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As the 31st March MOT tester Annual Assessment deadline approaches, the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is calling on MOT testers to stay compliant by prioritising their annual assessment. The DVSA has confirmed it will not be extending the annual training year this year and DVSA data reveals that approximately 50,000 testers have yet to complete their Annual Assessment.
Chris Price, head of MOT policy at the DVSA, said: “For the past couple of years, we have extended the annual training year in order to help the industry recover from Covid 19, however this year things are much improved, and we will not be extending the annual training year. Therefore, if you have not completed this year’s annual training by midnight Thursday 31 March 2022 you will be suspended from testing.”
To ease the administrative process of meeting the March deadline, the IMI’s MOT Training and Assessment package offers a 3-hour e-Learning training module that can be completed in bite-size chunks. Uniquely, it also gives testers the opportunity to take the assessment twice if they’re not happy with their score after their first attempt. This is particularly important as the DVSA now requires a pass rate of 80%. To find out more, visit https://www.theimi.org.uk/mot-quals/.
Steve Scofield, Head of Business Development at the IMI, said: “The workload of MOT testers remained heavy throughout 2021 as the nation juggled lockdowns, further restrictions and absenteeism as a result of the pandemic. And this has continued into 2022, with many still working full throttle to ensure their customer MOT renewals are met in time.
“The knock-on effect is that prioritising the MOT tester Annual Assessment is falling short… The reality is that if an MOT tester fails to meet the MOT Annual Assessment deadline of 31st March, they will not be able to legally conduct any MOT work from the 1st April onwards, until training and assessment has been carried out. Indeed, they will need to be able to competently demonstrate to a DVSA representative their ability to carry out an MOT assessment on a vehicle, which will be conducted face-to-face at the tester’s place of work. In short, failing to complete the assessment in time could have serious consequences both for garage income and road safety.”
