Leicester taxi drivers major national competition win is recognised by the Prime Minister

Recent graduate of NVQ2 vocational course for taxi drivers wins Excellence Passenger Transport Award

A local Leicester taxi driver has received a letter of congratulations from the Prime Minister for winning a national award.

Saeed Khan, from Evington in Leicester, who recently completed an NVQ2 course in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving at Leicester College, won the prestigious N/SVQ Achiever of the Year award at the Go for Excellence Passenger Transport Awards – a national awards scheme that recognises and celebrates the achievements of learners and employers across the passenger transport sector. 

He headed down to London on 3 December 2009 to attend the glitzy ceremony which was attended by twenty-four finalists from across the country competing for awards across eight categories.

Saeed, who has been employed by Swift Cabs in Leicester for four years, started the NVQ course in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving at Leicester College in September 2007 – the first time the course was offered in Leicestershire - and completed the class-based qualification in the summer of the same year whilst working full-time.  After showing an impressive level of enthusiasm and effort during the course, staff at Leicester College encouraged Saeed to apply for the awards scheme this year, confident that he had what it takes to win the prestigious accolade.         

The work-based qualification, which is being offered free of charge to eligible taxi and PHV drivers, was initiated by Leicester Shire Promotions to help local drivers develop their customer skills and knowledge. The course is being provided and facilitated by a partnership consortium consisting of Leicester Shire Promotions, local licensing authorities, Leicester College, Go Skills, Union Learn, Rail Maritime and Transport Union, the Learning and Skills Council, InTraining and Profound Services. The project forms part of Leicester Shire Promotions’ Quality Improvement Programme for Leicestershire and is being funded by East Midlands Tourism.

Factors covered in the NVQ2 course include health & safety, legislation, handling conflict and difficult situations, safe driving, disability awareness, customer service, first aid and tourist information. On completion, drivers achieve a nationally recognised qualification equivalent to GCSE level.  

As well as passing the course with flying colours, Saeed went on to complete the A1 Assessor Award through Barnsley Dial a Ride and currently works for Barnsley Dial a Ride in assessing NVQ Road Passenger Vehicle Driving students in the Leicester area.

Commenting on the award win, Saeed said: “At first I thought the letter was a joke, but after some investigation I realised it really was from the Prime Minister’s office.  It’s a great honour to be recognised in this way.  I put in a lot of effort during the course whilst working full time so it’s nice to see that it’s paid off. 

“I would like to thank Tracey Whitehead at Swift Fox Cabs for encouraging me to do the course, John McMillan at Barnsley Dial-a-Ride for his assessor training and Ian Lewis at Leicester College for his support and encouragement.

“I decided to undertake the NVQ to gain a better understand customer service and ultimately improve the way I do my job.  It’s very easy to become complacent when you’ve been driving for a few years so it was fantastic to be able to refresh my knowledge on things like road safety and first aid, and also learn new skills in communication and dealing with difficult customers.  After completing my NVQ, I wanted to further myself by becoming an Assessor, so that I could expand my own personal development and career”, continued Saeed.   

Ian Lewis, Projects Manager at Leicester College said, “It’s great to see Saeed win a major award like this, we are really proud of him.

“The course has been a great success, with over 100 people having completed the course already, and this is due to the enthusiasm of people like Saeed who has now gone on to support others on the course as an assessor.”

Martin Peters, Chief Executive of Leicester Shire Promotions commented: “Taxi drivers are an integral part of the welcome service to which visitors to Leicester have access. We identified this particular opportunity at an early stage and have played a fundamental role in bringing together these key partner organisations to create a solution through the NVQ training.

"Participants in the course broaden their skills base and in turn, this will help them to offer an enhanced service to their customers.  The course is fully funded and has a mix of classroom study and work based assessments, taxi drivers taking part will find it a valuable investment of their time and effort," continued Martin.

Leading awarding body EDI accredited the NVQ Saeed was undertaking. Gareth Phillips, Business Development Director at EDI, commented: "We would like to extend our congratulations to Saeed Khan from Leicester College for winning the coveted title of NVQ Achiever of the Year at the 2009 GoSkills Awards. Saeed is a deserving winner of the prestigious award and we are delighted that his dedication and commitment has been rewarded."

Local taxi drivers interested in studying the NVQ2 course in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving should contact their licensing authority.   For more information about the Go for Excellence Passenger Transport Awards, visit www.goskills.org