Welcome to the New Knowledge of London website
www.the-knowledge.net

About The Knowledge

All licensed taxi drivers in the capital must have an in depth knowledge of the topography of London, 'The Knowledge'. For would be All London or 'Green Badge' holders, this means that they need to have a detailed knowledge of London within a six mile radius of Charing Cross. This is based on 320 routes (or 'runs') as set out in the Public Carriage Office "Guide to Learning the Knowledge of London" (the 'Blue Book')They also need to know the places of interest and important landmarks on the route and within a quarter mile radius of both start and finish points.

When they attend the Public Carriage Office for their first examination, candidates must pay a once only fee of £100. Candidates are tested on the knowledge during one to one interviews (called appearances) after a basic written test where they are given start and finish points and required to detail the shortest routes between them.

A review of the delivery of testing of the knowledge is presently being undertaken with a view to improving efficiency, by the judicious use of information technology.

A booklet entitled “Becoming a London Taxi Driver” can be obtained by attending the PCO between 8am to 4pm or by telephoning 0845 602 7000.

About This Site

This site has been launched to fill the gap on the internet of a a regularly updated website dedicated to the Knowledge. A site dedicated to the Knowledge is only as good as the content within so we aim to add as much content as possible when time permits.

We will be adding more content every week so it is worth checking regularly as we think that any knowledge student will find this site useful.

We have added a basic message board to the site as this format seems to be favoured by most people undertaking the knowledge.

There is also a fully featured Forum running on our TaxiTalk server along with an e-mail based discussion list.

If there is anything feature that you would like to see added to this site then please let us know by filling in our feedback form.