Emer Moreau,Business reporter and
Katy Austin,Transport correspondent
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The backlog of driving tests grew after the covid-19 lockdown
Only learner drivers will be able to book driving tests in plans aimed at reducing long waiting lists and preventing slots being sold at inflated prices.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said limiting third parties from reselling slots would stop people being “exploited” by online bots.
But she admitted to MPs on the Transport committee that waiting times for driving tests would not be brought down to seven weeks by summer 2026, the most recent deadline she set.
The average waiting time was 21.8 weeks at the end of June.
Currently, instructors can book tests on behalf of their students, but this will be banned as part of the changes. Limits will also be placed on the number of times a driver can move or swap a test, and the area they can move a test to once they have booked it.
Amelia Lightfoot, a 20-year-old learner driver from Devon, said it took more than a month for her to secure a test, having made daily visits to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) website to book a slot.
She said when she eventually got a date, it was six months away. But she failed that test and is now struggling to book another.
“Because I live in a rural area with very poor public transport, having a driving licence would significantly improve my quality of life.
“The situation is incredibly frustrating and feels very unfair,” she said.
Additionally, 36 examiners from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be brought into the DVSA to try to reduce the backlog.
These examiners are civil servants, not military personnel.
The DVSA has recruited 316 new examiners, but Alexander said that has resulted in a net gain of only 40 as others have left.
Driving examiners will be offered a “retention payment” of £5,000 from next year to try and keep them in the role.
Ruth Cadbury MP, the chair of the Transport Committee, said efforts to replace the current test booking system were moving at a “glacial pace” and it was “a shame” that the summer 2026 target would be missed.
“We will continue to ask the Department for Transport for regular updates on this issue.”
Re-selling tests
Every week, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) makes more tests available but many are rapidly booked up by bots.
Companies then resell the test slots at inflated prices.
Last month, 38 MPs signed a letter calling on the government to take “the strongest possible action” on the issue of re-selling tests.
The driving test costs £62 for a weekday slot or £75 for evenings and weekends.
The letter said some third-party sellers are charging up to £500.
Labour MP Amanda Hack, who organised the letter, said she supported the changes.
“The surge in [test] prices is linked to widespread test swapping since the Covid pandemic. While some changes are legitimate, bots and third parties exploit unlimited swaps, hoovering up tests and making it harder for genuine learners.”
By the end of last month, there were 642,000 learner drivers with a test booked.
The DVSA has said the backlog is a result of increased demand and people booking tests much earlier than before.
Some 182,000 tests took place last month, an increase of 9% from October 2024.
Aman Sanghera, who runs driving school Clearview Driving in west London, said the changes were “the fairest way to fix the current system”.
She said that limiting how many times a test can be swapped or amended would “stop third-party companies from exploiting vulnerable learners and make the whole process more transparent”.
But Sarah, a driving instructor in Crewe who did not give her surname, is worried that limiting learners’ ability to swap tests will actually make it harder to get slots.
“Because the waiting time is so long, people are passing their theory test and then booking their practical straight away because they know they’ll have a five or six-month wait.”
Sarah says she and other driving instructors work together to swap tests so slots are not wasted when a learner driver is not ready.
“If they stop us swapping tests, it’s going to be a nightmare,” she said.
