Sevenoaks Taxi Knowledge Test

The Sevenoaks taxi knowledge test has one feature that decides most results: the compulsory questions. Every other category needs 80%, but the compulsory category needs every answer right. One slip there is a fail, however well you do on the Highway Code, maths and local roads. The good news is that the council publishes the full list of questions you may be asked. This guide explains the format, what the compulsory questions cover, how to turn the published list into a revision plan, and the local rules and geography behind the questions.

Sevenoaks District Council licenses hackney carriage, private hire and dual drivers across a large part of west Kent, from Swanley in the north to Edenbridge in the south. It does so under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, which require the council to be sure every driver is a "fit and proper person". The council's policy lists what it checks: honesty, driving standard, medical fitness, criminal history, knowledge of the district and understanding of English. The knowledge test covers the last two. UK Driver Licence Prep is an independent study aid with no link to the council. The facts here come from the council's knowledge test page, its fees from April 2026 and its Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2024 to 2029, checked in October 2026. Confirm details on the council's knowledge test page before you book.

The Sevenoaks taxi knowledge test at a glance

	Detail
Who takes it	New hackney carriage, private hire and dual drivers, and private hire drivers moving to a hackney or dual licence
When	Before you submit your licence application
Format	Multiple choice, questions picked at random
Questions	58 for hackney carriage; 56 for private hire
Time	Up to 90 minutes
Pass mark	80% in each category, and 100% in the compulsory questions
Fee	£54 per test (as of October 2026)
Retakes	No limit; pay each time
Results	Within five working days; final, no appeal
Venue	Sevenoaks District Council, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks TN13 1HG

On the day, bring photo ID. You cannot leave the room during the test, so take a break before it starts. Phones, notes, books, sat navs and any other unapproved device are banned, and using one cancels your test. If you need to cancel, tell the council at least five working days before to be eligible for a refund. If a disability would make the test hard to sit, contact the licensing team before booking.

Key fact: The test sits before the application, not after it. You cannot submit a Sevenoaks driver licence application until you have passed.

The categories and their pass marks

The council's question list groups questions into categories, each with its own pass mark:

Category	Pass mark
Compulsory questions (hackney and private hire)	100%
Private hire policy and law	80%
Sevenoaks hackney carriage policy and law	80%
Generic policy and law	80%
Highway Code	80%
Road signs and markings	80%
Numeracy	80%
Sevenoaks District routes, streets and places	80%
Sevenoaks wards	80%

Because every category is scored on its own, the test rewards even knowledge. A driver who knows the Highway Code perfectly but cannot name the district's wards will fail. Practise each one separately: law, local policy, local area and Highway Code.

The compulsory questions: getting 100%

The compulsory section covers six basics that apply to every licensed driver. The council publishes these topics. Here is what each one is really asking, in our words.

Plying for hire

What the offence is. Plying for hire means offering a vehicle for immediate hire to someone who has not booked it, by waiting on a rank, cruising for fares or accepting a street hail. Only a licensed hackney carriage may do this in its own district. A private hire vehicle must be pre-booked through a licensed operator, and private hire vehicles may not wait on hackney ranks. The policy also reminds private hire drivers that taking bookings directly from customers needs an operator's licence. Our full guide to plying for hire explains the law and the penalties.

A new medical diagnosis

What to do if you are diagnosed with a condition while licensed. Drivers must meet the DVLA Group 2 medical standard, so a new condition that could affect your driving must be reported to the council, and to the DVLA where the DVLA requires it. Do not wait for your renewal medical.

Convictions and cautions

What to do if you receive one. Tell the council in writing, promptly, and check the deadline in your licence conditions. Failing to report is treated as a question of honesty, which goes to whether you are fit and proper.

Who may drive a licensed vehicle

Only a driver who holds the right licence from Sevenoaks. A hackney carriage must be driven by a Sevenoaks hackney carriage driver. Lending the car to a friend or relative who is not licensed, even for a short trip, breaks the rules.

Lost property

What to do when you find something left in the vehicle. Under the council's byelaws and conditions, you search the vehicle after each hiring. If you find property, you take it to the council office as soon as possible, and within 48 hours at the latest if the owner has not claimed it, and you get a receipt. Proprietors must also search the vehicle daily.

Behaviour

How a licensed driver should behave at all times: courteous, honest, professional, and on the side of passenger safety. If an answer option involves arguing, refusing a lawful fare without reason or taking advantage of a passenger, it is wrong.

Exam tip: Compulsory answers are always the safe, legal, report-it choice. When two options look right, pick the one that protects the passenger and keeps the council informed.

How to use the published question list

The council's Knowledge Test Training Material lists the questions you may be asked, with blank space for your answers. It does not give the answers, and the real test turns each question into multiple choice. Download it from the council's knowledge test questions page.

A method that works:

1. Print it. Write your own answer next to each question, in your own words.
2. Note the source for every answer: the policy section, the Highway Code rule, or the map.
3. Do the compulsory six first and learn them until you can answer without notes.
4. Use the policy for the law questions. The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2024 to 2029 contains the byelaws, conditions and specifications most questions draw on.
5. Use the GOV.UK Highway Code for the Highway Code category. Questions cover following distances in wet and icy conditions, motorway lanes, national speed limits, parking near junctions, clearways and reversing.
6. Use maps for the places. The council expects you to research locations using sources such as online maps.
7. Then test yourself on multiple choice with our questions, because recognising the right answer among four is a different skill from writing it.

Don't share or rely on answer sheets passed around online. You don't know who wrote them, and policy answers go out of date when the policy changes.

Sevenoaks licensing policy points you must know

These come from the council's Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2024 to 2029. They are the kind of rules the policy and law categories test.

