Sheffield Taxi Knowledge Test: Format, Sections and Practice

The Sheffield taxi knowledge test is the second stage of getting a Sheffield City Council driver licence. Sheffield issues a single dual licence, so the same test applies whether you want to drive a hackney carriage (a taxi that can pick up from ranks and street hails) or a private hire vehicle (pre-booked only). It is a short computer test, but its pass rule is strict: you need 80% in every one of its five sections.

This guide explains the format, what each section asks, how to tackle the routes and the picture-based points of interest, the local rules worth learning, the fare table with a worked example, and how to practise. UK Driver Licence Prep is an independent study aid, not part of Sheffield City Council. Facts come from the council's knowledge test page, its knowledge test guidance, its 2022 driver policy and its fare table, checked in October 2026.

Sheffield taxi knowledge test at a glance

Item	Detail (as of October 2026)
Who takes it	New applicants for a Sheffield driver licence, and anyone whose licence expired more than 12 months ago
Before you book	Level 2 Certificate for taxi and private hire drivers, including safeguarding
Where	On computer at the council office; book online
Questions	40 multiple choice, chosen at random
Time	60 minutes
Pass rule	At least 80% in each of the five sections
Fee	£87, not refunded on a fail; pay again to retest
Cancellation	Less than 72 hours' notice means no refund (per our council note)
Validity	One year from the date you pass
Attempts	No limit or waiting period published

The council does not publish a limit on attempts or a gap between them. If you fail, ask the licensing team (taxilicensing@sheffield.gov.uk) how soon you can rebook.

The five sections and the 80% rule

Section	Questions	Need (80%)	Mistakes allowed
Safeguarding	5	4	1
Laws and Conditions	10	8	2
The Highway Code	5	4	1
Routes	10	8	2
Points of Interest	10	8	2

This is the most important table on the page. Because each section is scored on its own, a strong total cannot save a weak section. You could score 38 out of 40, with all the mistakes in safeguarding, and still fail. The two five-question sections are the tightest: one mistake is allowed, two is a fail.

Key fact: In safeguarding and the Highway Code, two wrong answers out of five is a fail, however well you do in the rest of the test.

What this means for how you revise

• Do not leave the small sections until last. Safeguarding and the Highway Code have only five questions each, but they carry the same pass-or-fail weight as the big sections.
• Aim for 100% in practice on the small sections. A practice score of 4 out of 5 leaves no room on the day.
• Track scores by section, not just overall. Our Sheffield mocks show your result per section with the 80% line, the same way the real test is marked.

Section by section

Safeguarding (5 questions)

The council says these questions come from the safeguarding part of the Level 2 course. Its guidance gives examples of the kind of thing asked: what the code of conduct is for, who counts as a vulnerable person, and what to do if you are worried about a passenger. In Sheffield's view, a vulnerable person includes any adult at risk of harm, including someone who is drunk or unwell, not just children. Know the warning signs of exploitation and county lines (young people travelling alone, at odd hours, far from home, paying in cash), and the actions: 999 if someone is in immediate danger, then tell the licensing service. Never use booking details to contact a passenger. Practise in Sheffield safeguarding and read our page on safeguarding questions for taxi drivers.

Laws and Conditions (10 questions)

Questions on the legislation and Sheffield's own rules. The guidance lists the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, the Road Safety Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010, the council's hackney carriage byelaws, and its driver, vehicle and operator conditions and policies. Typical question themes are who sets private hire fares (the operator), smoking in licensed vehicles (never), and whether you can charge extra for a wheelchair user (no). The local rules section below lists the conditions most worth learning. Practise in Sheffield law.

The Highway Code (5 questions)

Standard Highway Code knowledge, some of it picture-based, such as identifying a road sign. The guidance mentions questions on reversing safely and what to do at a zebra crossing when someone is waiting. Revise the Highway Code for taxi drivers and practise in Sheffield Highway Code.

Routes (10 questions)

You choose the shortest-distance route between two places of interest from a set of options. The details are covered in the next section.

Points of Interest (10 questions)

Every question shows a photo of a Sheffield building or landmark and asks which road it is on, or which square or street is in front of it. Practise with Sheffield local area questions and a map.

