How to Add Yourself to the DVSA's Website

When looking for driving lessons, it's absolutely vital for learners to make sure their instructor is actually qualified. Only DVSA-registered instructors are qualified to teach and legally allowed to charge for lessons. If you end up learning with someone who doesn't have the right qualifications or training, you could end up endangering yourself and other road users. So it's crucial that you check your instructor is fully legal.

In this guide, we'll look at how you can check another instructor is approved by the DVSA, how to make sure you're on the DVSA's list of approved instructors, and what to do if you think you're learning with an illegal driving instructor.

The law

Anyone offering driving lessons must be a Potential Driving Instructor (PDI) holding a valid trainee driving instructor licence, or an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI). If they're not, and they're still charging money for their lessons, then they're breaking the law. Only DVSA-approved instructors are legally allowed to charge for their services. Don't just take our word for it — GOV.UK lays this out in no uncertain terms on their website:

To legally charge anyone money (or monies worth) for driving instruction in a car, you must either:

• Be on the ADI register
• Have a trainee driving instructor licence

It's illegal to charge someone for driving lessons if you're not qualified and registered, or if you don't have a trainee driving instructor licence."

Worse still, this problem isn't as uncommon as you may think — we found there were almost 1,000 reports of instructors teaching illegally between 2014 and 2019.

Check the DVSA's database

Do you want to check whether a new instructor in the area is qualified? The first thing you need to do is check the DVSA’s handy ‘Find your nearest driving instructors’ tool. This database contains a list of DVSA-approved instructors who have signed up to be listed. You’ll be able to simply type in your postcode and find instructors that are the closest to you. When you do, you’ll be able to see their:

• Full name
• Email
• Phone number
• Website (if provided)
• Approximate distance from your postcode

And that’s not all. You’ll also be able to see if an ADI has committed to a voluntary Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme and if they have agreed to abide by the ADI Code of Practice (CoP).

Additionally, if an ADI has chosen to disclose it, you’ll see their Standards Check Grade. If an instructor hasn’t disclosed their grade, don’t assume this is because they failed their standards check! If ADIs don’t pass the standards check, they get two more tries before they have to retake all three ADI tests again. You can find out more about this in our guide to the process of becoming a driving instructor.

Can't find the instructor on the list? Before you start jumping to conclusions, we’d like to emphasise that this database is purely voluntary. In other words, ADIs choose whether or not they want to be included on the list. For all you know, your instructor could just prefer to advertise their services by word of mouth or their personal website. Fortunately, the DVSA database isn’t the only way to check your instructor is DVSA-approved.

What if I think an instructor isn't DVSA-approved?

If you can’t find your instructor in the DVSA’s database and you haven't been able to see their badge, it’s important not to panic or jump to conclusions. There might be a number of legitimate reasons explaining this.

If you don’t feel comfortable asking them to prove that they’re qualified (if you suffer from that awkward British politeness!) then you can get in touch with the DVSA and ask them to check for you. To help the DVSA with their search, you will need the name of your instructor and their ADI number (if you can). Then, get in touch with the DVSA’s customer support:

DVSA Customer Support [email protected]  Telephone: 0300 200 1122 Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

Alternatively, if you’re pretty certain that you've come across an illegal driving instructor, you can report them to the DVSA’s counter-fraud and integrity team. Feel like you're going a bit overboard? The DVSA takes this matter very seriously and looks into every report. So, if you're reasonably sure, you should definitely get in touch:

DVSA Counter-fraud and Integrity Team [email protected] Telephone: 0300 123 3248 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

Are you on the database?

While you're checking the DVSA's database of instructors, it's worth seeing if you're on there yourself. Like we said, it's completely up to you whether you want to be added to the list or not, but we'd recommend doing it.

Being on the DVSA's list of instructors means your current and future learners can make sure you're fully qualified, which will help them to feel more at ease during their lessons with you.

As well as that, a lot of learners use the DVSA's website when they're looking for driving instructors in their area. If you show up when a learner enters their postcode, you'll receive more business.

How to add yourself to the DVSA's database

You can give your permission to appear on the DVSA's database in a few taps. Just use your online user ID to update your ADI registration.

If you've already opted in and you've decided you no longer want to show up on the database, you can follow the same steps and update your preferences online.

If you've forgotten your password or user ID, or you're having any issues figuring out what to do, you can email the DVSA's customer service team at [email protected].