The taxi safeguarding test: what councils check, pass marks and refreshers (2026)

If you are applying for a taxi or private hire driver licence in England, or renewing one, your council will almost certainly ask you to complete safeguarding training, and many will ask you to pass a test at the end. According to the Department for Transport, as at 1 April 2026, 97 % of licensing authority returns required child sexual abuse and exploitation training for taxi drivers, and 76 % required disability awareness training, up from 67 % in 2024.

This guide explains what those tests have in common, so you know what to expect from your own council.

There is no national exam

There is no single national safeguarding test for taxi and private hire drivers. Each licensing authority sets its own training, chooses who delivers it and decides whether it ends with a test. What ties them together is national guidance. The Department for Transport's statutory standards say:

All licensing authorities should provide safeguarding advice and guidance to the trade and should require taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training.

The same standards add that the training should include the ways drivers can help to identify county lines exploitation, and that drivers should know what to do if they believe a child or vulnerable person is at risk of harm. That is why the tests look similar from one council to the next, even though no two are identical.

Pass marks councils publish

Two published examples show the range:

Leeds notes that the questions "will cover the same topics for all authorities" in the shared standard, so drivers in Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and York sit the same kind of test. Wrong answers do not cost marks in any published format we have seen: the rule is always a percentage of correct answers.

If you do not know your council's pass mark, prepare for 80 %. Our practice test uses that threshold, which is stricter than Wolverhampton's.

The six topics

The content comes from a small set of laws and official guidance. Councils weight them differently, but these six areas appear again and again:

1. Safeguarding basics. Who counts as a child and who is an adult at risk, and what the duty to safeguard means for a driver. The legal background is the Children Act 1989 and section 42 of the Care Act 2014.
2. Child sexual exploitation. The statutory guidance defines it as a form of child sexual abuse in which someone takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child under 18 into sexual activity. The questions check the points people get wrong: it can be exploitation even when the activity appears consensual, it does not always involve physical contact, and abusers are not only adult men.
3. County lines and modern slavery. Drivers are named in the statutory standards because the road network is used to move county lines victims, drugs and cash, and hire vehicles are one of the ways they travel. The standards list warning signs a driver may see: children and young people travelling alone, at unusual hours (during school time, early in the morning or late at night), over long distances, unfamiliar with the area or without a local accent, and paying in cash or prepaid. Most victims are aged 15 to 17, but they can be much younger. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 sits behind this part.
4. Reporting and response. If you believe a child or vulnerable person is at immediate risk, the standards say to contact the police. Otherwise use the local safeguarding process, whose first step is usually to contact the safeguarding lead at the local authority; the standards also give Crime Stoppers, 0800 555 111. The test checks that you know when and where to report, not that you investigate.
5. Your duties under the Equality Act 2010. Section 164A, added in 2022, sets out your duties to disabled passengers: to carry the passenger and their mobility aids, to take reasonable steps for their safety and reasonable comfort, and not to make any additional charge for doing so. Separate sections cover wheelchair users in designated vehicles and assistance dogs.
6. Disability awareness in practice. The Department for Transport's best practice guidance lists what the training should cover: barriers disabled people face, communication, visible and hidden impairments, helping wheelchair users and the role of assistance dogs, and an assessment of the trainee's knowledge.

Questions on the Equality Act turn on exact wording, especially the rule on extra charges in section 164A.

How long the test is and how often you take it

There is no fixed length. Wolverhampton's test has 28 questions; others are shorter sections inside a wider knowledge test. Most use multiple choice with one correct answer.

Many councils ask for refresher training. The West Yorkshire and York standard requires it every three years, which matches the usual length of a driver licence: under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, a driver licence normally lasts up to three years. Some councils link the refresher to every renewal.

The rules are changing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 gives the government power to set national standards for taxi and private hire licensing, including training. That part of the Act is not yet in force, so for now your council's rules apply.

How to prepare

• Ask your council or its training provider for the pass mark, the number of questions and how many attempts you get.
• Learn the Equality Act duties word for word, because the questions test the exact wording.
• Practise with questions that show the source of each answer, so a wrong answer teaches you the rule rather than a guess.

You can try a free 15-question safeguarding practice test with no sign-up. Each answer shows the law or guidance it comes from. The full bank of 114 safeguarding questions, with timed 20-question mock tests, is in our UK Work Licence app.

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Sources:

• Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards (Department for Transport) — section 6, safeguarding.
• Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England (Department for Transport) — section 6.3, disability awareness training.
• Taxi and private hire vehicle statistics, England: 2026 (Department for Transport) — position at 1 April 2026.
• Equality Act 2010, section 164A and Part 12, Chapter 1.
• Care Act 2014, section 42; Children Act 1989, section 47; Modern Slavery Act 2015.
• Leeds City Council — applying for a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence — pass marks and refresher training.
• City of Wolverhampton Council — taxi knowledge and practical test — course and pass mark.

Legislation is Crown copyright and quoted under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Pass marks and formats are set locally and can change; confirm with your licensing authority before booking.