The ADR card: validity, refresher training and replacement

The ADR card, officially the ADR driver training certificate (8.2.2.8), lets you drive vehicles carrying dangerous goods in quantities where training is required. In the UK the card is issued by Qualifications Scotland after you pass the exams with an approved training provider. This guide covers when you need it, how long it lasts, how to renew it and what to do if you lose it.

When you need the card

You need a valid certificate whenever ADR requires driver training for the load (8.2.1.1). What you train for depends on what you carry:

• Basic training: required for everyone who needs a certificate (8.2.1.2). It covers carriage outside tanks, except Classes 1 and 7.
• Tanks: fixed or demountable tanks over 1 m³, battery vehicles over 1 m³, and tank-containers, portable tanks and MEGCs over 3 m³ each (8.2.1.3).
• Class 1: explosive substances and articles, except 1.4S (8.2.1.4).
• Class 7: radioactive material (8.2.1.4).

Below the 1.1.3.6 threshold, when the vehicle runs without orange plates, you don't need an ADR card, but you do need awareness training under 8.2.3. See our guide to orange plates for how the threshold works.

What the card looks like

ADR sets one model for all countries: a plastic card the size of a bank card (ID-1), white with black lettering, with an extra security feature such as a hologram, UV printing or guilloche patterns (8.2.2.8.3). The back of a UK card shows the classes you're qualified to carry.

A UK card is valid in every ADR country while it's in date, and the UK recognises cards issued by the others (8.2.1.6). Keep it in the cab whenever you drive (8.1.2.2 b). You can't carry dangerous goods while waiting for a new card to arrive.

Validity and renewal

The certificate is valid for five years from the date you pass the exams (8.2.2.8.2). To renew it, you take refresher training and pass the refresher exams. When you do it decides the new expiry date:

Timing	New expiry
last year	five years from the expiry date of your current card, so you lose nothing (8.2.2.8.2 a)
earlier	five years from the date you pass the refresher exam (8.2.2.8.2 b)
after expiry	no refresher: GOV.UK says you take the training and tests again to requalify

GOV.UK adds one deadline: take the refresher exam at least two weeks before your current card expires. Refresher training must be at least half as long as the initial course for each module (8.2.2.5.2), and you can choose to retake the full initial course and exam instead (8.2.2.5.3).

Adding tanks or classes later

You can add classes or tanks at any time by taking the extra module and its exam. You'll get a new card, but the expiry date stays the same as on your original card, and the new classes are valid only until that date (8.2.2.8.2). If you add tanks a year before expiry, you'll still need your refresher soon.

Lost, stolen, damaged, or your details changed

Everything goes through online forms on GOV.UK. Fees as of 1 October 2026:

Change	Fee and timing
lost, stolen or damaged card	£15; new card within 10 working days of payment
name change	free; upload a passport, driving licence, deed poll or marriage certificate
nationality change	£15; upload a passport, driving licence, national identity card or naturalisation certificate
new address	not shown on the card, but email Qualifications Scotland so they can update their records

A replacement keeps the original expiry date. It isn't a renewal.

Revise before your refresher

ADR is updated every two years, so a lot can change between refreshers. Our free test shows you quickly what you still know. The app has exam simulations for the core module and specialisations. How the exams work is covered in our guide to the ADR exam in the UK.

Sources

GOV.UK, "Become a qualified dangerous goods (ADR) vehicle driver" (sections on staying qualified, adding classes and getting, replacing or updating your ADR card), accessed 1 October 2026. ADR 2025 (UNECE English text): 8.1.2.2, 8.2.1.1 to 8.2.1.6, 8.2.2.5.2, 8.2.2.5.3, 8.2.2.8.2, 8.2.2.8.3, 8.2.3. Fees are indicative as of the date given.