How the Sheffield route questions work

The council's guidance sets out clear rules for the routes section:

1. Shortest distance, not quickest. Pick the route that covers the fewest miles, even if another would be faster in traffic.
2. Start and finish close to the places. The route should begin and end as near as possible to the actual places of interest, at an accessible point.
3. Follow the Highway Code and current restrictions. No-entry streets, banned turns and long-term roadworks can rule out a route that looks shortest on paper.
4. You may use bus lanes, bus gates and tram gates. The council allows this in the test. That can make a direct route through the centre legal where a private car could not use it. The council lists its bus lanes and gates on its bus lanes and gates page.

A method for multiple-choice routes

• Picture the start and end on a map before you read the options. Which side of the centre are they on? Which ring road or main road links them?
• Eliminate routes that go the wrong way first. One option often heads out on the wrong radial road.
• Check for an illegal move in the remaining options: a no-entry section, a right turn that is banned, or a pedestrianised street.
• Compare the last two by distance. If one goes around the inner ring road and the other cuts through the centre using a bus gate, the cut-through is often shorter.

Our Sheffield bank includes route questions, but the bank for this section is small. Route knowledge comes from map work: trace the main routes between hospitals, stations, stadiums and shopping centres on a Sheffield map, and drive or ride them if you can. There is no official "Sheffield routes PDF"; be wary of route lists online that do not reflect current roadworks or bus gates.

Exam tip: Read every route option to the end before choosing. Two options often share the same first half and differ only in the last few streets, where one uses a banned turn.

Points of interest: learning Sheffield from pictures

Because these questions use photographs, you need to recognise buildings as well as know their addresses. A good way to learn:

Place	Road or area
Royal Hallamshire Hospital	Glossop Road
Northern General Hospital	Herries Road
Sheffield Children's Hospital	Western Bank
Weston Park Cancer Centre	Whitham Road
City Hall	Barker's Pool
Crucible and Lyceum theatres	Tudor Square
Central Library	Surrey Street
Moor Market	The Moor
Ponds Forge	Sheaf Street
Bramall Lane (Sheffield United)	Bramall Lane
Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday)	Penistone Road (A61)
Utilita Arena	Broughton Lane

Look at each place on street-level imagery, note the front entrance and the road it faces, and say the road name out loud. Then learn the main arteries: Sheffield Parkway to M1 junction 33, Penistone Road (A61) to the north-west, Ecclesall Road to the south-west, and the inner ring road. Outlying parts of the city also count, including Stocksbridge, Chapeltown, Mosborough and Dore.

Other steps to a Sheffield taxi licence

The knowledge test sits within a longer process:

1. Level 2 Certificate in the Introduction to the Role of the Professional Taxi and Private Hire Driver. The council says this is the first stage, and the certificate should be no more than three years old (or refreshed). If you did it somewhere other than Sheffield City College, check you also completed the safeguarding module.
2. Age and driving experience. The driver policy expects you to be at least 21. The knowledge test guidance says your DVLA driving test pass must be at least two years old; the 2022 policy refers to 12 months' licence. The two documents differ, so follow the stricter guidance figure and confirm with the licensing team.
3. Knowledge test (this page).
4. Driving assessment. The policy describes a driving standards test that includes any three of an emergency stop, a left or right reverse, a turn in the road and a reverse park.
5. Enhanced DBS and the DBS Update Service. The council checks the Update Service every six months.
6. Medical at first application, at 45, every five years to 65, then every year.
7. Right to work checks.

Licences are issued for one, two or three years. Under the policy, the applicant has to show they are "fit and proper" (safe and suitable to carry the public), judged on the balance of probabilities. For the national framework behind this, see the Department for Transport's statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards.

Sheffield rules worth learning

These come from the council's 2022 driver policy and hackney byelaws, and they are the kind of rules the laws and conditions section asks about.

