Posted on the 26th January 2026 in PHTM News

KNOWLEDGE TESTS WOES IN NEWLY FORMED NORTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE UNITARY COUNCIL

Veteran hackney driver Ricky Dunkley told PHTM: "We’ve just learned that the first 20 drivers have now taken the test — and every single one of them has failed. That’s a 0% pass rate on the first sitting.

What makes this even more concerning is that these are not inexperienced applicants. Among those 20 were extremely experienced professional drivers with 30–40 years in the trade, people who have safely served the public for decades and know their working areas inside out.

I know this issue has attracted some sarcastic comments online along the lines of “well you should learn your area” — and in principle I agree that standards matter.

But to put this into perspective, North Northamptonshire now covers four legacy boroughs: East Northants, Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby - around 300 square miles!

I’ve personally been taxiing for just over 20 years. Like many drivers, my day-to-day work is based around my local patch.

For example, Corby is an area I might work in once or twice a year, not somewhere I operate daily — yet under the new approach drivers are now expected to know streets and locations across the entire combined area to the same level they know their home town.

That isn’t a small adjustment. It’s effectively asking working drivers to learn and retain detailed knowledge across multiple towns, many of which they may never regularly work in.

The first sitting result strongly suggests the test is not reflecting the reality of how the job is actually done, and raises serious concerns about whether it is fair or workable in practice."


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