I like the last sentence; that the scheme would be monitored by a group of advanced instructors and who might they be? There is no such title within the driver training profession as advanced instructors. The term advanced is purely used by observers with the Institute of Advance Motorists, who I should add are referred to a hobbists within our profession. Unless they are registered by the DSA they are not a qualified instructor.
"That is why I am advocating graduated learning to sit alongside graduated licensing. We need a curriculum in driving, rather than a piecemeal list of examined elements. Rather than ‘yes, this person has been introduced to parallel parking’ it needs to be ‘yes, this person has executed parallel parking confidently and to a high standard’. It should be about competency, not about familiarity. This is something supported by the Driving Instructors Association, which proposes that a book of competencies needs to be signed off by an accredited instructor before you are allowed to book the test. This would be moderated by a group of advanced instructors to address fraud. I agree."
Although it's highly unlikely this will ever come on to the statute books because of the green paper that's about to come out(December).
PACTS web on this bill:
http://www.pacts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/GDL-Pr-Mem-briefing-25Oct131.pdf
One argument in favour of the certificate was if you don’t feel they are ready for their test why are they allowed to use the instructors’ car. The argument against the certificate is based on what is currently going through the legal system in America. Ex driving school pupils have issued lawsuits against their old instructor for signing them 'test ready'. In one Australia state 30% of test candidates were found to have fraudulently filled in their training logbook or test readiness certificate; therefore these candidates lost both their test and fee, and were required to redo their training at further cost, thus driving up the cost of learning to drive.
Currently the figures for driving tests show that there has been a steady fall in the number of tests over the last few yews however there were about 1.5 million test per year. Only 95% of car tests are submitted for test by a driving instructor. On these figures it would leave somewhere near 75,000 test candidates unable to book a test.
Whilst the branch would like to see all test candidates presented for test to be taught exclusively by a qualified driving instructor this will never happen as it imposes a restriction on a freedom of choice.
It should be pointed out that the Driving Instructors Association is a privately owned business and the name is a bit of a misnomer as it is owned by a private equity firm.