Reporting deadlines

Event	Deadline
Arrest, charge or conviction for a sexual, dishonesty, violence or motoring offence	48 hours
Change of operator	48 hours
Change of address	7 days, in writing, with proof the DVLA has been told
Badge and licence after suspension or revocation	Return within 1 working day
Meter seals broken for repair	Written notice within 24 hours
Unclaimed found property (byelaws)	South Yorkshire Police lost property office within 24 hours

Conduct

• No smoking or vaping in a licensed vehicle, ever. No eating or drinking while carrying passengers for hire.
• No child under 10 in the front seat, unless an impairment makes it safer.
• Display how passengers can complain to the council, and keep signs legible.
• Follow the anti-idling rules and cooperate with authorised officers and the police.
• Three formal warnings within three years mean referral to the Licensing Committee.

Hackney carriage byelaws

• Be clean and respectably dressed whenever you stand or ply for hire.
• Carry up to 50 kg of luggage if asked; prams and pushchairs count towards it.
• The first cab on a stand must stay with it.
• Keep the TAXI sign lit whenever you are plying for hire and not hired.

Plying for hire

Plying for hire means offering a vehicle for immediate hire to someone who has not pre-booked, such as accepting a street hail. Only hackney carriages may do it. A private hire driver who does it commits an offence and may be uninsured. Sheffield uses covert test purchases, and under its policy a conviction normally means no licence for at least 12 months and passing every test again.

Key fact: In Sheffield, a private hire driver caught plying for hire can expect at least a year without a licence and to start the tests from scratch.

Sheffield hackney fares and a worked example

Hackney fares in Sheffield are set by the council (fares and charges page):

Tariff	When	Start (first 100 yards)	Then
1 Day	7am to 7pm	£3.50	20p per 176 yards up to 10 miles
2 Night	7pm to 7am	£3.70	20p per 176 yards up to 10 miles
3 Weekend night	7pm to 7am Friday, Saturday, Sunday	£4.70	20p per 176 yards up to 10 miles

After 10 miles the 20p units drop to every 159 yards. Waiting time is 20p per 45 seconds (£16 an hour), charged when stationary or below 8 mph. Extras: £2 for five to eight passengers, £1.20 per journey on bank holidays, £2.50 per journey over Christmas and New Year, and a fouling charge of up to £80. Private hire fares are set by the operator, not the council.

Worked example. A daytime (Tariff 1) journey of 3,620 yards. Take off the first 100 yards covered by the start fare: 3,620 − 100 = 3,520 yards. Divide by 176: 3,520 ÷ 176 = 20 units. At 20p each: 20 × £0.20 = £4.00. Fare: £3.50 + £4.00 = £7.50.

Add waiting. If the cab also waited 3 minutes in traffic below 8 mph, that is 180 seconds ÷ 45 = 4 units of 20p, or 80p, making £8.30.

Practise sums like this in Sheffield fares and numeracy.

How our Sheffield practice matches the test

Our Sheffield route has 2,261 questions: about 2,000 shared council questions on the Highway Code, signs, law, safeguarding and equality, plus questions written for Sheffield's policy, byelaws, fares and area. The ten Sheffield mocks use the real format: 40 questions in 60 minutes, with a pass line of 32 and the 80% rule shown for each section on your results.

	Real test	Our mocks
Questions	40	40
Time	60 minutes	60 minutes
Pass rule	80% in each of 5 sections	Results show each section against 80%
Points of interest	Photos	Text-based questions about where places are
Routes	Shortest-distance options	Route questions from a smaller bank; add map work

Where we fall short: we do not show photographs of buildings, and our routes bank is small. Use street-level imagery for points of interest and a map for routes alongside our practice. The shared Highway Code, law and safeguarding core is covered in depth; our council taxi knowledge test guide explains it. If you are comparing with a neighbouring council, see the Kirklees taxi theory test, which has no geography at all.

Your study plan

1. Today: take the free Sheffield diagnostic and note your score in each section.
2. This week: read our free Sheffield council note and the council's guidance. Learn the reporting table and byelaws.
3. Next two weeks: learn the points of interest table with street-level images, and trace ten routes a day on a map. Practise safeguarding and the Highway Code until you score 5 out of 5.
4. Before booking: sit the free Sheffield mock 1 under the timer and check every section is above 80%. Print the Sheffield worksheet for revision on paper.
5. Then: if you want more full papers, Pro unlocks mocks 2 to 10 and section practice from £6.99 a week; see pricing. Book when you pass three mocks in a row with every section at 85% or more.