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East of England Ambulance ServiceEssex County CouncilEssex County Fire & Rescue SeviceEssex PoliceHighways AgencySouthend-on-Sea Borough CouncilThurrock Council

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National Driver Alertness Course

Essex County Council, in partnership with Essex Police, are Service Providers for the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS). We currently offer 3 Driver Intervention Courses:

The National Driver Alertness Course - Information on this course is continued on this page:

The National Speed Awareness Course - Click here for more information on this course.

The National Rider Intervention Course (RIDE) - Click here for more information on this course.

The National Driver Alertness Course (formerly known as the National Driver Improvement Scheme) is offered to some drivers as an alternative to prosecution for certain traffic offences.

It gives the opportunity for drivers to improve not only their driving skills but also their general attitude to driving and other road users.
 
Courses are run to a nationally agreed programme and require participants to attend a day, at their own expense.
 
Satisfactory completion of the course will avoid the driver getting penalty points on their licence.
 
The course consists of theory and on road sessions. Here there are group exercises looking at attitudes to driving and improving anticipation of traffic dangers.
The practical, on-road, training session is conducted by highly qualified Driving Standards Agency Approved Driving Instructors.

The courses are more effective than costly court proceedings. Offenders are offered a non punitive alternative to prosecution and retrained drivers are less likely to be involved in crashes in the future. It is very rare for anyone to come away from the course feeling they have not learned something that can help prevent accidents.
Further information can be obtained by contacting the Driver Intervention Scheme Manager on 01245 437347.
 
If you have been offered a Driver Alertness Course please note that although the Scheme is advertised as a national scheme there are a selection of Police Forces that do not participate. This means that there is no referral process in place to allow drivers to partake in a course in those areas if you have been referred by Essex Police and vice versa.
 
If you wish to book a course in Essex, via our online booking system please click here to be directed to the appropriate website. You will require your Driving Licence number to access the information on the site and register yourself for a course.
 
If you are unable to book online the Driver Alertness Course office is open for booking of courses and other enquiries Monday to Friday between 9.00am and 5.00pm. Our telephone bookings are handled by our booking system suppliers, PDS, and their telephone number is 0871 200 2217.
 
For information as to what courses are operated in any other Police Force area please click here. You will also require your Driving Licence number to access the information on the site.
 
 
DURING PERIODS OF ADVERSE WEATHER DURING THE WINTER IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO CANCEL COURSES AT SHORT NOTICE. TO CHECK THE STATUS OF FUTURE COURSES PLEASE FOLLOW THE  "Up to Date Course Information" LINK ON THIS PAGE.