COVID-19 Update

Covid-19 – We Are Open!!! Stay Alert, Stay Safe!!!

Firstly, a big thank you to all our Instructors, Staff and Pupils for bearing with us, we hope  all customers new, present and passed have been following the guidance and keeping safe and well.  

Following Government guidelines we have taken the following action, the safety of our instructors and you as a pupil, the customer is paramount:

1. Our Head Office is currently closed although phone lines are open, Freephone today on 03335775004 to speak to an advisor and get booked in!

2. We have created a system to manage demand once we can get back out and teaching. All current A Class pupils will be prioritised initially then allocation of new pupils will be managed with those who have pre-paid vouchers taking priority first and then any pay as you go customers following that.

We believe when we do get back to work our instructors diaries will be very busy! To avoid any disappointment and be first in the queue call now and prepay for you lessons with an A Class Voucher! This way you will be guaranteed the earliest available slot to meet your availability. If you purchase a voucher you will also be given access to Theory Test Pro free of charge, speak to an advisor today who can tell you more. 

3. All Cars, (Controls, Steering wheel, etc) will be cleaned and wiped down prior to each individual lesson. All A Class instructors will follow best practice guidance and wear appropriate PPE on every lesson. 

4. All customers and pupils will be asked to declare that they are symptom free. 

5. All Key workers will be allocated ASAP depending on their location and instructor availability. The office staff will also assist with emails and test bookings where necessary. 

General Info: Last updated 08/06/2020 

All A Class instructors have been advised to follow the following guidelines from the DIA: https://driving.org/coronavirus-advice/ 

Key worker training advice

Our current guidance is to only deliver in-car driver training to key workers preparing for an essential driving test.

There has been some confusion around the terms key and critical workers. DVSA is now using the terms key workers and emergency testing for key workers.

NASP advises that trainers should carefully evaluate the risks of on-road training at this time, and establish whether there is an essential need for such before taking on any new key worker pupil.

We remind trainers that they engage in in-vehicle training during this period entirely at their own discretion due to the risks involved.

The type of training NASP deems unessential, and should therefore be avoided includes:

  • Learner and novice training of any non-key worker
  • Learner and novice driver/rider training from scratch where the pupil is a key worker but does not have an essential need to drive at this time, ie they can use other modes of transport to commute and they are not required to drive for work. It is also unlikely that new learners would pass their test soon enough to be able to undertake a useful and safe driving role as a key worker at this time. It could also cause too much road risk to encourage novice drivers to rapidly gain a licence and undertake pressured occupational driving roles at this time
  • Training or driver/rider development of a driver or rider who is not a key worker 
  • Training or driver development where the key worker (whether full licence holder, vocational licence holder etc) does not have an essential need to drive in their role (ie they are not driving for work or could commute using alternative forms of transport)

Training which could be deemed necessary at this time

  • Key workers who have a practical emergency test confirmed with DVSA 
  • Key workers requiring new licences for essential front line roles, such as emergency response workers acquiring a first licence or needing licences in new categories 
  • Key workers needing driver or rider development in order to safely and competently drive or ride in different/new vehicles which they are unused to in the same licence category, ie delivery drivers 
  • Key workers needing driver or rider development to drive in a new, or increased, occupational context and whose driving risk may therefore be greater. This includes increased commuting to multiple work locations and increased driving/riding in contexts they are unused to such as motorway driving, driving after dark, rural roads, unfamiliar vehicles, UK familiarisation

Risk assessment

Trainers should carefully consider the risks involved in delivering in-vehicle at this time, as they will be unable to socially distance. 

NASP recommends trainers carry out a risk assessment of each pupil and their training requirements before beginning any on-road training.

Examples of key worker training which may be required at this time:

  • A nurse or other frontline healthcare professional who is now required to work at different hospital locations, so needs to increase the amount of occupational driving they are doing, including using motorways (which they are unused to, and nervous of) and have enquired about some driver development in this respect.
  • A community worker being required to take their CBT in order to be more agile in their work covering multiple locations in a city centre
  • Someone who has been recruited as a delivery driver covering rural areas and wants more development using rural roads and after dark driving, given they will have mainly late shifts.
  • A key worker new to the UK who is required to drive and needs some UK familiarisation training 

Safe training practices

If you are supplying driver or rider training to key workers, please see our guidance below.

Call your pupils ahead of each lesson (even if you have seen them within the last couple of days). 

  • Ask them if they have any symptoms.
  • Ask them if anyone they know, or have been in contact with, is showing symptoms.
  • Ask them if they, or if anyone they have been in contact with, has travelled from a high-risk, infectious region.

Explain to them that you need to take a few extra precautionary measures during their lesson to keep them, and everyone safe. 

Ask them: 

  • To wash their hands or use sanitiser gel just prior to getting into the car.
  • To cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing – so a sleeve or tissue, not their hands.

Tell them:

  • You’ll keep a window open for ventilation. 

You also have some other housekeeping to do in order to help protect yourself and your client:

Before the client enters the vehicle, ensure that you have wiped over the following contact points:

Door handles (inside and out), window controls, seat adjusters, steering wheel and steering wheel height adjuster, parking brake, gear lever, indicator and wiper stalks and light controls with alcohol-based gel at the beginning and end of each training session. This would be good practice. 

If you are unable to get the alcohol gel, then a bottle containing disinfectant, mixed with antibacterial soap and water and wiped over with kitchen paper and then dried with a separate sheet of kitchen paper would do. Ensure to discard the paper in the bin each time.

Key worker register

We have set up a key worker register to allow trainers carrying out essential training to validate their work, gain certification to display in their car and receive important training and guidance on working safely during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Registration, training and certification is entirely voluntary and trainers are not obliged to join the register, or use these resources. They are being provided as a helpful, advisory and professional development resource for the industry during this unprecedented period of crisis and change.

DVSA STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR CRITICAL WORKER TESTS DURING COVID 19

These are available to read on the NASP website at www.n-a-s-p.co.uk 

Stay alert, Stay safe.

Updates on Theory and Practical testing have been suspended and details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-driving-tests-and-theory-tests/

Please support the government’s campaign to contain the spread of Covid-19 as outlined here:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/