The first Driver CPC reform changes will come into force on 3 December including the introduction of a new National Driver CPC qualification, the Department for Transport has confirmed.
It follows recent parliamentary approval of proposals. The National Driver CPC will be valid only to drive in the UK. All newly qualified vocational drivers will continue to receive what will become the International Driver CPC (mirroring the present qualification) for their first five years.
Drivers that work internationally will continue their International Driver CPC periodic training as currently, although Minister of State for Transport Lord Hendy recently suggested that the EU is considering its own reforms to that.
Further change to Driver CPC for an expedited means of returning to professional driving where a qualification card has expired up to two years previously will follow from 1 February 2025. Use of the initial seven-hour ‘return to driving’ module under those circumstances will be available to drivers wishing to reobtain either an International or a National Driver CPC.
The December changes will see introduction of separate driver qualification cards, with that for the National Driver CPC marked clearly.
Under the National Driver CPC mechanism, 35 hours of training every five years will continue to be required.
Additional flexibility via that new approach will:
- Require those training courses to be at least three hours and 30 minutes long
- Not demand that split courses are completed on consecutive days
- Permit courses that are e-learning only; those can be taken at a workplace or home.
Other proposed amendments to Driver CPC, including a pass or fail approach to the National qualification, require further consultation.
RHA has welcomed the certainty that has now come on changes to Driver CPC. Policy Lead for Skills Sally Gilson says that the trade body’s members “have been waiting for these… since the consultation in 2023.”
She adds: “Giving drivers greater choice of how they gain their Driver CPC was a key reform and recognises the flexibility operators need.” RHA previously came out against any option to renew the National qualification solely via periodic test.
