July 2023
Meeting starts at 7:30 pm
Venue: – Park Street Baptist Church,
2 Penn Road, Park Street,
St Albans AL2 2QF

Refreshments will be available

Members and non-members are welcome to come along

Admission to non-members is free on this occasion

Members should make arrangements to pay their annual subscription by 17th July 2023

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Sitting in and observing your pupils’ driving test

(From DVSA)

As part of the Ready to Pass? campaign, we’re encouraging learners to ask their driving instructor to accompany them on the test.

We know from research that learners have different ideas about how much feedback and detail they’ll get at the end of their test. We’re explaining to learners that:

  • their driving examiner will have a short amount of time to explain any mistakes they make – the examiner will only be able to explain the most important ones
  • their test result email will tell them how many faults they made and what they were about – but it will not give details such as where they were when they made them
  • they might find it hard to take in and the remember the feedback the examiner gives because they’re either excited to have passed or disappointment to have failed

For those reasons, we encourage learners to ask you to sit in the back of the car during your driving test.

Check the guidance about sitting in

We’d encourage you to check the guidance about the best way to help your pupils if you’re going to be sitting in on their test.

This includes advice and rules about:

  • where you can sit in the vehicle on a driving test
  • what you can and cannot do once the test has started
  • advice on what to do at the end of the test

Read our guide about sitting in and observing tests on GOV.UK

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