RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Cambridge
Cambridge Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
New applicants must have held a full UK, EC or EEA driving licence for at least two years and have the right to work. The staged process starts with safeguarding and disability-awareness training, then an online application with identity, address, driving-licence and overseas good-conduct evidence where applicable. Applicants must pass the knowledge test, complete an in-person identity/DBS stage, subscribe to the DBS Update Service, pass an approved taxi-driving test and submit a Group 2 medical certificate and D4 report dated within eight weeks. The council also carries out annual DVLA licence checks and requires HMRC tax evidence where applicable.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Annual vehicle licence; test at Waterbeach before grant and after six months. Legal owner must be named proprietor. Provide V5, insurance, sale/finance papers and CCTV installation certificate; converted WAVs need type approval.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
The licence is specific to its holder and operating address and is not transferable. Submit the operator application and reference form, pay the fee, and register as a non-driver proprietor if not a Cambridge-licensed driver. The council arranges an inspection. Renewal should reach the council at least eight weeks before expiry. The guidance requires planning permission for the operating premises.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
Current fees for licence starts after 1 April 2026: new driver £300 for one or three years; renewal £225 one-year or £270 three-year. DBS £49.50, initial knowledge test £105, retest £75; DVLA check £6.85/£20.55 for one/three years. New HC/PH vehicles £300/£250; renewals £215/£200. Funding-dependent ULEV renewals £107.50/£100 and zero-emission £0 apply only to eligible licences expiring on or before 30 November 2026. Operator new £416, renewal £365 one-year or £1,370 five-year. Page reviewed9September2026.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
The council passenger page, reviewed 28 July 2026, publishes £3.80 for the first 87.3 metres from 07:00–19:00; £5.00 for nights, Sundays and bank holidays; and £6.20 for its printed Christmas and New Year periods. Each subsequent distance of up to 129 metres costs 20p, and each period of up to 28 seconds spent motionless or below the changeover speed costs 20p. The page also lists the passenger, bicycle, fuel-surcharge and soiling extras.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
New applicants must complete the council's knowledge test, approved practical taxi driving assessment, safeguarding/disability training, enhanced DBS with Update Service, and Group II medical checks. The knowledge examination has 100 multiple-choice questions across eight sections, lasts two hours and requires 80% in each section; three attempts are allowed in twelve months. Practical assessment evidence must be no older than twelve months. The current training page requires STC's two-hour online safeguarding/disability course, with a QR-coded certificate dated within three months of the application or renewal process starting; training is repeated at every renewal and another qualification is not a substitute. The medical certificate must be no older than eight weeks when the licence is issued. Overseas good-conduct and immigration evidence may also be required.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Full current fees, vehicle/operator and tariff not yet extracted.
- Older crawl of application page; revalidate direct current availability before publication.
- Old driver URL now404; cached driver and qualification facts withheld.
- Cambridge’s 2026/27 consultation proposed different figures, but the later-reviewed passenger page is used here; the proposal is not presented as adopted.
- This summary describes the council's current published new-driver process; it is not an exhaustive reproduction of suitability or conviction-policy criteria.
- Preserve prior verified fields.
- New operator duration not stated alongside £416; do not infer. Funding concessions are conditional and time-limited.
- Enrichment only; preserve prior confirmed summaries and fees. Full policy exceptions must be checked before purchasing a vehicle.
- Exact overseas-residence threshold should be confirmed with licensing because application wording varies.