Drivers will face a new system when trying to book a driving test from Tuesday, May 12, as a ban on instructors booking tests comes into effect. The move follows figures showing average waiting times have increased to more than 22 weeks.
What is changing?
From Tuesday, driving tests can only be booked and managed by learners, whereas previously instructors also had that authority. This change aims to make it harder for people to profit by using automated programmes, known as bots, to quickly book available slots and resell them at higher prices. A BBC investigation in December discovered some driving test touts were offering instructors up to £250 per month for the use of their booking website login details.
Impact on black market
Tests have a standard fee of £62, but a National Audit Office (NAO) report published in December found learners were paying up to £500 to book a slot on the black market. It is now illegal to book a driving test for someone other than yourself.
Waiting times remain high
Learners in Britain face a huge backlog to book driving tests. Freedom of information data accessed by AA Driving School shows the average waiting time to book a test increased from 20.8 weeks in January to 22.4 weeks by April 6. In February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, the figure was just five weeks.
Further measures from June
From June 12, it will only be possible to move a slot to one of the three test centres nearest the initial booking. This is aimed at reducing incidents where people book a test regardless of location with no intention of using the slot, then attempt to switch to a more convenient location later. This practice makes it difficult for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to plan capacity at test centres.
Recent changes and official comments
Another measure, introduced on March 31, cut the number of changes allowed for a single booking from six to two. Beverley Warmington, DVSA’s chief executive, said: “Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices. These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others. These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.”
Roads minister Simon Lightwood added: “This Government inherited a huge backlog of learners facing record waiting times but we’ve taken action and are seeing results – delivering almost two million tests in a year, with over 158,000 extra tests since June 2025.”
Industry reaction
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: “Learner drivers continue to face unacceptable delays in accessing driving tests. The data clearly shows more needs to be done to really get a handle on the situation and start to push waiting times back.” She described Tuesday’s changes as “unlikely to be the silver bullet which turns the tide on long waiting times”, but acknowledged they “mark a shift towards overhauling the booking system for the better”. She added: “It is only part of the solution though. To really improve waiting times over a prolonged period, there needs to be unrelenting focus from the DVSA on retaining and recruiting driving test examiners.”
The DVSA reported it had 1,604 full-time equivalent driving examiners last month, the highest since March 2018.
