CPD & the ORDIT register

• CPD (continuing professional development) is entirely voluntary - you choose how to do it and pay any costs.
• Commit to at least 7 hours of CPD a year and you can record that commitment on your ADI registration - it then shows on DVSA's official 'Find your nearest driving instructors' service, where pupils can see it.
• What counts is broad: updating your teaching or driving skills, seminars and meetings (local or national), courses in person or online, internet research, researching new vehicle technology, developing business skills, and networking with other trainers.
• DVSA publishes a CPD evaluation template that maps your activities to the driver-trainer competence framework - the same framework your standards check is scored against, so good CPD records double as standards check preparation.

Seven hours is one morning a quarter. Our view: pick CPD that moves one of three needles - your standards check grade, your pass rate, or your rate per hour. Examples that do all three:

• Client-centred coaching training - directly scored in the 'teaching and learning strategies' column of your standards check.
• Reviewing your own ADI test-data report against the DVSA trigger thresholds (faults per test, interventions, pass rate) and working on the weakest number.
• A specialism that commands a premium: nervous drivers, motorway confidence after the test, or teaching in a second language - in London, Cantonese and Mandarin instruction is a genuinely under-served niche.
• Sitting in on another instructor's lesson and swapping observations - free, and DVSA counts networking with other trainers as CPD.

• ORDIT is the Official Register of Driving Instructor Training - the DVSA-recognised register for people who train driving instructors. You don't legally need it to train ADIs, but it's the official quality mark, and pupils training to be instructors are told to look for it.
• The entry bar is high: you must be an ADI with a Grade A at your most recent standards check (a Part 3 result doesn't count), and DVSA reviews your trainees' and pupils' test data.
• The assessment runs up to 90 minutes against the same 17 competencies as the standards check, but the pass mark is 43 out of 51 - Grade A standard. You get two attempts.
• Verified fees: assessment £151.20, registration £120 for one training establishment (£18 each additional), reassessment £151.20. Registration lasts 4 years.
• Note: DVSA pauses ORDIT applications from time to time - check the gov.uk page for whether applications are currently open before planning around it.

Is CPD mandatory for ADIs?

No - it's voluntary and self-funded. But committing to 7+ hours a year can be recorded on your registration and shows on DVSA's official instructor finder.

What's the fastest route to becoming an instructor trainer?

Earn a Grade A at your standards check, keep your pupils' test data healthy, then apply to ORDIT (when applications are open) and pass the assessment at 43/51.

Does TOFU support CPD?

Yes - our head of instruction (27+ years) runs development sessions with our instructors, and the coaching approach we teach is exactly what the standards check rewards. Ask us about it.