New driving test booking rules come into force

Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent

A ban on driving instructors booking tests has come into force as figures show average waiting times have increased to more than 22 weeks.

From Tuesday, driving tests can only be booked and managed by learners, whereas previously instructors also had that power.

It is hoped this will make it harder for people to profit by using automated programmes – known as bots – to quickly book available slots and resell them at a higher price.

A BBC investigation in December discovered some driving test touts were offering instructors up to £250 a month for the use of their booking website login details.

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.

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 by April 6.

In February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, the figure was five weeks.

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 of people booking a test regardless of location, with no intention of using the slot.

They then attempt to switch tests to a more convenient location if a place becomes available at a later date.

This makes it hard for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to plan how much capacity is required at certain test centres.

Another measure aimed at making the system fairer cut the number of changes allowed for a single booking from six to two from March 31.

‘Unacceptable delays’

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 said Tuesday’s changes are “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.”