but a 100% failure rate doesn,t sound healthy longterm

I'm not too sure I would mind a 100% failure rate in my manor.

the drivers were then relying on sat nav to get around

ive heard a lot of horror stories from ex dundee p hire customers regarding which routes they were taken,maybe the £1 off is dph,s way of giving back some of the money the customers were overcharged

Unrealistic test


I have just failed the new taxi test for the third time, which means I have to withdraw my application and re-apply at the cost of £145. Once I re-apply, I will have spent nearly £400 taking into account time off work and travel expenses.
The new test differs from the old test in as far as the old test was about street knowledge and The Highway Code. You were given an hour to complete it.

The new test requires two and a half hours and includes: Paper 1 on routes which requires 85% correct to pass; Paper 2 on popular venues (85% to pass); Paper 3 on conditions of licence (100% to pass); Paper 4 on The Highway Code (88% to pass); and Paper 5 on road signs (90% to pass).

The recent issues with private hire firms and the criticisms that drivers didn’t have enough local knowledge has obviously provoked a knee-jerk reaction from Dundee City Council and Tayside Police. They have set the bar unrealistically high.

A good many of my friends are taxi drivers and, with over 100 years’ experience among them, they are all agreed the exam is nigh on impossible given the criteria

they are all agreed the exam is nigh on impossible given the criteria

another 7 badge applicants this month,all 7 failed the street test
http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/reports/ag ... 209pub.pdf

Reply to unrealistic test

Maybe we should contact the Education Minister Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry and ask if it is possible to relax the standard of degrees at all of our universities, after all lots of students study for years & many may leave university without any qualifications whatsoever, let’s make it nice an easy for anyone to have a degree!! I quite fancy being a Doctor!!
Exams are meant to be studied for, they shouldn’t be laid on a plate so that any Tom, Dick or Harry can pass, maybe you should be thankful the test isn’t based on the knowledge i.e. London taxi drivers exam it takes 3 to 5 years to complete, as for the bar being set to high the trade require driver’s who have the knowledge to do the job not someone who has learnt a copy of six sheets of street names. I believe people have already passed the new taxi test so maybe the moral of the story is that you should have tried to study a bit harder!! Maybe you should just stick with the job you have which will save you wasting your hard earned cash on a career that doesn’t seem to be your forte.
The new taxi test came into effect because complaints were being received about some taxi drivers not having sufficient knowledge to take the public to their destinations. The reason this turned out to be the case is that the answers to the original test were widely available in the public domain and that is why members of the public were being asked for their post code so this could be inserted into the drivers SATNAV.
The test wasn’t a knee jerk reaction it had been discussed at great lengths during various liaison meetings with the Trade, Tayside Police and members of the Licensing Department. It was agreed what the consistency of the test should be and what criteria boxes should be ticked. But most of all this would ensure that any new drivers passing the test would have proved to be worthy of the job in hand.

Sat navs don,t always take you the quickest and cheapest route.Sats are a real help when you get stuck .