Learner drivers face another year of waiting as the transport secretary admitted that the government’s target to cut driving test waiting times to seven weeks will not be achieved until autumn next year.
Heidi Alexander told MPs on Wednesday that she understood people’s frustrations, but added that “demand is still very high” and acknowledged there was still a lot of work to do. The original target had been to reduce the average wait to seven weeks by the end of 2025, but Alexander pushed that back to summer 2026 before conceding even that was not possible.
“Transport secretary admits driving test wait time target of seven weeks won't be met until autumn 2026.”
Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) show the average waiting time for a test last month was nearly 22 weeks – more than four times the pre-pandemic norm of about five weeks. The backlog has been fuelled by bots and resellers who have been booking slots and reselling them at inflated prices, a problem the government has tried to tackle with a series of changes to the booking system.
Since March, learners have been limited to two changes per booked slot. From 12 May, only pupils – not instructors – can book their own tests. And from 9 June, test slot swaps can only be made to one of three test centres closest to the original booking, a measure designed to stop learners booking the soonest slot anywhere and then swapping to a convenient location.
Alexander said it was too early to draw firm conclusions, but pointed to evidence of reduced speculative booking: the volume of test swaps has dropped by 70% since the latest rules took effect. “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 to get one, which is the situation for some people in some locations at the moment,” she said.
The BBC has repeatedly heard from frustrated learners unable to book tests when and where they need them. Some have resorted to buying slots from resellers who charge many times the official fee. A BBC investigation in December found some driving instructors were being offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their login details to touts.
Recruiting and retaining examiners remains a challenge. Alexander said there had been a net increase of 147 examiners in the 12 months to May, but the pace of improvement is slow. The transport secretary’s latest timeline means many learners will continue to face months of waiting well into 2026.