Booking a practical car driving test is far from a breeze due to a huge backlog (Picture: Getty)
Learner drivers say they are facing queues of 23,000 people while trying to book their practical driving tests.
The bookings system,which is run by the Driver & Vehicle
Standards Agency (DVSA),faces an enormous backlog after tests were temporarily suspended during the pandemic,except for key workers.
But drivers and driving teachers say the wait times are worse than ever,with bots and middlemen being blamed for scooping up slots and selling them on for a premium.
According to figures from the PA news agency and the RAC Foundation,as of March 31,there were 583,000 tests booked for future dates,which is the highest on record.
Henry Thornton-Izzard,20,said the lack of driving test slots is a ‘nightmare’ (Picture: Sara Thornton)
Meanwhile,fewer tests are now being taken,the PA and RAC have said,with 466,000 tests taken between January and March,down from 560,000 a year earlier.
The race for test slots has been described as difficult as trying to score Glastonbury tickets and ‘very stressful’ for learner drivers and parents.
Sara Thornton,from Aylesbury,said she keeps checking the DVSA website for a slot for her son Henry Thornton-Izzard after he has struggled to get his licence for years since the Covid pandemic.
The mum-of-two told Metro: ‘My frustration on Monday reached new levels when I logged on at 6am.
‘I checked and I was 23,000th on the queue – as if it was for Glastonbury tickets.
‘It is a government service,not Wimbledon or Harry Styles.’
In the end,she managed to grab a slot for him in Lowestoft in September – around 150 miles from the Buckinghamshire roads Henry has practised on.
She said they will have to pay for them to travel up there at least twice for him to practice,plus the test.
Henry,a 20-year-old drama student in London who started learning to drive three years ago,said he was hoping to have his full licence by the summer to share the driving when he is on tour with his fellow actors.
‘Pretty much every slot is picked up by automated systems people have created,whereby they then resell those for higher prices,’ he said. ‘It’s been a nightmare for us.’
Using a third-party app was out of the question as they charge more,are often wrong and it is unclear who uses the data,Sarah explained.
‘DVSA says don’t use third-party apps. This infuriates me because it’s not being clamped down on and they are taking all the slots. I’ve tried legitimate booking for 18 months and I cannot do it,’ she added.
How the driving test booking system works
Learner drivers are urged to use the official gov.uk booking website,where you’ll be put in a queue.Slots can be booked 24 weeks in the future. Currently,there is no waiting or cancellation list.However,driving instructors have called for more ‘flexibility’ so that instructors can swap around their learners who are more ready than others to do the test.When booking,you’ll need the provisional licence number and to pay for the test,which costs £62 for a daytime car test through the official website.Tests booked through unofficial websites and apps can cost up to hundreds,but the DVSA advises against their use.
Since Tuesday,it has become possible to make changes to a booked slot up to 10 working days in advance,instead of the previous three working days. The Department for Transport hopes it will help free up tests when people pull out of tests sooner,and their slot can be taken up by someone else.When
Metro looked up any available test slots until October in Greater London and the surrounding areas today,no tests appeared available.The DVSA said previously that the car practical test waiting times ‘remain high due to an increase in demand and a change in customers’ booking behaviour.Work continues to implement its ‘seven-point plan to reduce waiting times and encouraging learner drivers to only book their driving test when they are ready.’Chris Bensted,a driving instructor and theory trainer from Orpington,south east London,told
Metro while the wait time briefly reduced to 16 weeks,it has jumped back to 20 and 24 weeks in London.‘The grey market selling test slots doesn’t help,’ he said.‘The biggest problem is there are lots of bots as well as people,and there are only a few to go around and you can only look at one test centre,’ he said.Instructor said they were doing ‘a lot of leg work trying to reduce the wait time’ such as making sure learners are ready for the test rather than doing one and failing.Sanjib Bhattacharjee,a driving instructor and instructor trainer from east London,said ‘it is full chaos in the whole driving test industry.’He said people are ‘really frustrated’ as they have a lesson,pause again for a few months and then have to start again.‘Learners are paying a huge amount for their lessons. Some of my learners are also key workers,and they cannot get a job. This is really affecting them,’ he told
Metro.He said the DVSA said it has taken action against bots ‘a few months ago,’ but the government needs to ‘take more responsibility’ to crackdown on middlemen selling slots,which is not illegal.
Driving instructor and instructor teacher Sanjib said more needs to be done to tackle the driving test bots (Picture: Sanjib Bhattacharjee)There has been a push to recruit and train 450 new examiners.However,Sanjib claimed that ‘we can’t really see that on the ground.’
Why is the backlog so long?
Tests and lessons were paused during the lockdowns.When Britons were free to return to their normal lives,thousands more were waiting to do their tests than there were slots.‘It’s a bit of a toilet roll from Covid. There might be enough slots,but it’s in the wrong places. Everyone is panicking,’ Chris explained.Many examiners have also left the industry or dropped out during the training.‘It’s not brilliantly paid for the amount of abuse and stress they get,’ Chris said.A Department for Transport spokesperson told
Metro: ‘The Government has made clear the current waiting times for tests are unacceptable and we are working with the DVSA on measures to reduce the backlog.‘DVSA monitors the use of the driving test booking system to make sure it is fair for learners and investigates if any action that goes against its terms and conditions is identified.’
