What you need to know:

General Topographical Skills

• You need to be able to read and understand basic written English – instructions for one task will be provided in writing only to test this.
• You need to be able to look-up and locate streets, stations, and hospitals within the Greater London A-Z Map Book.
• You need to be able to identify stations, postcodes, districts, hospitals and stations from a map book.
• You need to know the 4 primary compass points – N,S,E, & W.
• You need to know the names of the counties bordering London – e.g. Kent, Essex, Berkshire, Surrey etc.
• You need to know the motorways that radiate from the M25 – e.g. M20, M2, M11, M40 etc.
• You need to be able to specify the direction from London of a major town – for example you may be asked which direction from London is Reading? You will need to answer West in this example.
• You need to know which motorway you would use to reach a major town – for example you may be asked which motorway to reach Reading? You will need to answer M4 in this example.

Route Planning Tasks:

• You need to be able to plan a local route between two points in the Greater London A-Z Map.
• You need to be able to plan a route between 5 and 30 miles between two points in the Greater London A-Z Map.
• You need to be able to plan a route that is over 30 miles from Central London, using the Greater London A-Z Map, A UK Street Map, and a local map of the destination area (all maps will be provided) using a motorway where appropriate.
• You need to be able to plan a route that is over 30 miles from Central London, using the Greater London A-Z Map, A UK Street Map, and a local map of the destination area (all maps will be provided) avoiding all motorways.

About the Test:

The test is conducted on a one-to-one basis with an examiner. We aim to make the atmosphere informal and relaxed. The Examiner will ask you a number of questions and set you a number of route-planning tasks during the test. Please be aware that you are not required to answer every question correctly: The examiner will however, be able to assess from your answers whether or not you have the topographical and route-planning skills necessary to become a successful licensed private hire driver. You will be provided with access to a number of maps in order to carry out the route-planning tasks. You can get more information on the scope of skills and knowledge required by clicking here.

After the Test:

When you have completed the Test you will be invited to complete a short questionnaire that will assist us and the Public Carriage Office in planning future test procedures. If you have met the required standard you will be issued with you pass certificate. If you have not met the required standard you will be given a ‘fail sheet’ which will give details of the areas where you have not met the required standard.

For a sample Topographical Question Paper click here