Learner drivers are having to wait more than five months to book their driving test at four out of five British test centres, it emerged yesterday.
Some 258 sites, or 81 per cent of the total, had the maximum waiting time of 24 weeks for a test as of May 5 – up from 161 at the start of the year.
AA Driving School, which obtained the figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), said things ‘cannot get much worse’.
The average waiting time across all test centres has reached 22 weeks, up from 14 weeks in February 2024.Â
The DVSA blamed higher demand and some learners booking their test much earlier than before.
Officials hope an increase in the number of tests will bring waiting times down. The number of bookings in the DVSA’s system was 122,000 higher in June than 12 months earlier.
Learner drivers are having to wait more than five months to book their driving test at four out of five British test centres, it emerged yesterday
The National Audit Office recently vowed to investigate the ‘root causes’ of delays to booking tests, and ‘how the DVSA is responding’.Â
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in April that the Government ‘inherited an enormous backlog’, but was ‘acting fast’.
She told the Commons transport committee that her department aimed to reduce the average waiting time to seven weeks by next summer.
A Government consultation on amending the test booking system closed last week, having floated a plan to stop people making a quick buck by using bots – automated software – to mass-book slots for resale on the black market.
The DVSA is offering overtime payments to get instructors to conduct more tests.
AA Driving School managing director Emma Bush said: ‘The situation cannot get much worse. It is disappointing to see learners are continuing to face an uphill battle when it comes to booking their test.’
DVSA boss Loveday Ryder said: ‘DVSA’s goal is to make booking a test easier and fairer.’
