How to Check Your Driver CPC Hours

You can check your Driver CPC hours free on GOV.UK. Search for "check your Driver CPC periodic training hours" and sign in with your driving licence number and your postcode.

It is free, it takes two minutes, and no third party needs to do it for you. If a website is charging you to check your own CPC record, close the tab.

What you need to check your CPC hours

Two things: your driving licence number, exactly as printed on your photocard, and the postcode registered against that licence.

The first time you use the service, DVSA posts a password to the address on your driving licence. That means it is not instant on day one — if your CPC is close to expiry, do this now rather than the week you need it.

You also cannot register until a training centre has recorded at least one Driver CPC course against you. If you have never done any periodic training, there is nothing to log into yet.

What the record actually shows

Four useful things.

Your total hours. How many of the 35 you have banked in the current five-year cycle.

Which courses you attended. Dates, providers and hours for each one, which is how you spot a missing entry.

When your next card is coming. Once you hit 35 hours, the service tells you when your Driver Qualification Card is due.

Employer access. You can grant an employer temporary sight of your record, which saves photographing your card every time you start somewhere new.

My hours are wrong. What now?

Training takes a few days to appear. DVSA's guidance is to contact the training centre if a course is still not showing after five working days.

Go to the training provider, not to DVSA. Providers upload the records, so a missing course is almost always an upload that did not happen at their end. Have the date and the course name ready.

Check your record after every course rather than once every five years. Chasing a missing entry from three years ago is considerably harder than chasing one from last week.

How many hours of Driver CPC do you need?

35 hours every five years. That has not changed, despite everything you may have read about CPC being reformed or abolished.

Periodic training courses are usually delivered in seven-hour days, so five days spread across the five years. You can do them all at once at the end, and plenty of drivers do, but it is a miserable week and courses get booked up as deadlines approach.

Under the December 2024 reforms, National Driver CPC periodic training can now be taken in shorter blocks rather than only full days. The 35-hour total is unchanged.

When does my Driver CPC expire?

Look at the expiry date on your Driver Qualification Card — the DQC, the plastic card you carry alongside your licence. That date is the end of your current five-year cycle.

Your 35 hours have to be completed before it, not after. If the card expires with hours outstanding, you cannot legally drive professionally until you have completed the full 35, and there is no grace period.

The licence itself is unaffected. You keep your Class 2 or Class 1 entitlement; you simply cannot be paid to use it.

Has Driver CPC been scrapped?

No. It was reformed on 3 December 2024, not abolished, and the 35-hour requirement survived unchanged.

The reform split it into National Driver CPC for UK-only work and International Driver CPC for cross-border work, and allowed National periodic training in shorter blocks. That is the whole of it. Our full explanation of what changed goes through it properly, because a lot of what circulated at the time was wrong.

What if I have let it lapse completely?

You do not lose your licence and you do not retake your practical test. You complete the outstanding 35 hours of periodic training, and once they are recorded you can apply for a new DQC and go back to work.

Drivers returning after several years away often pair this with a refresher session — not because it is required, but because the first day back in a cab after a long gap is easier with an instructor beside you.

Frequently asked questions

Is checking my CPC hours free?

Yes. The GOV.UK service costs nothing. Any site charging a fee to check your record is reselling something you can do yourself in two minutes.

Can my employer check my CPC hours?

Only if you grant them access through the service, or you show them your card. They cannot look you up unilaterally.

How long does a new DQC take to arrive?

It is issued once your 35th hour is recorded, and the online service tells you when to expect it. Do not leave your final course until the week your current card expires.

Do I need CPC if I only drive a 7.5 tonne vehicle?

Yes, for commercial driving. C1 for private use — a motorhome or your own horsebox — is exempt.

Does CPC transfer between HGV and PCV?

Yes. It is one qualification. If you hold a valid Driver CPC and add a PCV licence, you do not start a second set of 35 hours.

I never did my initial CPC. What do I need?

The initial qualification, not periodic training. That is the Part 2 case studies test and the Part 4 practical demonstration — our Module 4 course covers the practical half in half a day, test included.

Where we can help

Check your hours first. If you are short, or your initial CPC was never completed, call 01795 667 008 and we will tell you exactly what you need — including when the answer is that you are fine and do not need to book anything.

New to professional driving and wondering what CPC even is? Start with our guide to CPC training, or see what a licence costs on our HGV training prices page.