The value of Check Tests

The DSA measure the continued competence of an ADI by regularly spot checking them every few years or so.  This spot check is called a ‘check test’.  It consists of the ADI demonstrating to the DSA a typical lesson that they provide, either to a real learner, or the ADI can choose to ask the DSA examiner to role-play a learner.  The test takes an hour, you are then instantly graded, and as long as you get a 4, 5 or 6, then you don’t get tested again for 2, 3, 4 years.

Now when you consider that in the nearly 3 years I have been in business not a single customer has asked me what my check test result is, one has to question why the DSA do that exercise.  When people with youngsters move house, top of the list of criteria regarding WHERE you move will be whether there are any good schools in the area.  How can they check that?  You can instantly get access to the OFSTED grading, it’s even possible to see it on ‘Rightmove’.  So rightly or wrongly, the public see a direct link between assessing how good a school is, and the grade OFSTED have given it.

Whilst I recognise that more emphasis is being placed right now by OFSTED on the quality of teaching, they simply will not ignore exam results.  A measure of a schools competence must be what exam results they achieve with the students they serve.  Not necessarily in terms of achieving a certain quota of top marks, but demonstrating that you are markedly improving the education or learning of the students that come into the school.  It would be extremely odd if they didn’t take that into account would it not?

It is odd then that the DSA don’t (seemingly) take into account a driving instructors pass rates when they grade them.  In that hour of assessment, the examiner looks at the ADI’s METHOD of teaching.  Important I grant you, but should it be the sole measure?  When OFSTED go into a school, yes, for sure they go and assess teachers teaching in classes, but they don’t ignore exam results!

The irony is that you could have an ADI who for that 1 assessment every 4 years, ‘turns on’ the METHOD button in front of the DSA, and gets graded the highest grade 6, but then takes on average 2.5 test attempts per learner to get a pass. 

Turn it on its head though for a second.  Ignore the big stick approach from the DSA and consider how ADI’s can evaluate their own competence.

Go and ask 20 ADI’s if they consider themselves a good instructor and listen to the replies.  My bet is they will start using words like “patient, professional, friendly, good value, reliable”.  And some will say “grade 6”.  And some will be bothering to monitor their first time pass rates and tell you what it currently is.  Now which of those would a customer want to know about? 

The check test does have a value in the process of grading an ADI, but for it to be the only measure of competence is insultingly disrespectful to the paying public.  They deserve to be informed of the quality of driving instructors.  Measuring quality of a professional in the teaching world has got to include results, it’s a nonsense not to.  There are of course exceptions, I know some ADI’s specialise in learning difficulties for instance, but I personally think it’s high time the DSA took a bit of ownership on this subject and demonstrate some willingness to embrace transparency and accountability.