UK Driving Test Wait Times Won't Meet Seven-Week Target Until Autumn 2026

The UK's driving test backlog will not be reduced to the government's target of seven weeks until autumn next year, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reports that the average waiting time to book a test was nearly 22 weeks last month, a stark increase from pre-pandemic levels of about five weeks.

Alexander announced a series of reforms in November to combat the crisis, which includes efforts to prevent test slots being monopolised by bots and resold at inflated prices. The government initially targeted reducing wait times to seven weeks by the end of 2025, then pushed this back to summer 2026 before ultimately acknowledging even that timeline was unachievable. She told MPs on Wednesday that while she understood people's frustrations, "demand is still very high" and considerable work remains.

Several measures have already been implemented to tackle the problem. From mid-May, only learners themselves can book driving tests rather than instructors or third parties. Since late March, booking changes are limited to two per slot, and from June 9, test swaps are restricted to the three nearest test centres to prevent learners from booking distant slots and relocating them closer to home. These changes have shown early promise, with test swap volumes declining by 70% since introduction.

The backlog has created a market for unofficial test slot resellers charging inflated prices far above official fees. A BBC investigation in December revealed driving instructors were being offered kickbacks of up to £250 monthly to sell their login credentials to touts. The Transport Secretary acknowledged challenges in recruiting and retaining examiners, though there has been a net increase of 147 examiners in the past 12 months to May.

Alexander stated there was already evidence that latest measures were reducing speculative booking. To improve transparency, the government will change its statistical reporting to break down wait times by individual test centre rather than national averages. Despite these efforts, many learner drivers across the UK continue to face months-long delays in securing tests.