An replace from DVSA
DVSA stays dedicated to lowering driving check ready occasions.
The typical ready time for a automobile sensible driving check as of the tip of Might 2025 is:
- Nice Britain – 22.5 weeks
- Wales – 19.1 weeks
- Scotland – 21 weeks
- England – 22.8 weeks
The typical ready time is the variety of weeks earlier than 10% of assessments can be found to ebook.
DVSA’s figures for common driving check ready occasions stay right on the time of publication. These are official statistics and no different legitimate measures for driving check ready occasions exist.
DVSA launched its session on enhancing driving check reserving guidelines on 28th Might 2025. The session closes on 9th July 2025.
Loveday Ryder, DVSA Chief Govt, mentioned: “We’ve been working tirelessly to convey down the driving check ready occasions. To assist sort out this, in December 2024 we introduced a brand new plan, on which we’re making good progress.
“DVSA is at the moment working a session on enhancements we will make to the check reserving system, which is able to assist us plan our subsequent steps.
“DVSA’s aim is to make reserving a driving check simpler and fairer for everybody whereas stopping extreme expenses for learner drivers. GOV.UK is the one official strategy to ebook your sensible driving check.”
Additional Info
Session on enhancing automobile driving check reserving guidelines
The session asks for views on:
- Who ought to be allowed to ebook and handle driving assessments
- If we must always restrict or take away the power to swap assessments between totally different learners or change check areas
Fairly than creating new legal guidelines particularly banning the reselling of assessments, the session focuses on proposals to alter how the system works to assist forestall reselling. That is preferable because it:
- stops the issue at its supply quite than simply the signs
- can be extra instantly efficient than enforcement after resales occur
- makes the system fairer for all learners with out creating extra regulatory burden
The modifications proposed would make check reselling virtually unattainable, whereas preserving official makes use of of the system by learners and instructors.
Extra particulars concerning the session can be found on GOV.UK.
Sensible driving check ready occasions
Automotive sensible check ready occasions started to extend in 2020 after a number of months of driving assessments being suspended, a sustained improve in demand and low learner driver confidence in driving check availability, leading to a change of their reserving behaviour. This variation in behaviour has continued.
Many learner drivers ebook their assessments early of their studying journey. On common it takes learners drivers 6 months or longer to achieve the on-road expertise wanted to be able to drive safely on their very own as soon as they’ve handed.
DVSA offered over 1.95 million sensible driving assessments within the yr 2024-5.
Measures to scale back ready occasions
The Secretary of State introduced additional motion to assist scale back ready occasions on 23 April 2025.
These included:
- A quick-tracked launch for our deliberate session on placing a cease to the exploitation of learner drivers – launched on 28 Might 2025
- Incentivised extra testing provides for driving examiners – probably creating 1000’s of additional assessments per 30 days
- Doubling our everlasting coaching capability for brand spanking new driving examiners – that means extra can begin finishing up driving assessments sooner
- A name for volunteers from these at the moment in different roles (however certified to look at) to hold out sensible driving assessments
The Division for Transport’s press launch may be seen right here: Transport Secretary acts to make 1000’s of additional driving assessments obtainable every month – GOV.UK
This adopted a plan introduced in December 2024 to scale back ready occasions.
These measures are:
- Recruit and practice 450 driving examiners.
- Evaluation and enhance the principles for reserving driving assessments.
- Introduce harder phrases and situations for the service driving instructors use to ebook and handle automobile driving assessments for his or her pupils.
- Seek the advice of on new proposals to extend the ready time to ebook one other check in sure conditions.
- Improve the quantity of discover you have to give to alter or cancel a automobile driving check with out shedding the price to 10 days.
- Discover altering the present 24-week restrict on how far forward automobile driving assessments may be booked.
- Encourage learner drivers to be higher ready for his or her driving check by way of the ‘Able to Go?’ marketing campaign.
DVSA’s press launch may be seen right here: DVSA units out plan to scale back driving check ready occasions – GOV.UK
DVSA’s progress thus far towards the measures:
- DVSA’s newest driving examiner recruitment marketing campaign has not too long ago closed, and we’re at the moment processing the purposes
- the introduction of harder phrases and situations for driving instructors who can ebook assessments for his or her pupils (6 January)
- modifications to the quick discover cancellation interval carried out (8 April)
- following a name for proof (answered by over 27,000 individuals), DVSA launched its session on 28 Might on the reserving of driving assessments
In January 2023, DVSA modified the phrases and situations for utilizing the reserving service to assist forestall anybody from promoting assessments at revenue.
Between 9 January 2023 and 5 January 2025, the DVSA issued 350 warnings, 792 suspensions, and closed 813 enterprise accounts for misuse of its reserving service.
On 6 January 2025 ,DVSA launched new phrases and situations to be used of the service driving instructors and trainers use to ebook and handle sensible driving assessments for his or her pupils.
Since this transformation DVSA has issued 73 warnings, 217 suspensions, and closed 358 enterprise accounts.
