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Who can provide courses

You must be an approved training centre to provide dangerous goods (ADR) driver training courses.

You have to apply to get approval to provide:

• initial training and exams for drivers to get their ADR card
• refresher training and exams for drivers to stay qualified as a dangerous goods driver

Give notice that youre running a course

You need to create a new course record online for each course you want to run.

You should do this at least 7 calendar days before it starts.

You must include:

• the training programme you are following
• location
• start date, time and end date of the training course
• date and start time of the examinations
• full name of the instructors
• full name of the invigilators

If your course records are not correct Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) may not process your exams.

Running a course at short notice

If you want to run a course in the next 7 days but have not given notice you will need to fill in a training course notification within 7 days of start date form (PDF, 1.05MB).

You must email the form to adr@sqa.org.uk and wait for SQA to tell you if the course can go ahead.

Make changes or cancel your course

You should update the course record online if you need to make changes or cancel a course. You should do this at least 24 hours before the course is due to start.

Make changes or cancel your course at short notice

Phone SQA if you have to make changes or cancel a course less than 24 hours before it starts, or after it has started. Email SQA if you need to do this outside of working hours (8:30am to 5pm).

Book candidates onto your course

Before booking candidates onto your course you must:

• check they are eligible for the course
• check they have the correct documentation and licences
• tell drivers and employers that the course requires the driver to be on duty, and what this means for the drivers hours rules
• check that the number of candidates booked onto a course is not more than the class size agreed in your approval

If there are resit candidates, you need to check which modules they have previously sat.

You should record who is attending the course online before the course begins - you must record it no later than the day the course starts.

Send joining instructions

Send joining instructions to each driver before the course starts. These should include:

• the courses start and end times
• the length of the course
• details of your cancellation policy
• whether lunch is provided
• a contact number so drivers can tell you about any special requirements

Register your candidates

You must get every candidate to complete a candidate registration form (ADR2)(PDF, 999KB) which includes:

• their signature in black ink
• a 35mm by 45mm colour passport-standard photograph

The photograph can either be:

• a printed or digital photograph that they send to you
• a digital photograph that you take before the course starts

You will need to:

• enter each candidates details online
• upload each candidates signature and photograph - youll have to do this before they sit an exam
• keep either a hard or electronic copy of each candidate registration form for 5 years

Check the identity of candidates

At the start of your course, you must check the identity of all candidates using one of these forms of photo ID:

• ADR driver training certificate photo card
• driver licence photo card
• passport
• professional body photo identity card
• HM Services identity card
• driver qualification card
• petroleum driver passport

Check the ADR certificate expiry date for refresher training

You must check the expiry date of the ADR driver training certificates held by candidates attending refresher training. Candidates must have at least 2 weeks from the date of the last examination on the course to the expiry of their current certificate.

If their ADR driver training certificate has expired, or the expiry date is within 2 weeks, the candidate must attend an initial training course instead.

Train the candidates using your approved course

Your course must:

• follow an approved training programme
• use approved training materials
• be taught by an approved instructor

Each day of your course must last for no longer than 9 hours. That will usually include:

• a welcome and introduction session
• no more than 8 teaching units of 45 minutes each
• a break of at least 10 minutes, every 90 minutes
• at lunch break of at least 45 minutes

Instructors must not:

• read from a prepared script
• reproduce exam questions
• coach to the exam
• reduce the number of teaching units
• skip or shorten breaks

Carry out practical exercises

Your course must include the following practical exercises:

• emergency first aid
• fire extinguishers
• what to do in case of an emergency
• how to do chest compressions

If your course includes class 1 and class 7 modules you must also do exercises covering:

• emergency action
• vehicle loading

Plan for problems with running your course

Make sure that you have plans in place to deal with problems when youre running your course.

Computer failure

You can use paper copies of slides if you have technical difficulties.

Bad weather

You can:

• change the running order on the day to avoid bad weather
• use a classroom session if its not possible to have a practical session outside

Running ahead of schedule

You can use standby material if you think your course might finish early but it must be relevant to the approved course content.

Make reasonable adjustments

You must make reasonable adjustments for candidates with additional needs.Its against the law to discriminate against people because of age, pregnancy, disability, race or religion.

Run an ADR driver training course remotely

If you are approved to provide remote training online using video call software you must:

• replace the practical exercises w
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