There is bad news for learner drivers keen to take a practical test as they risk waiting a long time to secure a place, according to a new study.
The majority of UK driving test centers have average waiting times of more than a month – worse than pre-pandemic levels, according to a Freedom of Information request from AA Driving School .
Examining data from the Driving Standards Agency (DVSA), the AA Driving School found that a total of 245 driving test centers (three quarters) still had average waiting times of more than six weeks at the end of January.
But what’s even more frustrating is that almost two-fifths had to wait more than five months.
A Freedom of Information request from the AA Driving School has revealed that the majority of UK driving test centers have average waiting times of six weeks, but some test centers have backlogs of up to up to five months.
These delays are attributed to a “post-pandemic lag”.
Covid lockdowns led to a nationwide shortage of places for practical driving tests, with centers closing their doors for much of 2020 in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
And this has caused a backlog of learners waiting to take tests which the DVSA has failed to eliminate.
As of summer 2022, more than half a million people were still waiting for a test – an increase from the pandemic backlog from 2021, which was just under 500,000.
During a parliamentary debate in early 2023, Transport Minister Richard Holden MP said waiting lists are “falling for driving tests… and we hope to return to pre-pandemic levels in the coming months”.
“The DVSA is recovering from the pandemic (…) there are 620,000 appointments for practical exams in the booking system.”
After much criticism, in 2023 the DVSA asked all eligible executives and administrative staff to return to the front line to carry out driving tests full-time.
This will continue until the end of March 2024, with the aim of creating around 150,000 additional driving tests.
In a bid to help learners, the DVSA, after much criticism, last year asked all eligible executives and administrative staff to return to the frontline to carry out full-time driving tests, to create approximately 150,000 additional driving tests.
Yet the six-week average figure achieved by the AA driving school was taken back four months after the start of the current action period by the DVSA.
And despite steps taken by the DVSA to increase testing capacity, average waiting times have worsened or remained stable at 45% of testing centers.
Between October 2, 2023, when the DVSA began adding more testing slots to try to reduce the backlog, and January 29, 2024, waiting times worsened at 15% of all test centers. It remained the same at 25 percent and improved to 60 percent.
Camilla Benitz, chief executive of AA Driving School, said: “Our concern is that we are not aware of any other plans by the DVSA to continue to reduce waiting times to the previous average. the six-week pandemic.
“It is unacceptable that we are now almost two years into post-pandemic restrictions and learner drivers and instructors are still suffering the consequences.”
All potential drivers want is that plastic driving license, but a new Cap HPI check showed DVSA pass rates for 2023 to 2024 were the lowest since 2021 – with a practical pass rate of 48 percent and a theoretical success rate of 35 percent.
In 2022, Jenna Williams, a driving instructor from Cardiff, told the BBC that waiting times are one of the reasons for failing driving tests: “I think with the backlog of waiting lists for another exam, students feel so much pressure, whereas, as you said, if they fail, they have five to six months and still a wait.”
Automotive background check provider Cap Hpi has found that there is a correlation between prolonged wait times for tests and lower pass rates.
The last 12 months have seen the lowest number of theory and practical exams taken and passed since 2021.
Cap Hpi looked at updated DVSA statistics which revealed that between 2023 and 2024 a total of 1,928,373 car theory tests were carried out with 867,667 passes (45% pass rate) and 1,384,678 exams car practices were passed with 668,038 passes, a success rate of 48 percent. hundred.
On the other hand, between 2021 and 2022, 1,234,013 passes the 2,463,621 theoretical exams (success rate of 50%) and 751,914 passes the 1,528,314 practical driving exams (success rate of 49%).
Seb Goldin, managing director of RED Driver Training, told us: “Driving test delays are understandably frustrating. Many students want to hit the road, whether to visit friends and family, go to school, or go to work.
“Driving can open up more work opportunities in terms of accessing jobs in a wider geographic area or taking on a role that requires driving.
“Therefore, having a driver’s license is often the key to opening the door to more opportunities.”
We recently revealed the astronomical sums young drivers have to pay to get on the road, from lessons to insurance. This will cost a 17-20 year old on average £7,609.
It is the second major blow faced by learner drivers this week, after the huge costs young drivers face in taking to the road were revealed.
This is Money reported that it now costs an average of £7,609 to get a 17-20 year old on the road and driving for the first year, according to the latest edition of the Money Index of MoneySupermarket households.
This means an increase of 135 per cent in 35 years: in 1989 the average young motorist had to pay just £1,285 (£3,234 adjusted for inflation) to get on the road.
Are you a driving test zip code winner?
Whether your local testing center has improved, deteriorated or continued to stagnate is a case of ‘postcode lottery’ according to the AA.
Seven testing centers in the UK have seen their waiting times improve by a huge jump of 23 weeks. Lucky drivers trying to land a place at Burgess Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Carlisle LGV, Exeter, Fort William, Hereford and Ipswich will go from a 24-week wait to just one week.
However, it’s not such good news for learners desperate to take their tests in Arbroath, Taunton, Buckie, Culham LGV, Crieff or Peterhead, where waiting times have increased by up to 23 weeks.
The AA Driving School is calling on the Government to find a solution to this backlog which is holding back potential drivers.
“We need a renewed commitment from the DVSA to continue to offer additional slots for driving tests, but also to recruit and retain more examiners so that the additional slots for learner tests do not come at the expense of other vital DVSA services, such as driving instructor training and examinations, of which we have seen a decrease in availability recently,” added Benitz.
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