Nottingham Taxi Topography Test: Format and Practice

The Nottingham taxi knowledge test has a different name from most: Nottingham City Council calls it the topography test. Despite the name, it is not only about maps. It is a short electronic test on the council's licence conditions, places in the city, simple sums, road signs and shortest routes. Every new applicant for Nottingham's combined hackney carriage and private hire driver licence must pass it.

This guide explains the format, the exam rules, what to study (including the council's "Did you know that" sheet), the local rules you must know and how to practise. Facts come from the council's combined driver licence page, its licence conditions, fee list and fare table, checked in October 2026. UK Driver Licence Prep is an independent study aid, not part of Nottingham City Council.

The Nottingham topography test at a glance

Item	Detail
Who sits it	Every new applicant for the combined hackney carriage and private hire driver licence
Format	Electronic test, in person, under exam conditions
Before you start	A council officer explains the instructions
Time	45 minutes
Sections	5: licence conditions; premises and locations; numeracy; road signs; shortest route
Number of questions	Not published
Pass mark	Not published
Bring	Your current driving licence or other photo ID
Fee	£50 (as of October 2026)
Retest	A further £50, paid when you rebook
Result	A pass certificate, which you email to the taxi licensing team

Key fact: Nottingham publishes the time limit and the five sections, but not the number of questions, the pass mark or any limit on attempts. Prepare to a high standard in every section rather than hoping to drop marks somewhere.

Exam rules

The council's page sets out strict conditions. During the test you must:

• stay silent throughout;
• switch off your mobile phone and any other electronic device;
• use no extra written material;
• stay in the room unless the examiner allows you to leave. If you leave without permission, you can't come back to finish.

The examiner or you can end the test at any time, but if you ask to end it, your fee is forfeited.

The five sections of the Nottingham taxi knowledge test

1. Licence conditions

Questions on the council's conditions for the combined driver licence: conduct, passengers, lost property, reporting deadlines, display of badges and signs, and working for more than one operator. This is the most Nottingham-specific section. The tables later on this page summarise the conditions most worth learning. Drill them in Nottingham local policy practice.

2. Premises and locations

Where important places are in the city: the station, hospitals, courts, theatres, stadiums and arenas. The geography section below gives a starter list. Practise in Nottingham local area.

3. Numeracy

Simple sums a driver needs: adding extras, applying a fare-and-a-half rate, working out change. There is a worked example in the fares section. Practise in fares and numeracy.

4. Road signs

Highway Code signs and road markings: what each shape and colour means, and the signs that matter for taxis (bus lanes, taxi ranks, no stopping, loading). Our road signs practice and the GOV.UK Highway Code traffic signs cover this. The wider Highway Code is summarised in our Highway Code for taxi drivers guide.

5. Shortest route

Choosing the shortest route between two places in Nottingham. You need to know the main roads leaving the city centre and how they connect.

The "Did you know that" sheet: your syllabus

The council's page tells candidates that the test is run under its "Did you know that" sheet, a short list of facts drivers must understand, alongside the licence conditions. It is the closest thing Nottingham publishes to a syllabus, so learn every point on it. In our own words, the sheet covers:

Topic	The rule
Plying for hire	Picking up a passenger who has not booked through a licensed operator is illegal plying for hire
Who may ply for hire	Only hackney carriages may ply for hire within the city boundary
Smoking	You may not smoke in a licensed vehicle, because it is your place of work
Insurance	A private hire driver who picks up an unbooked passenger has no valid insurance
Ranks	Private hire vehicles may not park on a hackney carriage rank
Assistance animals	Must be carried on request unless you display a council Notice of Exemption
More than one operator	A Nottingham driver may work for more than one Nottingham-licensed operator
Wheelchair users	No higher fare for carrying a wheelchair user
Assistance animals	No higher fare for carrying an assistance animal
Side panels	Only need to be displayed when working
Appeals	21 days to appeal to a magistrates' court if refused a licence as not "fit and proper"
Luggage	Drivers may help with luggage as well as carrying out the journey

"Fit and proper" is the legal test every taxi driver must meet under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976: the council must be satisfied you are safe and suitable to carry the public.

