Driver Training Info

Updated 17 October 2026

How to check an HGV training company before you pay

Anyone who's held a lorry licence for 3 years can legally teach lorry driving: there's no compulsory qualification or register for HGV instructors. So it's up to you to check who you're paying. Here's how, in ten checks that take under an hour.

Short answer

Check four things before paying anything: who will train you and where (a real yard and named school), the company itself on Companies House, the price, cab hours and refund terms in writing, and what recent customers say went wrong. Then pay by credit card.

Why it matters: lorry instructors don't have to be qualified

GOV.UK says you "do not need to take formal training or to be registered" to teach someone to drive a lorry. The legal requirement is only that a supervising driver has held a lorry licence for at least 3 years. Car instructors must be DVSA-approved; lorry instructors don't. There are three voluntary registers instructors can join instead:

  • the National Register of LGV Instructors (run by RTITB);
  • the National Vocational Driving Instructors Register;
  • the Register of Logistics Instructors.

Being on one is a good sign, not a guarantee. Not being on one isn't proof of a problem, but it's worth asking what training and experience your instructor has. Source: GOV.UK, become an LGV driving instructor.

The ten checks

  1. Ask who trains you, and where. Get the school's name and the yard's address. If the company you're paying won't say until after you've paid, it's probably a broker passing you to someone else. Broker or school?
  2. Look at the yard. Visit, or at least check the address on a map: you're looking for trucks and a reversing area, not a serviced office.
  3. Check the DVSA list of approved off-road test sites. Schools approved to run the reversing test (Module 3a) on their own yard are listed on GOV.UK. It shows the school has a real site DVSA has approved. Kent's approved sites.
  4. Search Companies House. On the Companies House register, check the company is active, how long it's been trading, whether accounts are overdue, and whether its registered address is shared with other "different" training brands.
  5. Get the price, cab hours and inclusions in writing. A price without hours can't be compared. Then check the quote against every Kent price.
  6. Read the cancellation and refund terms before paying a deposit. Watch for non-refundable deposits, large deductions after 14 days, and training that expires. What providers' terms say.
  7. Read the recent bad reviews, not the score. On Trustpilot or Google, sort by newest and read the 1-star reviews from the last six months. A pattern matters more than the average: refunds refused, test dates cancelled, or no contact after paying.
  8. Search the forums. Search the company's name on Trucknet UK, where working drivers discuss training firms.
  9. Ask for an assessment drive before paying in full. A school with its own trucks can arrange one, and it tells you how many hours you really need.
  10. Ask to see the support you're promised. Learning platform, booking process, named employers for jobs: if they can't show you before you pay, don't count it. How we grade support.

Red flags

  • No price on the website, then daily sales calls and "the price ends today".
  • A "guaranteed pass" or "guaranteed job".
  • "Free" training that turns out to be a loan, or a job advert that turns out to be a course you pay for.
  • Payment by bank transfer only.
  • No training address, or only an office address.
  • Terms that keep most of your money if you cancel, whatever the reason.
  • A medical arranged in a van in minutes, with no eye test. Documented scams.

How we check providers

Every provider in our Kent price index gets a transparency score out of 8, based on what its own website makes clear before you call: a published price, cab hours, test fees, a training address, who delivers the training, an assessment before you pay, refund terms, and no guarantee claims. How the scores work.

Common questions

Do HGV instructors have to be qualified?

No. GOV.UK says you don't need formal training or registration to teach someone to drive a lorry; the supervising driver must have held a lorry licence for at least 3 years. Instructors can join voluntary registers, such as the National Register of LGV Instructors.

How do I know if an HGV training company is legitimate?

Ask for the training yard's address and visit it, check the company on Companies House, check whether it's on DVSA's list of approved off-road test sites, read its refund terms and recent 1-star reviews, and pay by credit card.

Is an HGV training company on Trustpilot trustworthy?

Read the newest 1-star reviews rather than the average score. A pattern of refunds refused, cancelled test dates or no contact after payment is a warning sign.