Asad Mehmood v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

The appellant, Asad Mehmood, was seeking registration as an Approved Driving Instructor. He had already held two trainee driving instructor licences, covering twelve months in total from 7 February 2025 to 6 February 2026, granted to allow him to gain experience towards passing the Part 3 test. On 1 February 2026 he applied to the Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors for a further, third, trainee licence. By a letter received on 3 March 2026 he made representations that he had travelled to Saudi Arabia for a family wedding and, on his return to the United Kingdom, had to undergo a course of emergency rabies treatment which he said affected his well-being and his ability to train consistently. The Registrar refused the application on 24 March 2026, taking those representations into account but concluding that the vaccine evidence did not substantiate the claimed loss of training time, that twelve months was more than adequate, that a trainee licence was not required in order to sit the Part 3 test and that the trainee licence system was not an alternative route to registration. The appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal by an appeal document dated 4 April 2026, relying on exceptional circumstances and his continuing commitment to qualifying.