GONE TO THE POLLS
MOT training and assessments GW readers share their views on the newly DVSA-enforced MOT training and assessments… 90 PER CENT of independent garages know about the requirements of new MOT training and assessments but many are concerned about how effective these changes will be when it comes to improving testing standards, a GW reader survey has revealed. One respondent said: “I could not believe how easy it was to pass. “I was expecting a bit of a challenge but completed the first attempt in seven minutes, completely unaided, and my score was 83 per cent.” Another commented: “How can this possibly be construed as training? “If a question is wrongly answered you are given the correct answer. “It is purely and simply a cost-cutting exercise for the DVSA, nothing else.” Almost three quarters of the survey respondents would agree. Just two in ten believe the new system is a ‘skills investment’ while the majority showed strong opposition to the increased tester costs, including one respondent who argued that it’s “another nail in the coffin for small independent operators”. A number of respondents claimed that some of the assessment questions were either incorrect or irrelevant. One said: “The questions were vague and sometimes contained two possible answers.
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“Advisories are optional, so how can you possibly have a multiple-choice question containing the answers ‘pass’ and ‘pass and advise’?” The findings also highlight concerns that the new system could be open to abuse. One respondent wrote: “I heard of a garage that was going to get the apprentice to spend a day completing the training and assessments for the whole team.” Another said: “This new system is crazy. “Before you had to physically attend a course put on by the very people who monitor it.”
What you need to know MOT managers and testers should complete and record at least three hours of training every year before booking the assessment. Both the training and assessment must be completed before 1st April, 2017. The current pass mark is 50 per cent but the DVSA has confirmed that it will be raised in the coming years. For 2017-2018 assessments, it’s been proposed that the pass mark could be raised to 60 per cent. By the 2019-2020 assessments, it may be raised to 70 per cent and then raised again to 80 per cent for the 2021-2022 assessments. New training topics will be set each year, based on the latest tester error rates. The DVSA has suggested that next year’s subjects are likely to include tyres and corrosion.