Automotive technicians are being urged to sit an important annual competency test before the industry-wide 31st March deadline.
Data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) indicates that more than 50,000 automotive technicians are still to sit or even book their mandatory light vehicle or motorcycle MOT tester assessments, which are required to be sat at least once a year.
Meanwhile, employers are also being urged to arrange their technicians’ yearly assessments in order to keep their businesses running smoothly or risk losing technicians through non-compliance.
That’s why the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is calling on vehicle technicians to ensure their training is up to date, allowing them to deliver their trade for another year.
The DVSA’s online guide states that technicians must complete three hours of training each year, 16 hours every five years and must keep a record of this training.
And for the first time since 2019, the assessment deadline for techs will not be extended beyond 31st March, having been extended for the past two years because of interruptions to on-site training and assessments, as well as due to the enormous pressure on automotive businesses and their vehicles caused by vehicle servicing and repair backlogs post-lockdown.
Chris Price, DVSA Head of MOT policy, said: ‘For the past couple of years, we have extended the annual training year in order to help the industry recover from COVID-19, however this year things are much improved, and we will not be extending the annual training year. Therefore, if you have not completed this year’s annual training by midnight Thursday 31st March 2022 you will be suspended from testing.’
John McCulloch, GTG Glasgow’s Automotive Training Manager, said: ‘To stay qualified as an MOT tester, you must complete training and pass an assessment between April and March each year. If you do not do this, your MOT tester status will be suspended. This could have a severe impact on your business, especially if you only have one or two testers in your team.
‘GTG has several dates available in March for testers to sit their assessment to help ensure they can stay compliant.’
Stay trained in MOT delivery with a course from one of GTG’s top-class training centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and West Midlands.