July 2015 work based learning and colleges update

Changes to the SIA group A and group B documents

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Great Britain has stopped issuing paper counterparts with the driving licence photocard; the DVLA in Northern Ireland continues to do so.

As a result, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and SIA have updated their document requirements.

From now on:

• The SIA will accept a driving licence photocard and its paper counterpart as a valid group A document, regardless of whether it was issued by the DVLA in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. 
• THe SIA will accept just the photocard as a valid group A document if it was issued by the DVLA in Great Britain; they will not accept it as a valid group A document if it is issued by the DVLA in Northern Ireland. 
• The SIA will accept a Northern Ireland DVLA photocard on its own as a valid group B document. 
• The SIA will accept a paper counterpart on its own as a group B document, regardless of whether it was issued by the DVLA in Great Britain or Northern Ireland.

Please note, the SIA will not accept a two-part driving licence as both a group A and group B document. The SIA website will be updated shortly to reflect these changes.  

Test inspections programme for security qualifications

From 1 August 2015 centres are required to notify us of all planned test dates and test venues for the Pearson BTEC Security qualifications.

These additional quality assurance measures are in place to give you and your learners added confidence in how these tests are conducted.

Important points to note

You should submit your test notifications at least 5 days in advance of the test date by completing the Security Test Notification Form.

If more than one test is scheduled on any given day or you are running tests at different test venues then you will have to submit a Security Test Notification Form for each test you undertake.

If, for any reason, the security qualifications test is cancelled or rescheduled then please let us know at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled test by emailing vqtestinspections@pearson.com with the reason for cancelling or rescheduling the test.

If you receive a test inspection visit, the security test inspections visit report will be sent to you within 5 working days of the visit taking place.

Further support or guidance

If you have any initial queries regarding these processes, please contact us or email vqtestinspections@pearson.com. You can also refer to our frequently asked questions.

See more information on the test inspection process