In April 2016, after listening to and acting on what MOT testers wanted, DVSA replaced the old 5-year refresher course with a new programme of annual MOT training.
This meant that the MOT tester could learn in ‘bite-sized’ chunks throughout the annual training period from 1st April – 31st March. To keep their authorisation from DVSA to continue testing, they had to complete at least three hours of MOT-based training every year, followed by an assessment and a further 16 hours of training over five years.
But that’s all about to change … for the better, in our opinion!
MOT Special Notice 02-23
From 1st April 2023, DVSA has removed the requirement to complete the 16 hours over five years. This makes it better for MOT Testers, MOT Managers and compliance experts.
Let’s start with MOT testers. They are still responsible for completing the MOT annual training every year between the start of April and the following March. However, in addition, they are responsible for documenting the following information:
- the MOT annual training year (for example, April 2023 to March 2024)
- the date of the training
- how long the training session lasted
- what topics were covered during the session
- notes on what you did, how you did it and what you learned
- what vehicle groups your training covered
- your name and MOT testing service user ID
There are several ways this can be evidenced, but the DVSA has provided a template, so we would recommend that’s the one used because, if it’s completed accurately, this part of compliance is then complete.
For MOT Managers, whilst it is ultimately the responsibility of the tester to carry out the above, failure to do it will impact the site’s ability to carry out MOT tests. This is why we recommend site managers collate the five years of evidence of Annual Training and the completed training logs for all MOT Testers on their system and place hard copies in an appropriate compliance folder. If you don’t yet have one, you could consider TMOTG’s bespoke Compliance Folder.
Finally, for compliance experts, encouraging and helping testers to accurately evidence the additional 16 hours of training over the five years is now a case of ensuring the three hours of training and the annual assessment is clearly evidenced and documented.
If you need any help and advice with your compliance, please contact any of our team … we will be happy to help.