HC Deb 28 October 1986 vol 103 cc107-9W
Sir Anthony Grant

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many applicants for (a) car and (b) lorry goods driving licences there have been in each of the last five years; and what percentage of these applicants did not pass the test.

Mr. Michael Spicer

The information required is not readily available from a common source and in precisely the format required. Figures which can be provided are as follows:

(a) In each of the past five calendar years DVLC has received applications for driving licences as below:
Applications (millions) First application1
1981 6.2 1.4
1982 6.6 1.5
1983 6.3 1.2
1984 5.7 1.4
1985 5.6 1.3
1 those who have not yet passed a driving test, included in the total.

Details of applications received for driving tests and the failure rates are:

Applications received (not applicants) Percentage failure rate
1981 1,837.254 52
1982 1,891.615 52

Applications received (not applicants) Percentage failure rate
1983 1,916.951 51
1984 1,955.659 51
1985 1,935.244 51

(b) Details for HGV (lorry) applications are not available for calendar years. But the following information is available:
HGV licence applications
Provisional HGV licences issued included in the total
1 October 1980 to 30 September 1981 361,400 55,200
1 October 1981 to 30 September 1982 351,700 53,500
1 October 1982 to 30 September 1983 376,700 52,700
1 October 1983 to 31 March 1984 177,700 28,700
1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985 351,100 57,000
1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986 365,700 60,600

Applications for HGV driving tests in the following five calendar years are:
Applications received
Year Per cent. Failed
1981 33,345 44
1982 34,032 45
1983 33,977 45
1984 38,038 45
1985 42,638 46

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