Number and cost of foreign language translators used in practical driving tests 2011 to 2012
Published 22 August 2013
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2013
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/number-and-cost-of-foreign-language-translators-used-in-practical-driving-tests-2011-to-2012/number-and-cost-of-foreign-language-translators-used-in-practical-driving-tests-2011-to-2012
This is Freedom of Information request IA/0030213.
1. Request
Please tell me how many translators were used in driving tests for the following years:
- 2011-12
- 2012-13
2. Response
If a translator is required to assist with a theory test, they must be DSA approved. In the 2011/12 year there were 42 DSA approved translators used for theory tests and 45 in the 2012/13 year.
A translator does not have to be DSA approved to accompany a candidate on their practical test so DSA does not hold any information about the number of translators used on these tests.
The table below shows the number of theory and practical tests conducted where a translator was present in the last two financial years:
| No. tests conducted 2011/12 | No. tests conducted 2012/13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Practical test | 34,855 | 34,700 |
| Theory test | 2,264 | 2,301 |
3. Request 2
Please could you include a breakdown of how many translators were used for each foreign language and the number of tests conducted in each language.
4. Response
DSA does not record details of the translator or language used during practical tests, so we do not hold this information. We also do not hold information about the number of theory tests conducted by each DSA approved translator and the language used.
We do however capture the language used by the candidate during a theory test when accompanied by a translator. The table below shows the language used and the number of tests conducted for the last two financial years.
| Language used | No. of tests conducted with a translator 2011/12 | No. of tests conducted with a translator 2012/13 |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian | 0 | 3 |
| Bengali | 0 | 1 |
| Bosnian | 6 | 1 |
| Bulgarian | 27 | 25 |
| Cantonese | 1 | 1 |
| Croatian | 4 | 0 |
| Czech | 10 | 1 |
| Dari | 5 | 0 |
| Farsi | 2 | 2 |
| French | 8 | 5 |
| Greek | 0 | 1 |
| Hebrew | 11 | 12 |
| Hungarian | 19 | 27 |
| Italian | 0 | 3 |
| Lithuanian | 244 | 323 |
| Korean | 1 | 0 |
| Kurdish | 1 | 0 |
| Mandarin | 367 | 261 |
| Mongolian | 0 | 1 |
| Polish | 159 | 179 |
| Punjabi | 83 | 114 |
| Romanian | 542 | 692 |
| Russian | 300 | 330 |
| Serbian | 23 | 0 |
| Slovak | 1 | 1 |
| Somali | 336 | 176 |
| Spanish-Castillian | 0 | 3 |
| Thai | 20 | 22 |
| Turkish | 42 | 58 |
| Urdu | 48 | 58 |
| Vietnamese | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 2,264 | 2,301 |
5. Request 3
Please could you also tell me the total cost of using these translators is both the above financial years.
6. Response
We have previously responded to a similar request for this information and our response is published on our website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/driving-test-translator-costs. This information is therefore exempt under section 21 (information accessible by other means) of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). A copy of this exemption in full can be found at Annex A.