Booking, arrival, the exam floor, how each assessment is marked, and what happens afterwards. Written from what we see with the drivers we train, not from a leaflet.
All TfL private hire driver assessments are sat at the TfL assessment centre at Pier Walk, North Greenwich, London SE10 0ES. At the time of writing this is the only centre. A second location in west London has been discussed but no opening date has been confirmed.
You book through your TfL online account, or by calling the assessment team on 0343 222 4444 and choosing option 4.
| First attempt | Around £40 per assessment |
| All three, booked together | Around £120 for a new applicant |
| Resits | Around £30 per assessment |
Fees change. These figures are a guide based on what our drivers pay. Always confirm the current fees and booking process on TfL's website or in your TfL account before you book.
Bring valid photographic identification: a driving licence, passport or other photo ID card. This is not optional and it is the single most avoidable reason drivers lose a booking.
If you turn up without acceptable photo ID you will not be allowed to sit the assessment. You will need to rebook, and although you are not charged again, the attempt is counted. For new drivers, who have a limited number of attempts, that matters a great deal.
Arrive about fifteen minutes before your appointment. Most drivers wait ten to fifteen minutes before being taken through.
At reception your ID is checked and you are given a badge to enter the building. Security staff escort you up to the assessment floor, where your photograph is taken. You are then asked to switch your phone off and place it in a pouch.
Depending on whether you are a new applicant or renewing, you are taken to the appropriate area. Speaking and Listening is held in a separate room. SERU and Topographical are sat on an open plan assessment floor.
An invigilator checks your badge, you log in at a computer with the username and password you are given, and the screen runs a short demonstration of how the exam layout works before the assessment begins.
The centre is shared. The same facilities are used for London taxi driver assessments, so how busy the floor is depends on the slots that day.
Most assessments are paid in advance. In some cases an existing driver sitting SERU only, where there is an issue on their TfL account, may need to pay on the day. Payment is by card only. Cash is not accepted.
New applicants normally sit three assessments unless they are exempt from Topographical. Speaking and Listening comes first. After that you are asked which you would like to start, SERU or Topographical.
Our advice: do Speaking and Listening, then Topographical, then SERU last. SERU is the one where you have the handbook with you, so leaving it until the end means you finish on the assessment where you have support available rather than the one that relies entirely on preparation.
If you need a short break between assessments, for example to use the toilet, you can take one.
It has four parts. It is conducted with a real person, remotely, over a headset from within the TfL building, and it is marked there and then.
How long to allow. TfL publishes a guide time of around eight to ten minutes. The applicants we train usually report being in the room longer than that, commonly fifteen to twenty minutes once the introductions and all four parts are done. Plan for twenty minutes so you are not rushed, and do not book anything tight straight afterwards.
TfL guide time last checked September 2026. Always follow the instructions on your own appointment confirmation.
The one thing drivers consistently mention afterwards is background noise. Several people are speaking at the same time in the same area, and it can be distracting. Expect it, and concentrate on your own headset rather than the room.
This is the only assessment where you are given a pen and paper.
SERU stands for Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding. It is a sixty minute computer based assessment, and it is marked out of 50. You need 60 per cent to pass, which is 30 marks.
| Fill in the gaps | Questions 1 to 12, 2 marks each, 24 marks |
| Multiple choice | 20 questions, 3 options each, 1 mark each, 20 marks |
| Reading comprehension | 3 questions, 3 options each, 2 marks each, 6 marks |
| Total | 35 questions, 50 marks, pass at 30 |
| Time | 60 minutes |
The multiple choice section tests your knowledge of the TfL private hire driver handbook. The reading section tests reading skills rather than memory.
You are allowed the handbook during SERU, but you are not given a pen and cannot take notes. That sounds generous and it catches people out: knowing the answer is in the book is no use if you have never practised finding it quickly under a timer.
You can move between questions, flag a question to come back to, and change an answer before you submit. Our online practice tests are laid out the same way for exactly this reason, so the screen on the day is familiar.
Topographical is sat by new applicants only, unless you are exempt. It is a seventy minute assessment marked out of 100, and you need 60 to pass.
| Route planning | 3 questions, 22 marks each, 66 marks |
| Map reading and compass | Multiple choice, 34 marks |
| Total | 100 marks, pass at 60 |
| Time | 70 minutes |
The London A to Z is no longer used. Since May 2026 you are given a single page of signs, symbols and an index instead, and the questions are asked from that. If you have been practising with an old A to Z you are preparing for an assessment that no longer exists.
The number of multiple choice questions varies between sets. Different sets contain different totals, commonly somewhere between twenty one and twenty five.
The three route planning questions sit around the middle of the assessment and carry two thirds of the marks. They are the reason most people fail.
Route planning works like a driving test. One serious mistake and that question scores zero. If your route is correct but longer than it needs to be, marks are deducted according to how far out you are. The assessment is testing whether you can read the map and plan the shortest sensible route, not whether you can memorise London.
There is no keyboard on the desk for Topographical, only a mouse, and you are not given pen or paper.
SERU and Speaking and Listening are marked immediately. Topographical takes longer because a human examiner has to check the route planning by hand and verify your identity against the photograph taken on the day.
Results arrive by whichever contact method you have selected in your TfL account. Most drivers hear within three to four working weeks.
If you pass, your application joins the queue for final assessment, where TfL's licensing team checks your documents. This process can take time and often goes back and forth.
| New applicants | Three attempts in total, the first plus two resits. If you use all three you must submit a new application. |
| Renewals and existing drivers | No limit on attempts, but your application will not progress until you pass. |
Sleep and eat properly the night before. A lot of drivers work night shifts and go straight to their assessment. We see people who knew the material fail simply because they were exhausted.
Do not cram the night before. Go over what you have already learned during the week, then stop. Arrive calm and patient. That does more for your score than another two hours of revision.
Expect a real exam environment. This is the single biggest shock. Drivers who prepare using free videos at home are not ready for a formal assessment floor with strangers, security, a timer and no phone. People who knew the material forget it because the setting overwhelms them.
Book your assessment first, then book your training close to the date. Drivers who train early and then wait weeks for a slot forget most of it. If you are not confident when the date comes round, you can reschedule.
Practise under the same conditions. Watching videos and expecting the real thing to match is the most common route to a resit, a longer application and more waiting.
Almost every driver who is nervous about the computer tells us so beforehand. We have trained people who had never used a mouse in their lives, and they passed.
The screen runs a demonstration before the assessment starts. There is no typing in Topographical, only a mouse. In SERU you click your answers. Nothing about the computer itself is difficult, and it is not what separates the people who pass from the people who resit.
What does separate them is the exam environment. A formal assessment floor, strangers, security, no phone and a timer counting down is a lot for anyone who has not sat an exam in twenty years. That is the part worth preparing for, and the reason we run our practice tests under timed conditions on a screen laid out like the real one.
We have prepared London private hire drivers for these assessments for years, including many who had never used a computer or a mouse before, and who passed. If you would like to sit a timed practice assessment laid out like the real screen, try a free SERU test or see our practice packages. For Topographical we run small group training on the current map format.
This page describes what we see with the drivers we train. Assessment fees, formats, centres and rules are set by Transport for London and can change at any time. Always check TfL's website and your TfL account for current requirements before booking. London Paragon College is a training centre and is not part of TfL.
Sit a timed mock in the same format as the real assessment. The first test is free.
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