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Driver licences were first introduced in Britain by the Motor Car Act, 1903, purely as a means of identifying vehicles and their drivers. All motor vehicles had to be registered, display registration marks and be licensed annually at a cost of 20 shillings (£1). The fee for the first driving licence, which was obtained over the counter at Post Offices, was five shillings (25p). Failure to sign your driving licence with your ‘ordinary signature’ could lead to a fine of up to £5.

In 1921 there were only 1 million drivers in Britain. By 1939 this figure had risen to 3 million. But it was only during the 1960s, when cars became more affordable, that motoring really took off. In 1973 the number of drivers had risen to about 20 million and a centralised computer-based licensing system was brought in to cope with the huge increase in demand for both driver and vehicle licences.

Independent driving will become part of the practical driving test in Great Britain in October 2010. It's tasking the candidate to drive for about 10 minutes, either following a series of directions, following traffic signs, or a combination of both. To help the candidate be clear about where they’re going, the examiner can show them a diagram too. It doesn't matter if candidates don't remember every direction, or if they go the wrong way - that can happen to the most experienced drivers.

The claim in some newspapers that independent driving would lead to a fall in the driving test pass rate is based on early research where conditions did not reflect the eventual design of the new element of the test. Subsequent trials with a larger number of participants and more closely reflecting the conditions in the planned new test showed no significant fall in the pass rate. DSA has published a short video on its YouTube channel explaining more about independent driving.

DSA’s National Driving (Category B) and National Riding Standards (Category A/P) set out the knowledge, skills and understanding that we believe are required to be a safe and responsible driver or rider. Our aim in publishing these Standards is to contribute to DSA’s overall objective of reducing the number of people who are killed and seriously injured on our roads by describing good practice in the field of driver training as well as providing a benchmark for performance in underpinning lifelong driver development.

The National Driving and Riding Standards are based on a body of research and consultation which was undertaken for us by external consultants and involved input from many of our stakeholders. That work resulted in the Cat. A/P and Cat. B Competence Frameworks, which are also available on this page. The items listed in these frameworks link to a bibliography of the sources on which the consultants relied. At the present moment, for technical reasons, it is not possible to make those links available. However, we are planning to put up a revised version of this site as soon as possible which will allow anybody who is interested to look at those sources.

They have published the related Syllabi which set out, in broad terms, our thoughts about best practice in delivering the content of the standards. They have been developed from the National Standards and can be used by others who wish to develop their own.

The National Driving and Riding Standards represent our current best knowledge and understanding. They must remain live and meaningful. Therefore, we actively welcome questions about the Standards and suggestions about how they could be improved. In particular we should welcome any evidence, from research or practice, which will help us to make the Standards more robust. We intend to update the Standards on a regular basis, probably annually. However, if any safety critical issues are identified we shall, of course, respond immediately.

The National Standard for Driving describes the skills, knowledge and understanding required to be a safe and responsible driver of a Category B vehicle. The Standard will contribute to DSA’s overall objective of reducing the number of people who are killed and seriously injured on our roads by describing good practice in the field of driving as well as providing a benchmark for performance in underpinning lifelong driver development.

Trainers, driving schools and individuals. will use it in addition to employers, Sector Skills Councils and standards setting bodies, regulatory authorities and awarding bodies, education and training providers and producers of learning materials.

Based on extensive research and consultation, the National Standard for Driving provides a firm foundation to underpin improvements in the way in which we test and assess people’s ability to drive.