Javayria Saeed Baig v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

The appellant, Javayria Saeed Baig, held two successive trainee driving instructor licences covering a 12-month period from 23 December 2022 to 22 December 2025, the purpose of which was to allow her to gain sufficient practical experience in driving tuition to pass the Part 3 test required for registration as an Approved Driving Instructor. She failed the Part 3 test on two occasions, on 13 June 2025 and 30 October 2025. On 15 December 2025 she applied for a further, third, trainee licence, and made written representations to the Registrar on 10 January 2026 explaining difficulties, outside her control, in obtaining a date for her final permitted attempt at the Part 3 test. On 4 February 2026 the Registrar refused the application, reasoning that no evidence of lost practice time had been provided, that the two licences (extended by almost a further eight months because the third application was made before the second expired) had afforded more than adequate time, that Parliament had not intended trainee licences to be issued for as long as an applicant takes to pass, and that a trainee licence was neither necessary to take the Part 3 test nor a bar to doing so. She appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, which heard the matter remotely by CVP, the Registrar not appearing.