Enactment of Driver CPC (DCPC) reform is set to begin this year after legislation around the changes was laid before Parliament on 20 May.
It follows an outline during December 2023 of the next steps in the overarching reform process. Subject to parliamentary approval, from later in 2024 vocational drivers will be able to take advantage of a split of DCPC into International and National mechanisms. During 2025, change will be made to how individuals returning to vocational driving regain a DCPC.
International DCPC will be no different to how DCPC works now, and permit the holder to drive in the UK and the EU. National DCPC will allow them to drive only in the UK. Via the changes underway, the latter will be renewed via either 35 hours of National DCPC training, or a combination of 35 hours’ National and International tuition, over five years.
Other alterations that were proposed in 2023 require further consultation and will thus follow later. Those include how the National DCPC can incorporate a test-based approach for both regular renewals and those after a period of a DCPC being expired.
Flexibility within National DCPC will mean that courses can be as short as three hours and 30 minutes. When courses are split, individual parts will not be required to be completed on consecutive days, with no specific time limit for that being set.
E-learning-only courses will be acceptable for National DCPC, with up to 12 hours of e-learning permitted per 35 hours’ overall training. That maximum will also be the case for International DCPC training, although there, e-learning in a trainer-led course will remain limited to two hours.
Changes to DCPC for those returning to professional driving apply where their qualification has been expired for between 60 days and two years. Three options for regaining a DCPC where that is satisfied will be in play from 2025:
- Obtain a National DCPC by completing a new return to driving module of seven hours’ duration. Once that is done, driving professionally in the UK will be permitted. The driver must take a further 28 hours’ International or National DCPC training within 12 months
- Obtain an International DCPC training via 35 hours’ International DCPC training
- Obtain an International DCPC by completing a return to driving module. That will allow the driver to start driving professionally within the UK. They will then undertake 28 hours’ other International DCPC training within 12 months to allow them to drive in the EU.
There is no indication of what the return to driving module will involve or whether it will need to be taken in person. Where a DCPC has been expired for more than two years, 35 hours’ training as appropriate to regain the International or National DCPC will be required.
Later work on periodic testing for the National DCPC will include consideration of what that should include and how long it should be, and whether two separate tests would needed by a driver holding both category C and category D entitlement. There is yet no proposed date for when that test would be introduced.
Full detail of the Driver CPC reform for 2024 and 2025 here.
