Muhammad Asif Afzal v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

The appellant, Muhammad Asif Afzal, sought to qualify as an Approved Driving Instructor. Qualification requires passing a three-part Qualifying Examination, with three attempts permitted at each part and the whole examination to be completed within two years of passing Part 1. A candidate who has passed Part 2 may be granted a trainee licence under section 129 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which permits paid instruction before qualification, section 123(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 otherwise prohibiting paid instruction by anyone not on the Register or holding such a licence. The appellant, who has never been on the Register, was granted two trainee licences, the first commencing on 20 January 2025 and the second running from 20 July 2025 until 19 January 2026. On 10 January 2026 he applied for a third licence. The Registrar notified him on 21 January 2026 that refusal was under consideration; he made representations by email on 2 February 2026, relying on a driving school's unfulfilled promises of work and on his father's serious illness in Pakistan, which had taken him abroad twice. The Registrar refused the application on 12 March 2026, and the appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, which determined the matter on the papers.