Lots of talk on NW driving test fail rates

Londonderry has consistently had the worst driving test pass rate in Northern Ireland over the past five years but the Sentinel has learned that the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) has been “monitoring driving examiners all the time” and “checking passes and failure” rates.

New figures obtained by the Sentinel from the Department of the Environment (DoE) reveal that since 2008/9 the annual pass rate in Londonderry has never risen to more than 50 per cent.

For the record the failure rates were 56 per cent in 2008/9; 54 per cent in 2009/10; 55 per cent in 2010/11; 54 per cent in 2011/12; and 50 per cent in 2012/13. Effectively, at least half the aspiring drivers each year were failures.

The Sentinel can now reveal that this issue has been raised at a series of meetings between the DVA and Londonderry driving instructors and examiners.

A redacted email obtained by the Sentinel concerning a meeting between the DVA and North West Association of Driving Instructors (NWADI) that took place on September 24, 2008, states: “You are aware of concerns surrounding the provision of driving tests at Londonderry.

“At a meeting with the North West ADI on September 24, I committed myself to examining the issues raised and taking necessary action.”

The same email promised “a thorough examination and comparison of statistics relating to examiners pass/fail rates at Londonderry.”

Over a year later a meeting was held just before Hallowe’en in the DVA Centre Newbuildings. It was attended by DVA officials and four driving Instructors from the NWADI.

Driving examiners pass rates were discussed and interest expressed in “statistics for all examiners’ passes and fails.”

A few months later in February 2010 another meeting saw a request for “the top ten failing points of the local centre.”

A year then passed only for the issue to be raised once again during another meeting in February 2011 when a party whose name has also been redacted said “he monitors test failures and he noticed a lot of the same faults.”

And according to DVA team briefings for Londonderry in March and April 2011 “driving test issues in Waterside house” were mentioned.

In October 2011 another meeting was described as “very positive meeting” and “a lot of grievances including an article which was recently in a local paper saying Londonderry had the worst pass rate for L Driving Tests,” to be aired.

And in May of this year another meeting took place between DVA staff and local driving instructors.

One unnamed participant “mentioned about the 50 per cent failure rate and said that was bad and could be because candidates are coming up for a test when they are not ready and maybe good drivers are just nervous.”

The same meeting hear that the “DVA are monitoring driving examiners all the time checking passes and failures.”

Over the summer of 2012 Londonderry pass/fail rates and the performance of the local test centre were recorded as either additional issues raised or issues of most importance in DVA team briefings.

Back in 2010 the DVA said its driving examiners, are all trained to the UK wide standard, and conduct tests at various test centres across NI.

“All examiners are supervised to ensure they apply the correct standards, evaluated to ensure common assessment and recently undertook comprehensive refresher training.

“There are a number of factors that can impact upon a candidate passing a driving test including the standard of preparedness of the driving candidate. The better prepared a candidate is then it is more likely they will pass,” the DVA said.

The statement is included in an internal briefing document released to the Sentinel in response to a Freedom of Information request.