Approximately 50,000 MOT testers have yet to complete their annual assessment, according to data from the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

As a result, the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is calling on MOT testers to stay compliant, and to continue to legally carry out MOT tests on vehicles by prioritising their annual assessment, as the March 31 deadline approaches.

The DVSA has confirmed it will not be extending the annual training year this year.

Steve Scofield, head of business development at the IMI, said: “The workload of MOT testers remained heavy throughout 2021 as the nation juggled lockdowns, further restrictions and absenteeism because of the pandemic. And this has continued into 2022, with many still working full throttle to ensure their customer MOT renewals are met in time.

“The knock-on effect is that prioritising the MOT tester annual assessment is falling short; the DVSA reports that nearly 50,000 testers have yet to complete their assessment, despite the deadline being less than nine weeks away.

“The reality is that if an MOT tester fails to meet the MOT annual assessment deadline of March 31, they will not be able to legally conduct any MOT work from April 1 onwards, until training and assessment has been carried out.

“They will need to be able to competently demonstrate to a DVSA representative their ability to carry out an MOT assessment on a vehicle, which will be conducted face-to-face at the tester’s place of work.

"In short, failing to complete the assessment in time could have serious consequences both for garage income and road safety.”

Annual training has been extended for the past couple of years to help the industry recover from Covid 19, however this year "things are much improved", said the DVSA.

The IMI has also warned that the UK faces an electric vehicle (EV) skills gap, with too few technicians to service the volume of zero emissions vehicles predicted to be on UK roads by 2030.

Rivus Fleet Solutions is upskilling its technicians to deal with a growing number of EVs following the warning.

The IMI offers an MOT training and assessment package that includes a 3-hour e-learning training module and allows testers to take the assessment twice if they’re not happy with their score after their first attempt. The DVSA requires a pass rate of 80%.

The IMI is also running its annual MOT training and assessment webinar in February to help MOT testers pass their assessment.