The end of paper annual MOT certificates

22 January 2024

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced that now that digital MOT certificates are available, from 29 April 2024 they are going to stop printing MOT pass certificates at the time of the test. In most cases, operators won’t get a physical piece of paper. Instead, annual test pass certificates will be issued in electronic form only.

One exception to this will be tests which result in a fail.  A printed certificate for these will still be issued, although, we understand this will also become electronic in due course.

This change is part of the DVSA’s Digital Transformation Project. The purpose of the Digital Transformation Project is to provide a better platform for our vehicle testing services. By doing this, the aim is to enhance the user experience and provide clearer, real-time data.  

Operators can now see their MOT result on the MOT history service as soon as the annual test is completed. They can then view and/or download a copy of the pass certificate as needed. It should be noted that currently only certificates from 2021 are available to download on the MOT history service – but operators can see the whole test history of vehicles and trailers from 2018.  

This aligns with DVSA’s vision to 2030 and plans to move towards a digital first approach in the light vehicle MOT scheme too.

You can read more about this here.  Please contact the regulatory team here for more information.