Ranks and plying for hire

Rule	Detail
Who may wait on a rank	Only hackney carriages; it is an offence for any other vehicle to wait there
Leaving a cab on a rank	A hackney may only wait on a rank while plying for hire; leaving it unattended is an offence
Returning to a rank	No byelaw requires it; a hackney may park and be available wherever the public can lawfully park
Obstruction	Never park so as to block the road or the footway

Drivers

Rule	Detail
Medical	Group 2 standard; a new medical at each 3-year renewal, and every year from age 65
Smoking	Not allowed in a licensed vehicle at any time; no-smoking signs displayed
Lost property	Search after every hiring; hand in at the council office within 48 hours if unclaimed
Dress	The policy's dress code rules out sportswear such as football kits, beachwear, dirty or ripped clothing, offensive slogans, and flip-flops or shoes not secured at the heel
Refusal or revocation	Appeal to a magistrates' court within 21 days of written notice
Penalty points	Breaches can earn points, which stay live for a rolling 12 months

Vehicles

Rule	Detail
New hackney plates	Wheelchair accessible vehicles only, since 2016
First licensing	No more than 100,000 miles; Euro 5 or Euro 6 emissions (except limousines and wheelchair accessible vehicles)
Maximum age	10 years; 15 years for wheelchair accessible, hybrid, electric and LPG vehicles
Accident damage	Report to licensing within 72 hours; don't use the vehicle for hire until approved
Breakdown while hired	Arrange other transport for the hirer and report within 24 hours
Card payments	Hackneys must take contactless cards; fix a faulty card machine within 5 working days
Assistance dogs	Carried free; refusal only with a medical exemption

Key fact: Sevenoaks has no rule forcing hackneys back to a rank between fares, but a hackney left unattended on a rank is an offence. The test likes to set these two rules against each other.

A worked example: the lost property reward

The byelaws let a driver who hands in lost property claim a reward from the owner when it is returned. It is 10p in the pound of the item's estimated value, or the fare from where you found it to the council office, whichever is greater, but never more than £25.

Example 1. A wallet worth about £120 is handed in. The fare from where you found it to the council office would be £9.40. Ten pence in the pound of £120 is £12.00. £12.00 is greater than £9.40, so the reward is £12.00.

Example 2. A laptop worth about £400. Ten pence in the pound is £40.00, which is over the limit, so the reward is capped at £25.00.

The numeracy category uses sums like these, along with change, fares and journey times. Practise them in fares and numeracy.

Learning Sevenoaks District

The routes, streets, places and wards categories make up a large share of the paper. Spend time in the district, study a map and research which road each landmark is on. The council lists the kinds of places it asks about: pubs, bars, schools, train stations, golf clubs, village halls, supermarkets and business parks.

Towns and villages

• Towns: Sevenoaks, Swanley, Edenbridge and Westerham.
• Villages: Otford, Kemsing, Dunton Green, Riverhead, Seal, Eynsford, Farningham, Hextable, West Kingsdown, New Ash Green, Hartley, Penshurst and Leigh, among others.

Main roads

Road	What to know
M25	Junction 3 near Swanley (meets the M20), junction 4 for the A21 towards Orpington, junction 5 near Sevenoaks (meets the M26)
M26	Links M25 junction 5 to the M20
A21	The Sevenoaks bypass, south towards Tonbridge
A25	East to west through Seal, Sevenoaks and Westerham
A225	North from Sevenoaks through Otford
A20	Through Swanley and West Kingsdown

Places drivers are asked for

Stations at Sevenoaks, Bat & Ball, Dunton Green, Otford, Kemsing, Swanley, Eynsford and Edenbridge; visitor sites such as Knole in Sevenoaks, Chartwell near Westerham, Hever Castle near Edenbridge, Penshurst Place and Lullingstone Roman Villa near Eynsford; and Brands Hatch circuit at West Kingsdown.

Wards

The wards category asks which ward a place is in. Look up the current ward list on the council website, and learn the ward names alongside the towns and villages they cover.

How our Sevenoaks practice matches the real test

Our Sevenoaks route has 2,284 questions: about 2,000 shared council questions on the Highway Code, signs, law, safeguarding and equality, and the rest written for Sevenoaks policy, fares and places. The ten mock tests use the hackney carriage length: 58 questions in 90 minutes, with 47 correct as the overall line and 80% needed in every section, scored section by section like the real test.

Where we differ: our mocks do not single out a separate compulsory category marked at 100%. Treat the compulsory six as a must-know list and test yourself on them until you never miss one. Our place questions also cannot cover every pub and village hall in the district; the council's list and a map are your main tools there. The Sevenoaks study note sums up the format for revision, and the printable question sheet gives you questions and an answer key on paper.

For the shared law every council tests, such as the 1847 and 1976 Acts and touting, read our taxi and private hire law note, and see the council taxi knowledge test guide for how Sevenoaks compares with other councils.

Your study plan

1. Today: take the free Sevenoaks diagnostic to see which categories are below 80%.
2. This week: download the question list and the licensing policy. Write your own answers to the compulsory six and learn them perfectly.
3. Next two weeks: work through the rest of the list, one category at a time, with the policy, the Highway Code and a map. Drill each category in our topic practice until it is above 90%.
4. Before you book: sit the free Sevenoaks mock 1 under a 90-minute timer and check every category, not only the total.
5. Ready check: three mocks in a row at 85% or more, with no category below 80%. Pro unlocks mocks 2 to 10 and section practice from £6.99 a week; see pricing.

Driving in nearby Surrey as well? The Reigate & Banstead taxi knowledge test has an even tighter overall pass mark.