Target to clear driving test backlog to be missed by up to eight months as half of learners forced to wait six months

23 April 2025, 12:27

A Government target to clear the record high backlog of driving tests will be missed by up to eight months, a Cabinet minister said.

Recent analysis by the AA Driving School showed the average waiting time to book a practical test in Britain was 20 weeks in February, up from 14 weeks a year earlier.

The number of test centres with a six-month waiting time - the maximum possible - nearly doubled over the period, from 94 to 183.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a target of reducing average waiting times for tests across Britain to no more than seven weeks by the end of this year.

But Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has told MPs her department is aiming to end the backlog by summer 2026, meaning it will take up to eight months longer to clear the backlog.

Giving evidence to the Commons' Transport Select Committee, Ms Alexander said: "The waiting times that people are experiencing are totally unacceptable."

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She announced that at least 10,000 extra tests per month will be offered to learners as part of new measures to tackle the issue.

The new measures will also target bots, which scammers are using to mass-book new test slots and resell them on the black market for inflated prices.

Driving tests cost £62 during weekday daytimes and £75 during evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

But people using bots to book the tests are selling them on for several times the official price – sometimes up to four times the price.

The DVSA has been instructed to make "additional overtime incentive payments to everyone delivering extra driving tests", Ms Alexander said.

DVSA staff qualified to conduct tests are being asked to voluntarily return to the front line, while the number of permanent trainers for new examiners will be doubled.

Ms Alexander also said the Government will consult on changes to the driving test booking system, in an attempt to stop bots taking advantage of the booking system.

The PA news agency and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation found on March 31 there were 583,000 tests booked for future dates, which is the highest on record.

Questioned about when average waiting times will be reduced to seven weeks, Ms Alexander said: "We think that this package of measures I'm announcing today could result in us meeting that target again in the summer of next year."

The DVSA has previously attributed the backlog to "an increase in demand and a change in customers' booking behaviour".