MOT Tester Annual Training: What's New This Year

Annual training in 2026

Every MOT tester must complete annual training and pass an assessment each year. For the current training year, the focus area has shifted to emissions and catalyst monitoring procedures.

What's required

• A minimum of 3 hours of recorded training per tester.
• An assessment covering the focus area, plus general MOT test standards.
• Each test station must keep proof of completed training available for DVSA inspection.

Common pitfalls we see

1. Last-minute cramming — testers often scramble in March. Distribute the 3 hours across the year.
2. Lost certificates — train testers to save their completion PDFs to a shared folder.
3. Assessment failure — testers who complete training but not the assessment aren't deemed compliant.

The commercial case

A tester whose training has lapsed can't legally conduct MOT tests. For busy stations, this can mean lost appointments or DVSA enforcement. Build a calendar reminder for every tester's training window.

If managing tester compliance is becoming a paperwork burden, there are tools — including RecallIQ's automated reminders — that surface training due dates alongside MOT due dates.