The final checks
The licence application pack arrives shortly after you finish Stage 5; TfL advises applying for your further DBS check once you have 6 points at that stage. Before you are licensed, TfL needs:
- form MHC/212, declaring anything that has changed since you applied;
- a further enhanced DBS check, and evidence that you have joined the DBS Update Service;
- a copy of your driving licence;
- an examiner's confirmation that you have completed the Knowledge;
- a pass in the SERU assessment;
- to be satisfied, still, about your character, health and right to work.
You do not need another medical unless TfL told you so when you applied, or you have declared a change.
The badge
A Knowledge examiner gives a pre-licensing talk on your responsibilities as a taxi driver, and hands over your badge and licence. The licence lasts three years.
The driving test
There is no taxi driving test provider at present, so you are licensed on condition that you pass a driving assessment later. See the driving test.
Sources
- TfL, Learn the Knowledge of London, Stage 7
- TfL, Introduction to the Knowledge of London, March 2022, page 18
- TfL, Taxi and private hire driver policy, version 6.0, 1 September 2026, section 3.18
From the guide: How to become a London taxi driver