Learner drivers face another year of agonising waits after the Transport Secretary admitted the government will miss its target to slash driving test delays until autumn next year.
Heidi Alexander told MPs on Wednesday that the average wait time to book a test currently stands at nearly 22 weeks – more than four times the pre-pandemic average of around five weeks. The DVSA had initially aimed to reduce the backlog to seven weeks by the end of 2025, a deadline Alexander pushed back to summer 2026 last November, only to concede this week that even that was impossible.
“Transport Secretary admits driving test backlog won't be cut to 7 weeks until autumn 2026.”
“Demand is still very high,” Alexander told a Committee of MPs, acknowledging there was “still a lot of work to do”. She understood people’s frustrations, she said, and insisted the government had taken significant steps to tackle the crisis.
A BBC investigation in December uncovered a thriving black market: some driving instructors were offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their login details to touts, who then resold test slots at hugely inflated prices. Desperate learners have been forced to buy slots from resellers, paying many times the official cost.
To combat this, the government has introduced a series of changes. Since March, only two changes can be made to a booked slot – for example the date or test centre. From 12 May, only pupils themselves can book a test, rather than instructors or others. And from 9 June, anyone wanting to move a test can only shift it to one of the three closest test centres, preventing speculators from booking the soonest slot anywhere and then swapping it to a more convenient location.
Alexander told MPs it was too early to draw firm conclusions, but there was already evidence of less speculative booking: the volume of test swaps has dropped by 70%.
“My aspiration is to get us back down to a point where when someone is booking a test, they’re not having to wait months on end,” she said.
One persistent problem has been recruiting and retaining enough driving examiners. Alexander said there had been a net increase of 147 examiners in the 12 months to May.
Yet for now, the wait goes on. The Transport Secretary promised the seven-week target would eventually be met – but not until autumn next year. For learners already facing half-year delays, that may feel like a lifetime away.