Tag: driving tests

End of the road for unofficial driving test booking services

From today (12 May 2026), only learner drivers can book and manage their own driving test – part of a crackdown on exploitation by third-party services

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has introduced new rules for car driving test bookings, putting learners firmly in control of their own booking.

The change means it is now against the law for third parties, including unofficial test booking and cancellation finder services, as well as driving instructors, to make bookings for someone else.

It’s also a breach of DVSA’s terms and conditions for the booking service for third parties to change, swap or cancel a driving test for someone else.

Find out more about the new driving test booking rules.

Stopping people reselling tests for profit

Simon Lightwood, Minister for Roads and Buses, said: This government inherited record waiting times and a huge backlog of learners waiting for tests, with the system seeing too many people paying over the odds to third-party touts.

“But we’re taking action and seeing results, delivering almost 2 million tests over the past year, more than 158,000 extra tests since June 2025, and military driving examiners now on the ground helping boost capacity across the country.

“These new rules put learners back in control by stopping others from snapping up tests and reselling them for profit, helping make the system fairer and ensuring tests go to the people who genuinely need them.”

Beverley Warmington, DVSA Chief Executive, said: “Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices.

“These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others. These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.

“We’re determined to reduce waiting times further, building on the more than 158,000 additional tests delivered between June 2025 and March 2026 – supported by driving examiner numbers at their highest level since 2018 and the recent deployment of military driving examiners who are already carrying out tests.”

New rules are making booking fairer

The new rules aim to make booking driving tests fairer for learner drivers.

Learners should only ever pay the official DVSA fee – £62 on weekdays and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

The changes introduced today build on the reduction in the number of changes that can be made to a test from 6 to 2, which came into force on 31 March 2026.

From 9 June 2026, further restrictions will come into force, limiting learners to moving their test only to one of the 3 nearest driving test centres. This will help to deter bookings at locations where learners do not intend to take their test.

Driving instructors and driving schools can still:

  • advise learners on when they are ready to take a test and offer support throughout their learning journey
  • set their available times, preventing learners from booking tests at times that do not work for them

More driving examiners and more driving tests

DVSA is continuing to increase driving examiner capacity to help provide more tests. As of April 2026, there were 1,604 full-time equivalent driving examiners in post – the highest level of examiner capacity since March 2018.

DVSA has doubled its training capacity for new driving examiners, meaning it can recruit more driving examiners and get them testing sooner.

More driving tests taking place

Provisional data shows that the number of driving tests taking place has increased over the last year. 1,998,608 car driving tests taken between April 2025 and March 2026 – an increase of 8.6% from the previous year.

Number of car driving tests taken

April 2022 to March 2023 – 1,688,955

April 2023 to March 2024 – 1,945,225

April 2024 to March 2025 – 1,839,817

April 2025 to March 2026 – 1,998,608

Source: Table DRT121G, Driving test and theory test data: cars

More people passing their test

The same provisional data shows an increase in the number of people passing their driving test.

1,000,043 car driving tests passed between April 2025 and March 2026 – an increase of 11.7% from the previous year.

Number of car driving tests passed:

April 2022 to March 2023 – 816,775

April 2023 to March 2024 – 931,494

April 2024 to March 2025 – 895,368

April 2025 to March 2026 – 1,000,043

Source: Table DRT121G, Driving test and theory test data: cars

New measure to cut driving test waiting times

Fewer driving test slots will be wasted as the UK government announces an extension to the window for test cancellations to prevent last minute changes.

From 8 April 2025, learner drivers will need to give more notice when changing or cancelling their car driving test to avoid losing their fee. Currently, customers can cancel up to 3 days ahead of their test without losing their test fee.

Under the new rules, learners must give 10 full working days’ notice to change or cancel their test without losing the fee.

This is the latest action in the government’s 7-point plan to reduce waiting times and will allow more slots to be made available.

Extending the window will also encourage customers to be better prepared and ready to pass when they book their test – as well as encourage learners to change or cancel their test sooner if they’re not ready and so give more chance for appointments to be used by someone else.

Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, said: “Driving is more than just a means of transport; it is a lifeline for many, opening doors to jobs, opportunities and ultimately contributing to the growth of our economy.

“The measures announced today are another vital step in tackling the driving test backlog and ensuring that more learners who are ready to take their test can do so without unnecessary delays.

“These new measures will ensure that driving test appointments are used efficiently, encouraging learners to make adjustments to their schedules sooner, should they not be fully prepared.”

The change announced yesterday (17 March 2025) is part of the government’s 7-point plan to help reduce driving test waiting times.

Announced in December 2024, the plan includes:

  • recruiting and training 450 driving examiners
  • reviewing and improving the rules for booking driving tests
  • introducing tougher terms and conditions for the service driving instructors use to book and manage car driving tests for their pupils

Loveday Ryder, DVSA’s Chief Executive, said: “Extending the short notice cancellation period for driving tests forms part of our 7-point plan to reduce driving test waiting times.

“This will encourage learners to change or cancel their test sooner so we can offer up those slots to other customers.

“We remain committed to reducing driving test waiting times and supporting learners in getting on the road when they are truly ready and safe to do so.”

To further protect motorists given continued cost-of-living pressures and potential fuel price volatility amid global uncertainty, the government has also frozen fuel duty at current levels for another year, saving the average car driver £59.

Pandemic practice makes perfect

Lockdown pass rates hit record high

Learner drivers passed their practical tests at the highest rate ever recorded during the pandemic, according to new figures released by the Department for Transport.

The data, which spans April 2020 to March 2021, shows that 49.8% of learners passed the test, up by 3.9% on 2019-20 figures.

There was more good news for learners taking theory tests, with 55.7% passing, the highest rate since 2013-14 and 8.6% higher than the previous year.

While many learners celebrated receiving their full driving licences, others were unable to take their practical car tests due to the pandemic, with 72.7% fewer practical tests taking place in 2020-21 compared to the previous year. Car theory tests were down by more than 50%.

Greg Wilson, Founder of Quotezone.co.uk comments: “Congratulations to all those who passed, just goes to show, practice really does make perfect as shown by the outstanding results.

“Many learners took advantage of less traffic on the roads to get out there and clock up more miles behind the wheel during the pandemic, plus increased time at home was the ideal opportunity to hit the books and study for the theory test.”

However, Wilson points out that after all their hard work there is now another challenge: “Newly qualified drivers often have trouble finding competitively priced insurance because they represent a higher insurance risk than seasoned motorists, and this is particularly true if the new driver also happens to be a young driver.

“That’s why we recommend newly qualified drivers use Quotezone.co.uk’s car insurance comparison service to shop around for better deals, by comparing quotes from a wide range of different providers side-by-side these motorists stand a better chance of finding a cheaper quote.

“Of course, there are additional steps newly qualified drivers can take to increase their odds of finding cheaper insurance too. For instance, it might be worth considering telematics insurance, which is often cheaper than a standard car insurance policy and opting for a car with a smaller engine and parking the vehicle in a safer location like a driveway or garage can also bring premiums down.”

Quotezone.co.uk compares quotes from over 110 UK car insurance providers, helping over 3 million users find a more competitive deal each year on everything from learner driver insurance to telematics insurance to cover for young drivers.