IWGB PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS

UPHD Introduction

At the IWGB/UPHD Drivers strategy meeting held on the 9th May 2022 the drivers voted unanimously to have as a priority a campaign around the recently TFL introduced English Language Test (ELT) that is fundamentally unfair, discriminatory and causing concern and stress amonst many drivers. What follows is information that helps drivers to understand the test, supports them in passing it and explains why the IWGB/UPHD feels it is unfair and needs to be changed. 

SIGN THE PETITION HERE TO MAKE IT CHANGE!

What is the English Language Requirement (ELR)?

To work as an Private Hire Driver in London you will need a valid PCO issued by TfL (i.e. Transport for London). This licence application involves three short tests set by TfL which must be passed to renew or receive a valid licence. Two of these tests make sure that all PCO drivers can understand English to a suitable standard and are known as the English Language Requirement (ELR). 

The rules for the ELR have recently changed.  This article covers everything you need to know currently in regards to the ELR. 

This third TfL exam for a PCO licence checks that a private hire driver has a basic grasp of London geography and can plan routes properly. This is called the topographical test and is only required for Drivers applying for a NEW licence not a RENEWAL. 

Back in 2016, Transport for London introduced the ELR to check that all private hire drivers can speak, listen, read and write English to the equivalent of level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference. Level B1 refers to an intermediate standard (i.e. a person who is able to cope with common situations if on a trip to the UK).

In October 2021, TfL changed the rules for the ELR tests. The overall standard remains the same – the difference is that you can no longer simply provide documentary evidence, such as a certificate from one of TfL’s appointed Secure English Language Test (SELT) providers. From that date onwards, new PCO drivers must pass the actual tests.

Who is required to pass these ELR assessments?

The rule changes on ELR affect three groups of people: 

• New applicants for a PCO licence (i.e. after 1 Oct 2021)
• Private hire drivers who submitted no ELR evidence before the deadline (i.e. 1 Oct 2021)
• Private hire drivers who submitted the ELR evidence before this deadline that was rejected as inadequate or invalid. 
• Private hire drivers who need to renew their licence (i.e. after Oct 2021)

All of these people will have to pass the ELR tests but there are transitional arrangements in place at the moment. 

• PCO drivers who applied for a PCO licence after 1 Oct 2021 (but before 1 April 2023) must pass both ELR tests by 31 March 2023.
• PCO drivers who applied before 1 Oct 2021 and submitted no evidence must pass both ELR tests by 30 Sept 2022. 
• PCO drivers who applied before 1 Oct 2021 and submitted unacceptable evidence must pass both ELR tests by 31 Mar 2023.

These transitional arrangements end on 31 March 2023. After that date, all private hire drivers must pass both of these ELR assessments before being licensed by TfL, whether they are a new applicant or an existing PHV driver who needs to renew.

What does the TfL English test include?

The TfL English test (ELR) is split into two halves. Each exam is a separate test but both are typically taken on the same day. 

The first test is a speaking and listening assessment of your spoken English skills. The second test will check your reading and writing ability. Let’s look at what each of these tests involve in a little more detail. 

1. Speaking and listening assessment 

The new English language skills test is a 15-20 minute conversation with an interlocutor (i.e. the examiner you speak with). This is an individual assessment that happens while you are at the TfL offices but it actually takes place over a video or telephone link with a TfL service provider called PeopleCert. To pass the exam, you must score at least 60 out of 100 marks. 

This verbal assessment is only short and has five basic sections: 

1. Personal information – driver responds to questions on familiar matters
2. Situational role play – driver initiates and responds to social situations
3. Exchanging information – driver exchanges information about a set of images
4. Listen and respond – driver answers questions on a short speech delivered by the examiner
5. Long turn – driver gives a short talk on a relevant topic provided by the examiner

PCO drivers can download practice materials and mock interviews on the PeopleCert website here.

2. Reading and writing assessment 

As its name suggests, the second ELR test is a written exam. However, the assessment is not purely to check general English skills. Instead, TfL looks at the answers drivers give in their test about safety, equality and regulatory understanding (SERU). 

The SERU assessment checks that London PHV drivers understand the safety, equality and regulatory requirements that apply to them. Put simply, TfL also uses the SERU test to assess reading and writing skills. It’s one exam with two purposes. 

This test is based on the PHV Driver Handbook and covers four main subjects:

1. Equality – the needs of passengers with protected status e.g. race or disability
2. Passenger and driver safety – how to protect children or adults at risk from harm
3. Road and vehicle safety – regulations on licence tests and public safety
4. TfL policy for PHV drivers – rules about private hire drivers behaviour at work

This exam involves multiple-choice questions and asks drivers to complete sentences by adding missing words. There is an official TfL guide to the SERU assessment here. 

New PCO drivers should also complete the online Safeguarding Awareness training course before taking the SERU assessment. 

Where can you take the TfL English test?

Most PCO drivers take both of the ELR tests on the same day, either at the TfL premises in Baker Street or West Kensington.

The other big question that most Private Hire Drivers ask is how much does it cost to take the TfL English language test? Each of these two ELR tests will cost £36 when taken for the first time or £16 for a re-sit.

If you fail both tests then potentially you will not get a licence or a renewed licence.

Whether you have already submitted a PCO licence application or are due to renew this, TfL will contact you about a test date for your ELR test. Drivers may contact TfL on 0343 222 4444 (charges apply) but cannot book the tests until invited to do so.

Why is the union calling for reform?

The ELR (English Language Requirement) has been a requirement that all new drivers have had to meet prior to October 1st 2021 in order to get a PCO licence.

As explained in the above paragraphs, from October 1st 2021, any new drivers, and some drivers who have submitted ELR document that do not fit TFLs ELR criteria before this date, will have to take the English Language Test (ELT) as part of the SERU (Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding) requirement test.

The IWGB/UPHD feels this is fundamentally unfair, discriminatory and will cause serious stress and worry for many drivers who have driven for years without any issues relating to communications, safety and regularity understanding.

The issues are as follows:

1. Over 90% of private hire drivers are from BAME backgrounds, and over 80% are migrant workers​ and may have problems passing the English Language Test. Many of them have been driving for years and had no issues relating to communications, safety and regulatory understanding, but now face arduous tests and the prospect of losing their licence.

2. It is not common for other transport services such as the buses, tube and train networks to impose a ELT on their employees.

3. All drivers have two chances to take the SERU/ELT. If they are not successful on the second attempt they will not be issued a PCO licence and therefore will lose their livelihood as they will not be able to drive as a Private Hire Driver.

4. This is an indirect attack on the non white and immigrant communities whose labour is essential to London’s economy.

5. Many drivers in the past have paid £100s of pounds for the TFL recommended and approved courses in English to help them fulfil the English Language Requirement which is now redundant with this new process. Drivers have wasted their money especially after paying for these courses. They seem to be constantly changing the goal posts for PCO licence allocation.

6. Drivers are leaving the industry due to the escalating and crippling costs of fuel and the cost of living. The tests are compounding the misery drivers face on a daily basis. 

Demands

1. Offer subsidised English lessons to all drivers;
2. Remove limit on number of times a driver can re-test;
3. Allow new and renewed drivers to use their documented evidence as proof of the English Language Requirement as they could prior to October 2021.

Join the ELT Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DpeVnqyJPvi29oIRQk5H4i

Sign the petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sadiq-khan-let-us-drive/

Join the IWGB/UPHD: https://iwgb.org.uk/en/join/