Exam tip: Several sheet points are about charging. The rule is simple: no extra charge for a wheelchair user or an assistance animal. If an option adds a fee for either, it is wrong.

Nottingham licence conditions you must know

Reporting deadlines

Event	Deadline
Conviction, caution, summons or charge, fixed penalty, formal warning or order, arrest	7 days, in writing
Change of address	7 days, in writing
Medical condition you must tell the DVLA about, or your GP says don't drive	7 days
Council-requested medical: give the certificate	7 days after the examination
Accident involving the vehicle	72 hours, on an accident form
Unclaimed lost property	To Central Police Station, Nottingham, within 24 hours
Starting or stopping work for an extra operator	7 days' notice, or within 24 hours if sooner, with a signed offer of work letter

Conduct and passengers

• Be clean and respectable in dress and person, and behave civilly.
• No smoking, vaping or e-cigarettes in the vehicle at any time, by you or anyone else.
• No eating or drinking while the vehicle is hired.
• No radio or music without the hirer's consent, other than for operator messages.
• Don't use the horn to tell a customer you have arrived.
• No handheld electronic device while driving.
• No discriminatory or provocative behaviour, and no conversation of a private, personal or sexual nature with passengers.
• Children under 10 must not sit in the front.
• No passengers at all in the front seats of a hackney carriage. A private hire vehicle may carry only one front passenger unless it has an approved eight-seat plan.
• Pets go in the rear only (this does not apply to assistance dogs).
• Give a written receipt if the hirer asks for one.
• Display your dashboard badge in clear view whenever you are working.
• Show only one operator's side panel at a time: the operator that booked the current job.

DIPPS: Nottingham's penalty points scheme

Nottingham runs a Driver Improvement Penalty Points Scheme (DIPPS) for breaches of conditions. A driver who reaches more than 12 points in three years is called to an Officer Review Meeting. You can appeal a points notice within 21 days.

Vehicles and plates

Rule	Hackney carriage	Private hire vehicle
Appearance	Manufacturer's black, white vinyl roof, council crest on the front doors	No "taxi" or "cab" in trading names
Plates	Front and rear	Plate displayed as licensed (executive or contract-only vehicles can apply for an exemption)
Accessibility	Wheelchair accessible
Payment	Card machine
Number of licences	Capped at 250
Age	Replacements must be newer and no more than 10 years old	10 years or under at first licensing; over 10 means a 6-month licence and 6-monthly enhanced MOT
Both	Fire extinguisher and first aid kit; factory-fitted privacy glass only; CCTV optional but must meet the council specification

Nottingham hackney carriage fares and a worked example

Hackney carriage fares in Nottingham are set by the council. Private hire fares are not: the council cannot set them, and they are agreed with the operator.

Rate	Detail
Day (6am to 10pm)	Starts at £2.00; waiting £19.00 an hour
Night (10pm to 6am)	Waiting £21.00 an hour
Christmas, New Year and bank holidays	Fare and a half

Worked example. On New Year's Day a passenger's journey would show £16.00 at the normal rate. The fare-and-a-half rule applies: £16.00 × 1.5 = £24.00. A quick way to do it in your head: half of £16 is £8, and £16 + £8 = £24.

A change example. The fare is £24.00 and the passenger pays with a £50 note. Change: £50.00 − £24.00 = £26.00.

Check the council's current hackney carriage fares page before the test, because tariffs change.

