British cabbies failing English exam?

English as a Second Language What do you want to talk about?
1

I’ve just read an article about Laurence Kirk, a taxi driver from Bournemouth who was denied his taxi driver license because had to take a three hour GCSE English exam which he failed.

Here is a quote from the article:
Bournemouth is the first authority to insist on cab drivers taking a Business and Technical Education Council qualification in ‘Transporting Passengers By Taxi and Private Hire’.

Steve Wright, principal licensing officer for the council, said the English exam was a way to evaluate the level of support the drivers will need to take the BTEC.

Source: DailyMail UK

So, what is your take on this?[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Playing field hockey[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Where ya wanna go to, guv? I wonder just how many other “regular” Brits could pass such an exam?

More worrying:

3

They would all get an A* in their “Running the Country” GCSE, however.

MrP

4

Hmm, technically this story seems to put a bit of a spin on the facts. He wasn’t denied a taxi license because he failed the English GCSE. He was denied it because he couldn’t do a BTEC. The English GCSE is a requirement for doing any BTEC, as far as I know, so it’s not specifically that taxi drivers need an English GCSE (though, that is the end result).

Complex issue, really.