DVSA warns drivers face new qualification to continue travelling on UK roads

James Rodger
·2-min read
Drivers can reapply for their CPC from February 1 after completing the new training course.
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Drivers have been warned they have less than a week to register for new qualifications which will allow them to continue travelling on UK roads. Drivers can reapply for their CPC from February 1 after completing the new training course.

From 1 February 2025, UK drivers whose CPC certification expired between 60 days and two years ago can complete a seven-hour 'Return to Driving' course to quickly regain professional driving status. The scheme will provide new options for drivers whose Driver CPC certification expired between 60 days and two years ago.

Under the new scheme, drivers whose Driver CPC certification expired between 60 days and two years ago are eligible to complete a seven-hour ‘Return to Driving’ course to regain their professional driving status. Upon completion, they will receive a one-year National Driver CPC card, allowing them to resume professional driving immediately.

ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE: Most drivers 'unaware' of huge vehicle tax increases from April

READ MORE: UK faces big driving law change because '85 per cent of motorists want it'

READ MORE UK set for 13cm snow bomb with 'exact hour' flurries start announced

During this one-year period, drivers must complete an additional 28 hours of training to maintain their qualification. The course lasts for seven hours, which can be split across two consecutive days, and has options for in-person sessions or remote learning, with up to two hours of e-learning integrated.

Drivers can requalify without taking a theory or practical test. The course content focuses on essential skills for drivers returning after a career break, ensuring they remain safe, compliant, and informed. Topics include ones for HGV drivers and those who drive buses or coaches.

ADVERTISEMENT

HGV motorists face walk-around checks, safe loading, vulnerable road users, drivers’ hours, and tachographs. Bus and coach drivers face passenger safety, disability awareness, vulnerable road users, drivers’ hours, and tachograph checks, it has been warned by experts.

Drivers whose CPC certification expired over two years ago will continue to follow the existing process, which requires completing 35 hours of CPC training, the DVSA has also added.

Latest stories

  • Brits Urged To Check Passports Ahead Of 2025 Holidays As 4 Million Need Updates

    It could ruin your holiday plans.

  • DWP State Pension age will have to rise to 71, new report says

    New research suggests that workers born after April 1970 will not reach UK State Pension age until they are 71

  • Where does the US get its steel and aluminum from?

    STORY: With President Donald Trump targeting steel and aluminum, here's a breakdown of where the U.S. gets those metals.:: Steel Roughly a quarter of all steel in the U.S. is imported from neighbors Mexico and Canada or overseas allies like Japan, Germany and South Korea. Canada and Mexico accounted for almost 40% of U.S. steel imports in 2024.6.6 million net tons of steel mill products were imported from Canada and 3.5 million came from Mexico, according to U.S. Census Bureau data via the American Iron and Steel Institute. Brazil was the second-largest source of steel imports to the U.S. last year.:: Shanghai, ChinaWhile China is the world’s largest steel producer and exporter, very little of that is sent to the U.S.Most Chinese steel was shut out of the market when 25% tariffs were imposed in 2018. :: Aluminum Roughly half of all aluminum used in the U.S. is imported, with the vast majority coming from Canada. At 3.2 million metric tons last year, Canadian imports were twice the next nine countries combined, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The next largest sources of imports are the United Arab Emirates at around 347,000 metric tons and China at around 223,000 metric tons.The U.S. aluminum smelting industry is small by global standards. Total smelter capacity in the country was just 1.7% of the global total, according to the U.S. geological survey.

  • Worst jobs slump since pandemic in wake of Budget ‘gloom’

    New job openings have fallen at their fastest pace since the pandemic amid widespread “gloom” in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s Budget.

  • Brace for steep job cuts after tax raid, says Bank of England rate-setter

    Bosses are planning “dramatic” job cuts or hiring freezes in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s tax raid, a Bank of England official has warned.

  • Job centres to pop up outside mosques as part of back to work drive

    Mobile job centres will pop up outside mosques as part of a drive to reduce worklessness.

  • Are my ultra-high-yielding Legal & General shares going to jump in price after new US deal?

    Strong earnings growth forecasts should support my high-yielding Legal & General shares, with a further boost coming from a big new deal in the US. The post Are my ultra-high-yielding Legal & General shares going to jump in price after new US deal? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

  • ArcelorMittal considers shifting European support activities to India

    ArcelorMittal is considering a potential shift of some of its European business support activities to India, as the region’s steel sector faces pressure from high costs and rising imports, the world's second-largest steelmaker said on Tuesday. The company, however, said no steel manufacturing would be moved to India from Europe. Europe's steel industry has been struggling against oversupply from China and now - like other exporters - faces 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports U.S. President Donald Trump announced "without exceptions or exemptions" on Monday.

  • Much-loved butchers that has stood for more than 40 years announces closure

    A MUCH-loved butchers that has served the town for more than 40 years will be closing at the end of the month.

  • Germany scrambles to refill gas stores as cold snap looms

    Germany is scrambling to refill its gas storage tanks as Europe braces for a cold snap.

  • US coal exports to India expected to rise due to China tariffs

    The United States is expected to boost coal exports to India after China imposed tariffs on energy imports from the U.S., five industry officials said, potentially eroding Australia and Russia's market shares in the Indian market. China's Finance Ministry last week said it would impose levies of 15% on imports of U.S. coal, which the officials said could push U.S. miners to ship to India - the world's second-largest coal importer behind China.

  • 'Beguiling' beauty spot could soon be home to an 'exclusive' village

    An old mill could be transformed into almost 60 homes.

  • Turbine MRO Best Practices: Expert Guide to Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul

    Effective maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) practices are vital for reliable turbine operation. Innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D scanning are transforming MRO processes

  • India's Karnataka state draws investment proposals worth $115 billion, spokesperson says

    India's southern state of Karnataka has received investment proposals worth nearly 10 trillion rupees ($115.31 billion), a government spokesperson said, as the country tries to bolster its manufacturing sector and generate jobs in a slowing economy. The proposed investments would focus on areas such as renewable energy, steel, semiconductors and automobiles, the spokesperson said at the 'Invest Karnataka' event on Tuesday. To be sure, not all proposals have been confirmed and the government has not provided a timeline for these investments.

  • ‘It’s nightmarish’: why 1.5m Britons are still hunting for a job

    UK jobseekers say employers are hiring fewer staff, whom they expect to do more for less pay

  • BP at risk of takeover without renewed oil and gas focus success

    It is nearly five years to the day since Bernard Looney, the then new chief executive of BP, set out a radical strategy for the oil major to go net zero by 2050.

  • Indian steelmakers fear for future if unprotected from effects of Trump tariffs

    India's smaller steelmakers could be forced out of business by a further surge in imports resulting from sharp tariff increases imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, industry executives warned on Monday. With Indian producers already facing increased competition from rising cheap imports from some of the world's leading producers, Trump has increased tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to a flat 25%. "The increased tariffs may divert Chinese and other Asian exports to India while heightening competition, creating a downward pressure on domestic prices, and affecting small Indian producers with low-cost Chinese dumping," said Anubhav Kathuria, managing director of stainless steel producer Synergy Steels.

  • Households face jump in energy bills as green power struggles

    Households face an increase in their energy bills as power generation from renewable sources such as wind farms proves unreliable, analysts have warned.

  • Husband sues after wife and son, 8, allegedly die from food poisoning at upscale resort

    The lawsuit alleges that resort staff were not trained to identify and respond to emergencies and that food prep areas were not sufficiently sanitary

  • North East café owner looking to expand business to multiple sites

    North East café owner now plans a business expansion after taking part in a government funded course.