2.3 Results, Retake, Licence & Pre-service Course

Quick Answer: Collect results at Counter 36 about 15 minutes after submission. Fail → limited review of wrong items + your chosen answers, then retake via TD321 post or GovHK End-of-list booking. Pass → wait 4 working days, then apply for the taxi licence/entitlement within 3 years, with Pre-service Course certificate (if your written-test application was on/after 1 Oct 2020) and the usual TD forms.

Getting Your Result

After you submit the computerized paper, you do not wait weeks for a letter. TD's candidate process issues a result slip about 15 minutes after submission. Collect it at Counter 36 of the Driving Test Appointment Office — the same Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices building as the test floor.

Stay in the building. Leaving for lunch and returning later is how candidates create avoidable confusion about counters, tickets, and peak-hour queues. Bring the same identity documents you used for admission so staff can match you to the sitting.

Special Case: Licence Already Suspended by Court

If your driving licence was suspended by a Court before the test, the written-test result is nullified even if the computer shows a pass-style score. The fee is not refunded. This rule protects the licensing system from candidates who sit knowledge tests while legally barred from holding a valid driving entitlement path.

Before you book or sit, confirm your full licence is free of court suspension and remains valid. A nullified pass wastes money, time, and your appointment slot.

If You Fail: What You Can Check

Failed candidates may review limited feedback at Counter 36:

On request, TD can indicate the pages/paragraphs in the official preparation publications that relate to the missed items. Use that map to re-study the Taxi Operation Booklet and Road Users' Code surgically instead of re-reading everything at the same shallow depth.

Review limits

• You may check wrong answers a maximum of twice for your latest failed attempt.
• You cannot check within 1 week of a new appointment if a new sitting is already allotted.

Those limits exist so review remains a learning tool, not a loophole for mining live item content right before a retake. Plan review soon after a fail, then book the next attempt only when your weak topics are rebuilt.

Retaking the Taxi Written Test

Retake routes follow TD's written-test application channels:

Postal route

• Submit the TD321 package by post to P.O. Box 79, Shatin Central.
• Pay the fee by cheque or cashier order payable to the Government of the HKSAR (follow current form instructions for amount and any supporting copies).

Online route

• Book through GovHK Online Booking.
• Select End-of-list Appointment.
• Do not use Repeater Early for this retake path — that channel is not the correct booking type described for this process in the candidate materials.

Keep copies of everything you post or submit online. Track the appointment letter as carefully as you did for the first attempt, and re-verify documents (especially licence validity and identity condition) before the new date.

If You Pass: Path to the Taxi Licence / Entitlement

A written-test pass is necessary but not the final licensing step. Successful candidates apply for a full taxi driving licence or to add the taxi entitlement to an existing full licence under TD's commercial vehicle licensing rules.

Timing window

Missing the 3-year window means the pass no longer supports the licence application — you would need to re-qualify under whatever rules then apply. Do not pass and then "park" the result indefinitely.

Core documents and requirements

Typical application elements include:

1. Form TD557 (taxi licence / entitlement application as directed by TD).
2. Address proof not older than 3 months.
3. Identity documents meeting TD standards.
4. The prescribed fee.
5. Pre-service Course for Taxi Drivers certificate — required if you applied for the Taxi written test on or after 1 October 2020. The course must have been completed within the 1 year preceding the licence application (not merely "sometime in the past").
6. Medical examination form TD256 if you are aged 70 or above.

Residence eligibility

You must satisfy TD residence rules, generally:

• Hold a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card, or
• Hold a Hong Kong Identity Card that is not subject to a condition of stay other than a limit of stay.

If your stay condition is more restrictive, resolve immigration/identity status before investing in retakes or the pre-service course timeline.

Pre-service Course: Do Not Leave It Late

For candidates whose written-test application falls under the 1 October 2020 rule, the Pre-service Course for Taxi Drivers is a hard gate on the licence application. Passing the written test without a timely course certificate still leaves you unable to complete licensing.

Sequence the work deliberately:

1. Pass the written test (both parts).
2. Complete the pre-service course so the certificate will still be within 1 year when you lodge TD557.
3. Gather address proof ≤3 months old near the application date (old utility bills expire for this purpose).
4. Apply after 4 working days and well inside the 3-year pass validity.

If you delay the course until year three after the pass, you can create a squeeze between certificate freshness and pass expiry. Build a calendar as soon as you see the pass on the result slip.

Where to Apply for the Licence

TD licensing offices commonly used for these applications include:

Check current TD opening hours, appointment needs, and which counter handles commercial driving entitlements before you travel. Bring originals plus any copies the form checklist specifies.

Connecting Results Discipline to Career Timeline

Section 2.3 is the bridge between "I studied the booklet" and "I can legally drive a taxi for hire." Candidates who only memorize Part A regulations still need a clean result-collection plan, an honest reading of fail-review limits, a correct retake channel, and a full licensing packet. Candidates who pass but ignore the pre-service certificate timing or the 3-year window can lose the practical value of that pass.

Treat the post-test pathway as part of exam preparation: know Counter 36, know the dual-threshold meaning of the slip, know TD321 / GovHK End-of-list for retakes, and know TD557 + pre-service + residence + (if applicable) TD256 for the licence. That operational literacy is as much a professional taxi-driver skill as reading a stand queue or starting the taximeter correctly.