Green Penny Taxi and Private Hire Driver Course

(Chelmsford City, Maldon District, Rushcliffe Borough & Uttlesford District)

Uttlesford District, Chelmsford City, Maldon District, & Rushcliffe Borough Council courses

Prefer to book your course by phone?

Call us on: 0330 111 7230

Some local authorities require that you take a taxi driver information course in order to drive a taxi or private hire vehicle. To find out if your local authority requires you to take a taxi driver information course please contact them directly. You should also check that we already work with your local authority to carry out a taxi driver course on their behalf.

Course and test fees:

Initial Course for Hackney Carriage & Private Hire drivers, including 1st attempt at The Licensed Driver Test (full day) £130

Refresher Online Course for Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Drivers (half day) £60

The Licensed Driver Test – retest (Uttlesford, Chelmsford & Maldon councils) £19.50

The Geographical Knowledge Test (Uttlesford, Chelmsford & Maldon) £19.50

Initial Online Course for Home to School drivers Online Course (half day) £115

 

What to expect from the course

Whether you are a new applicant or an existing licence holder, our courses will provide you with the relevant information required to carry out your role.

Please ensure you book the appropriate type of course.

Taxi and Private Hire Drivers, please book: Initial Course for PHV & Hackney Carriage drivers.

For Home to School drivers, please book: Initial course for Home to School drivers.

The course will cover:

  • Current legislation, rules, and regulations applicable to drivers
  • Expectations for customer service
  • Increasing drivers own awareness and how to ensure their own safety
  • How to report a crime and advising drivers how to deal with customer complaints
  • Relevant sections of Highway code
  • Disability and equality awareness
  • Safeguarding responsibilities
  • Payment and basic arithmetic (Initial Course for Hackney Carriage & PHV drivers only.)

 

Once you have booked a course, you will be sent a link to the digital copy of the course handbook. We advise that you read the handbook prior to attending the course.

What to bring to the course

– Your driving licence.

– If you have the old style (non-photocard) licence, then you must also bring a valid passport.

– If you are an existing driver going through the renewal process with your local authority, please bring your existing taxi driver badge with you to the course, as well as your driving licence.

– Your booking confirmation email.

Tests that will need to be passed for each council

Chelmsford City Council:

New & renewing drivers: The Licensed Driver test & Geographical Knowledge Tests.

Maldon District Council:

New drivers: The Licensed Driver test & Geographical Knowledge Tests.

Renewing drivers: The Licensed Driver test.

Uttlesford District council:

Private hire drivers: The Licensed Driver test.

Hackney Carriage & Dual Licences: The Licensed Driver test & Geographical Knowledge Tests.

 

The Licensed Driver Test (Uttlesford, Chelmsford & Maldon)

Upon a successful attempt at The Licensed Driver Test (you will take The Licensed Driver Test at the end of the course), you will receive your pass certificate by email, within 24 hours.

If you do not pass The Licensed Driver Test, you will be notified by email. You will then be contacted by us to arrange booking a retest.

For the Initial Online Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver Course, you must be available to attend for the Licensed Driver test within 2 working days from the date of the course.

The Home to School Drivers Course and Refresher Online Course for Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Drivers, do not require a test, a certificate of attendance will be issued upon full attendance of the course.

The Geographical Knowledge Test (Uttlesford, Chelmsford & Maldon)

Your chosen council may require you to take a Geographical Knowledge Test (compulsory for all Chelmsford CC applicants and Maldon DC new applicants). Prior preparation by you will be required for this test. The test will comprise of questions relating to the geographical area of your chosen council, based on Places of Interest, Routes or Local Knowledge of the Local Authority area.

  • You will have 35 minutes available to you to answer 12 multiple choice questions.
  • To pass the test, you will need to score a minimum total of 9 correct answers.

Below you will find an example question from each section:

Section 1 example question

Which of these towns does not have a taxi rank?

a) Saffron Walden

b) Stansted

c) Thaxted

d) Dunmow

Section 2 example question

A customer would like to be collected from Travelodge in Great Dunmow and taken to Stansted Airport. Which would be the best route to take?

a) Chelmsford Rd- B1256- Parsonage Rd- Terminal Rd South- Gorefield Rd- Undercroft Rd

b) Chelmsford Rd- A120- Thremhall Avenue- Terminal Rd South- Gorefield Rd- Undercroft Rd

c) Chelmsford Rd- A120- Bassingbourn Rd- Undercroft Rd

d) Chelmsford Rd- B1256- A120- Bassingbourn Rd- Undercroft Rd

Section 3 example question

Where is the Queen Victoria Pub?

a) Newport

b) Audley End Rd

c) Clavering

d) Littlebury

If you pass both The Geographical Test and The Licensed Driver Test on the same day, you will receive a combined pass certificate by email, within 24 hours. If you pass The Geographical Test on a different day to The Licensed Driver Test, you will receive a separate pass certificate for this.

If you do not pass The Geographical Knowledge Test, you will be notified by email. You will then need book and pay for a retest. Please note: all Geographical Knowledge Tests must be paid for and are not included in the course fee.

Additional support requirements

As part of our Equal Opportunities Policy, we are committed to ensuring that there is no discrimination in the provision of our services. A reasonable adjustment can be given to someone who has a disability, medical condition or learning need that may affect them during the course, test or assessment. However, due to the nature of some of our services, a candidate must have the literacy skills to be able to read and understand any course, test or assessment material and any additional resources related to it.

Refunds/cancellations

If you wish to cancel your place on the course, you may do so providing that:

a) You give us a minimum of four clear working days’ notice.
b) Notice is given to us in writing by emailing taxi@greenpenny.co.uk or by calling us on 0330 111 7230.
If the above terms are met, then we will cancel your place on the course and will provide you with a full refund via your original method of payment and will confirm this via email.

If you wish to change the date of your course or test, you may do so providing that:

a) You give us a minimum of four clear working days’ notice.
b) Notice must be given in writing by email taxi@greenpenny.co.uk or by calling us on 0330 1117230

If the above terms have been met, then we will change the date of your course or test and confirm this via email.

If you have already attended the full course, or part of the course, then no cancellation or change of date is possible and no refund will be due. If you fail to attend a course or test on the date you have booked, or you arrive late, no refund or date change will be available.