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The Transport Secretary has confirmed that the backlog for driving tests will not be reduced to the target waiting time of seven weeks until autumn of next year. Recent figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reveal that the average waiting period to secure a driving test appointment last month was close to 22 weeks, a significant increase from the pre-pandemic wait time of about five weeks.
Back in November, Heidi Alexander introduced several measures intended to address the lengthy delays and to prevent test slots from being booked by automated bots and subsequently resold at inflated prices. The DVSA had initially aimed to bring down waiting times to seven weeks by the end of 2025. This target was later postponed to the summer of 2026, but even that deadline was acknowledged to be unachievable during a parliamentary committee session last November.
Speaking to MPs recently, Alexander expressed her understanding of the frustrations faced by learner drivers and emphasized that the government is actively working on the problem. She pointed out that demand remains extremely high and admitted there is still considerable progress needed. The BBC has regularly received complaints from learners struggling to book tests at convenient times and locations, with some forced to purchase test slots from resellers charging multiple times the official fees.
In response to these issues, a series of changes have been implemented over the past few months. At the end of March, a rule was introduced limiting the number of changes allowed to a booked test slot to two, such as changing the date or location. More recently, from 9 June, individuals can only move their test booking to one of the three test centers nearest the originally scheduled location. This measure aims to deter learners from securing the soonest available slot at distant centers before swapping it nearer home. While it is early to assess the full impact, the Transport Secretary reported a 70% reduction in test swaps following the new rules. She remains hopeful that waiting times will improve so that candidates no longer face months-long delays in certain areas.
Addressing another critical point, Alexander noted improvements in recruiting and retaining driving examiners, with a net increase of 147 examiners over the past year up to May. She also committed to enhancing transparency by changing the reporting of average wait times, which will in future be broken down by individual test centers rather than being published only as overall figures
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