The SERU assessment for London private hire drivers

SERU stands for Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding. TfL brought in the requirement on 1 October 2021, for new applicants and for drivers renewing a PHV driver’s licence. It covers your duties under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010, TfL’s policies and guidance, the needs of passengers with protected characteristics, safeguarding children and adults at risk, passenger and driver safety, and road and vehicle safety.

TfL doesn’t publish either figure for the PHV driver assessment. The 36 questions, about one hour and 60% pass mark in TfL’s Notice 06/25 belong to the separate taxi driver SERU assessment, which started on 1 October 2025.

TfL’s PHV page doesn’t say. In Notice 01/24, dated 17 January 2024, TfL said it intended to trial an open-book assessment, with the handbook available to refer to, and then decide whether to use it for all drivers yet to take the test. It also said the assessment has never been meant as a memory test. The taxi driver assessment does provide a copy of its handbook.

You can resit for £30. TfL’s driver policy normally allows three attempts. After a third fail, the application is normally refused, and after three missed appointments without a good reason it’s refused. You can then make a new application straight away, as there’s no waiting period.

Every new applicant for a London PHV driver’s licence, and renewing drivers who haven’t passed it. The only exemption is for drivers who have already passed an assessment based on the version of the handbook in use. TfL says it may ask drivers to take it again if the rules change in a big way. Taxi drivers take their own taxi driver SERU assessment, and passing the PHV one doesn’t exempt you from it.

Two more. The English speaking and listening test is a short conversation with an examiner, and together with SERU it meets TfL’s English language requirement. The topographical skills assessment is a map and route-planning test on a computer. Some people, such as licensed London taxi drivers, don’t need the map test.

TfL charges £138 to apply, which isn’t refunded, and £205 when it grants the licence. Both fees apply from 1 June 2026; they were £124 and £186 before. You also pay for the three assessments. Other costs are set by others: TfL’s table lists £56.42 for the enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, £15 a year for the DBS Update Service, £7.15 for the Post Office Check and Send service, and the medical, priced by your doctor.

You must be 21 or older, with a full driving licence from Great Britain (category B), Northern Ireland, the EU or the European Economic Area that you’ve held for at least three years. You also need the right to live and work in the UK, an enhanced DBS check, registration with the DBS Update Service, and a medical to the DVLA’s Group 2 standard. First-time applicants confirm they know HM Revenue & Customs’ tax guidance.

Yes, some licensing rules. If your licence was granted from 1 July 2024, you must tell TfL about any arrest and release, charge, caution or conviction within 48 hours, including driving offences with penalty points. Older licences have 21 days, though TfL asks for 48 hours. TfL’s complaints signage must be shown in the PHV you drive if your licence was granted or renewed from 1 July 2025, and in every PHV, unless exempt, from 4 January 2027. Assessment fees rose on 9 March 2026 and licence fees on 1 June 2026.

Possibly. TfL’s 2025 taxi and private hire action plan says it will consider a driving assessment for PHV drivers, through consultation where appropriate, in 2026/27. It’s a plan, not a rule.