Driver licences - Apply to be a taxi or private hire driver

• It can be expensive to be a taxi or private hire driver - check our fees (and those of your GP for the medical and Blue Lamp Trust or  AAdrivetech) before you apply.
• We check police, medical and driving records. If we refuse you a licence we will record this on the National Register of Revocations and Refusals (LGA site) who will keep this record for 25 years. See also the convictions policy in our policy guide (PDF document).
• The application process can take 12 weeks or more.
• You will need to renew your driver application and pay renewal fees every 3 years.
• Vehicles need to be tested (fees apply) at least every 12 months. 
• When you are licensed with us you will need to comply with our licence conditions.
• See our policy guide (PDF document) for more information.

If you want to apply to be a driver with us please:

• Be aware that the application process can take an average of 3 or 4 months, and there are significant costs involved.
• Read Our Taxi and Private Hire policy document (PDF) and Waverley's website - taxi pages
• Complete our New driver licence application form and email a scan of the completed form, or post it to, or drop it in to us at, The Burys, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1HR, with the application fee of £334. You can either enclose a cheque or telephone 01483 523219 once we have your form, to make payment. We cannot take payment in the office other than by receipt of a cheque.

Once we have received your application form and payment we will contact you about the next steps in the process which will include:

• identity checks
• a review of your DVLA driver information
• a check of your right to work status
• provision of our medical form for you to provide to your GP for them to complete.

Additional fees

You will have to pay fees to other parties during the application process as listed below. DO NOT PROGRESS WITH ANY OF THESE FEES until requested to do so by the Waverley taxi licensing team. 

A fee to:

• your GP for completion of our medical form, charges are likely to be in excess of £100.
• possible fee to our expert doctor (£33) if any issues in your medical form need to be referred to them for consideration
• the Blue Lamp Trust for their driving competency assessment TaxiAssesments | THE BLUE LAMP TRUST
• the DBS Update Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), once you have your initial check, to keep your DBS check constantly up to date.
• Barnado's for Waverley specific training about exploitation of children and other vulnerable groups, currently £15.

Once you have passed the knowledge test, if you wish to have your own vehicle you will need to obtain an annual vehicle licence (includes vehicle test) see link to our fees.

If your application is refused or revoked

If we refuse your application, or subsequently suspend or revoke your licence, we must put your basic details on a National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3) | Local Government Association .  This will allow other Local Authorities to access this basic information. In such cases your data will be held on the database for 11 years.

To take the test you must have already applied to be a driver with us.

When we have checked that your application is complete and satisfactory we will invite you to a verbal knowledge test.

The test lasts up to an hour. The test will cover your:

• understanding about our taxi and private hire policy and your responsibilities under it.
• knowledge of the Waverley area including landmarks, places of interest, boundaries, and the town where you intend to work.
• knowledge of:
  • the specific town or village you will be working in
  • Waverley borough as a whole
  • how to navigate around Waverley and to key areas outside (eg airports and nearby towns). 
• You will be asked to clearly and understandably describe local journeys and also journeys to a wider area (other towns, ports and airports for instance).

We do not provide any resources for the test but advise you to:

• use a good street map and drive around the area
• research the boundary of Waverley and know whether local towns and villages are inside or outside Waverley.

The Hackney Carriage knowledge test is slightly more in depth than the private hire knowledge test and also checks whether you know the shortest routes.

You will be told at the end of the test whether you have passed.

If you pass the knowledge test

We will prepare a licence, and a badge with your photo and licence number on and send these to you.  You will need to wear this badge on a lapel or on a neck cord or clip which we provide. This licence badge must be visible to passengers.

If you fail the knowledge test

You will be given the option to re-take the test at a later date. You will need to pay a fee to re-take the test. 

If you cancel or miss a test

if you do not turn up or arrive too late you will not be allowed to sit the test and will have to wait for a new date for a test.  We may charge you for cancelling a test at short notice or for missing a test.