UPDATE: |DVSA to take ‘immediate’ action to reduce driving test waiting time News

The current target to clear the record high backlog will be missed by up to eight months

The DVSA has been instructed to ‘intensify their efforts’ to reduce waiting times for driving tests.

The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has ordered the agency to make at least 10,000 extra driving tests available each month in an effort to tackle the record high backlog that has accumulated over the past year.

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

The number of test centres with a 24-week waiting time – the maximum possible – nearly doubled over the period, from 94 to 183.

Furthermore, motoring research charity the RAC Foundation found that on March 31, there were 583,000 tests booked for future dates – the highest on record.

A Government target to clear the backlog by the end of this year will be missed by up to eight months, Ms Alexander revealed.

The Cabinet minister informed the Commons’ Transport Select Committee of a revised target to reduce the average waiting time for driving tests in Britain to seven weeks by the summer of 2026.

Giving evidence to the committee, Ms Alexander said: “The waiting times that people are experiencing are totally unacceptable.”

She announced that the DVSA has been instructed to make “additional overtime incentive payments to everyone delivering extra driving tests”.

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 launch a consultation next month on changes to the driving test booking system, in an attempt to stop bots mass-booking new slots and reselling them on the black market for inflated prices.

A separate statement released by the Department for Transport stated: “We inherited an enormous backlog of learners ready to ditch their L plates but being forced to endure record waiting time for their tests.

“We simply cannot deliver on our Plan for Change if thousands remain held back, with their aspirations on pause.”

Pauline Reeves, director of driver services at the DVSA, said: “Since December 2024, we’ve made significant progress on implementing our plan to reduce waiting times.

“But we know that many learner drivers are not seeing the immediate effects of the measures,” she added.

“The further action which the Secretary of State has announced today will help us to accelerate those measures, including expanding training capacity for newly recruited driving examiners so more of them can start carrying out driving tests sooner.”