Learning Nottingham's geography

The premises and shortest-route sections assume you know the city. Start from Old Market Square, the centre of the city, and learn where these are:

Place	Road or area
Nottingham railway station and the Magistrates' Court	Carrington Street
Nottingham City Hospital	Hucknall Road
Queen's Medical Centre	Derby Road
Theatre Royal	Upper Parliament Street
Motorpoint Arena and National Ice Centre	Bolero Square
Notts County (Meadow Lane)	Meadow Lane, north of the Trent
City Ground (Nottingham Forest) and Trent Bridge cricket ground	West Bridgford, across the River Trent
Wollaton Hall	Wollaton
Green's Windmill	Sneinton
Nottingham Racecourse	Colwick

The River Trent is the main barrier south of the centre: know which bridges carry you across to West Bridgford. Then learn the routes out of the centre towards the hospitals, the universities and the suburbs. Shortest-route questions reward knowing which main road to join first.

Key fact: The City Ground and Trent Bridge are on the south bank of the Trent in West Bridgford, while Notts County's Meadow Lane is on the city side. Mixing them up is a classic local-area mistake.

The rest of the Nottingham licence process

The topography test is one step. The council's page and fee list set out the rest, as of October 2026:

1. Be at least 18 and have held a full British driving licence for at least one year.
2. Get an enhanced DBS check and DVLA check through TaxiPlus, and sign up to the DBS Update Service. Nottingham checks DBS every six months.
3. Provide two written character references from people who have known you for at least five years (not relatives or your local councillor).
4. Complete the Blue Lamp Trust safeguarding e-learning (£20, paid to the trust). From 1 April 2026 renewing drivers do it again; drivers on yearly licences repeat it every third year.
5. Pass a medical with AC Medical Services (£75).
6. Pass the driving assessment (£60 on the council's fee list), about 30 minutes, including reversing into a limited opening. At the end you are asked questions on the Highway Code.
7. Pass the topography test (£50).
8. For private hire work, provide an offer of work from the operator; for hackney work, a letter from the vehicle's proprietor.
9. Pay the licence fee: £148 for one year or £260 for three years.

The council refers some applications for special consideration, for example where a conviction was not disclosed or involves dishonesty, violence, drugs, alcohol or plying for hire, which can add time. Renew in good time: an application more than a month after expiry, without good reason, is treated as a new one.

The shared core: safeguarding, equality and the law

Every English council test shares a core of Highway Code, law, safeguarding and equality questions. In Nottingham the key equality rules are on the "Did you know that" sheet: carry assistance animals without extra charge unless you have a Notice of Exemption, and never charge more for a wheelchair user. Report safeguarding concerns to the police on 101, or 999 in an emergency, and to your operator. For the national picture, see our council taxi knowledge test guide and the free council exam guide.

How our Nottingham practice matches the real test

Our Nottingham route has 2,264 questions: about 2,000 shared council questions on the Highway Code, signs, law, safeguarding and equality, and the rest written for Nottingham's conditions, fares and places. The ten Nottingham mocks are built around the council's five sections, with 40 questions in 45 minutes and 32 to pass.

Be clear on what is and isn't official. The 45 minutes and the five sections come from the council. The 40 questions and the 32-mark pass line are our assumption, because the council publishes neither. Treat a mock score of 85% or more as your target, not the minimum.

What our practice does well: drilling the conditions and "Did you know that" rules with an explanation for every answer. What it can't do: replace knowing the streets. Use the local area questions alongside a city map. The free Nottingham note summarises this page for revision, and the free printable Nottingham sheet gives you questions with an answer key on paper.

If you are comparing nearby councils, Sheffield's test works very differently, with a pass needed in every section: see the Sheffield taxi knowledge test.

Your study plan

1. Today: take the free Nottingham diagnostic, 20 questions across the sections.
2. This week: read the council's licence conditions and "Did you know that" sheet, then the free Nottingham note. Learn the reporting deadlines table.
3. Next week: drill local policy and road signs until you rarely miss one, and practise fare-and-a-half and change sums.
4. Before booking: sit the free Nottingham mock 1 under the 45-minute timer, and aim for three mocks in a row at 85% or more.
5. Then: if you want more papers, Pro unlocks mocks 2 to 10 and section practice for £6.99 a week. See pricing.