Only learner drivers to be allowed to book tests

Only learner drivers will be able to book driving tests in plans aimed at reducing long waiting lists and preventing slots being sold at inflated prices.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said limiting third parties from reselling slots would stop people being "exploited" by online bots.

But she admitted to MPs on the Transport committee that waiting times for driving tests would not be brought down to seven weeks by summer 2026, the most recent deadline she set.

The average waiting time was 21.8 weeks at the end of June.

Currently, instructors can book tests on behalf of their students, but this will be banned as part of the changes. Limits will also be placed on the number of times a driver can move or swap a test, and the area they can move a test to once they have booked it.

As well as changing who can book tests, examiners from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be brought into the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to try to reduce the backlog.

The Department for Transport said 36 MoD driving examiners will be brought in to conduct tests in England one day a week for a year, at an estimated cost of £100,000.

These examiners are civil servants, not military personnel.

The DVSA has recruited 316 new examiners, but Alexander said that has resulted in a net gain of only 40 as others have left.

Driving examiners will be offered a "retention payment" of £5,000 from next year to try and keep them in the role.

By the end of last month, there were 642,000 learner drivers with a test booked.

The DVSA has said the backlog is a result of increased demand and people booking tests much earlier than before.

Some 182,000 tests took place last month, an increase of 9% from October 2024.

Aman Sanghera, who runs driving school Clearview Driving in west London, said the changes were "the fairest way to fix the current system".

She said that limiting how many times a test can be swapped or amended would "stop third-party companies from exploiting vulnerable learners and make the whole process more transparent".

But Sarah, a driving instructor in Crewe who did not give her surname, is worried that limiting learners' ability to swap tests will actually make it harder to get slots.

"Because the waiting time is so long, people are passing their theory test and then booking their practical straight away because they know they'll have a five or six-month wait."

Sarah says she and other driving instructors work together to swap tests so slots are not wasted when a learner driver is not ready.

"If they stop us swapping tests, it's going to be a nightmare," she said.

Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, added learner drivers across the country still faced "excessive and restrictive waiting times" when booking tests.

"Additional support from military driving examiners should help alleviate some of the pressure on the system," Ms Bush said.

"The tightening of the booking system should reduce the wiggle-room that is allowing unscrupulous test resellers to profit from learners' misery."