T3P training-centre approval — taxi, private-hire (VTC) and motorcycle taxis
Mandatory to deliver the regulated courses for private passenger-transport drivers: continuing training and mobility training only count when taken at an approved centre. Approval is granted for five years.
Issued by: The département prefect — the police prefect in Paris (French transport code, article R. 3120-9)
Training providers preparing candidates for the T3P examination and delivering the mandatory courses for taxi, private-hire (VTC) and two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle (VMDTR) drivers, including driving schools adding this activity.
What this scheme covers
- C.1One approval per profession — taxi, VTC, VMDTR: a centre training for all three holds three, and each secondary site requires its own application.
- C.2The right to deliver mandatory continuing training for working drivers: fourteen classroom hours every five years, closed by a certificate valid for five years.
- C.3For taxis, the mobility course — also fourteen hours — required of a driver wishing to operate in another département, which must be delivered by an approved centre in that département.
- C.4Resource requirements: trainer qualifications (diplomas per subject taught, or teaching experience gained in an approved provider), premises, teaching resources and dual-control training vehicles.
The link with Qualiopi
Prefectoral approval authorises T3P training activity; it opens no funding. To have exam preparation funded by the CPF or a sector fund, the centre must also be a declared training provider, hold Qualiopi and back its offer with a certification registered by France compétences.
The process, summarised
- 1.Check the applicable conditions: the order of 11 August 2017 for taxi and VTC centres, the order of 3 October 2018 for VMDTR centres.
- 2.Assemble the required resources: a compliant curriculum, trainers evidencing the qualifications required per subject, premises and dual-control training vehicles.
- 3.File the application, signed by the legal representative, with the prefecture of the département of establishment — the police prefecture in Paris — with one file per profession and per site.
- 4.Once approved, issue end-of-course certificates and report any change to the prefecture (trainers, premises, management, vehicles).
- 5.Apply for renewal before the five-year deadline: approval is not tacitly rolled over.
FAQ — T3P centre approval
+Do you have to attend an approved centre to sit the T3P exam?
No. The exam run by the chambers of trades and crafts is open to independent candidates: no prior training is legally required. Continuing training for working drivers and taxi mobility training, however, only count when taken at an approved centre.
+Does a taxi approval allow you to train VTC drivers?
No: approvals are separate by profession. A centre wanting to train for all three activities — taxi, VTC, VMDTR — must obtain all three. Each secondary site also requires its own approval, including within a single network.
+Does approval exempt a centre from Qualiopi certification?
No, the two logics do not overlap. Approval is an authorisation to operate issued by the prefect; Qualiopi is a quality certification required to draw on public or pooled funds. A centre funded solely by its trainees does not need Qualiopi; as soon as it targets the CPF or a sector fund, it does.
- Opening a Taxi or Private-Hire Training Centre in France: the Prefectoral Approval7 min
- Continuing Training for Taxi and Private-Hire Drivers: Fourteen Hours Every Five Years7 min
- Trainers in a Taxi or Private-Hire Centre: the Qualifications Approval Requires7 min
- Funding Private-Hire Driver Training in France: CPF, Sector Funds and Qualiopi's Real Role7 min
- T3P Approval and Qualiopi: Two Separate Requirements Not to Be Confused7 min
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