Chai Wai So v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

The appellant, Chai Wai So, was training to qualify as an Approved Driving Instructor. He had already been granted two trainee driving instructor licences, covering twelve months in total from 24 March 2025 to 23 March 2026, and on 3 March 2026 he applied to the Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors for a third. Having been notified of the Registrar's intention to refuse, he made written representations on 18 March 2026 explaining that he had had difficulties obtaining a Part 3 test date but remained committed to qualifying. By a decision dated 15 April 2026 the Registrar refused the application, reasoning that twelve months of trainee licensing was more than adequate to gain sufficient expertise to pass a Part 3 test, that Parliament had not intended trainee licences to be issued for however long a candidate might take, that the trainee licence system must not become an alternative to full registration, and that refusal did not prevent the appellant from taking his final permitted Part 3 attempt, for which no trainee licence was needed. Because the application had been made before his second licence expired, that licence remained valid pending the appeal, giving him almost seventeen months of trainee licensing in practical terms. The appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal on 28 May 2026 and the appeal was determined on the papers by agreement.