You need D1 entitlement on your standard car licence to drive a minibus for hire or reward under a Section 19 Permit. If you are driving a minibus for a commercial company, looking to profit from their minibus operations and carry the general public you will need a full D1 licence and further CPC training. The operator will also need an additional licence.
Under a Section 19 Permit you can drive for hire or reward with D1 (101) entitlement included on a standard car licence issued before 1st January 1997. On the back of your licence in the D1 row you will see (101). This entitles you to drive a minibus under a Section 19 Permit and be paid to do so. Section 19 Permits are issued by the DVSA to charitable and not-for-profit organisations that operate vehicles to benefit the people they support – like school pupils.
Are teachers driving for hire or reward?
The NASWUT National Union of Teachers states that ‘Whether a teacher may be deemed to be driving a minibus for hire and reward because they are being paid a salary as a teacher is unclear, and advice on this point is contradictory, except in Northern Ireland.
The NASUWT strongly asserts that particularly but not exclusively due to the ambiguity around the hire/reward status, the full D1 licence is the minimum requirement, and a car licence is insufficient in all circumstances. If schools wish to train minibus drivers to D1 level, the costs of any training and testing for the D1 licence must be covered in full by the employer.’ (Source – https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/health-safety/minibus-guidance.html)
A full D1 licence is different to D1 (101) entitlement which is inherited on licences issued before 1st January 1997.
For more opinions and information on whether teachers are driving for hire and reward read our blog – Who says teachers need a D1 to drive a minibus?
If you are being paid to drive for a commercial company you will need a full D1 licence, that requires medical and eyesight, theory and practical tests. Commercial companies need to apply for both a minibus provisional entitlement, also known as a passenger-carrying vehicle (PCV) licence and a public service vehicle (PSV) operator licence. Drivers will also need to complete 35 hours of additional CPC training. You must have the full Driver CPC if you drive a lorry, bus or coach as the main part of your job. You usually need to pass 4 tests to get it, unless you have ‘acquired rights’ because of your existing driving experience. For more information visit. https://www.gov.uk/become-lorry-bus-driver
