Promise of a seven-week driving test wait in Great Britain seems unlikely to happen before 2027, an audit report finds. Plans to reduce the wait time to seven weeks by the end of this year won’t be realized until November 2027, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
So far, only about 83 net additional driving test examiners have been hired despite 19 recruitment campaigns since 2021. The current average wait for a practical test across Great Britain stands at 22 weeks. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which administers tests and licenses, estimates roughly 680,000 individuals who passed their theory test have yet to secure a practical test appointment.
Approximately 70% of driving test centers are fully booked for the maximum 24 weeks ahead.
Last month, the government announced plans to ban bots and third-party bookings to tackle the backlog and curb the shadow market where test slots are resold at inflated prices—up to eight times the £62 fee, according to the NAO.
The NAO noted that, although the DVSA launched a plan last year to cut wait times to seven weeks by the end of 2025, it now expects to achieve that target two years later. The agency lines up a large backlog of about 1.1 million tests formed during the pandemic but has been slow to react to other pressures, such as more people taking theory tests and automated booking bots, the report says. It also found that the DVSA struggled to accurately gauge overall demand.
Examiner retention is an issue because many are quitting over safety concerns and low pay. As a result, the recruitment target of 400 net additional examiners dropped to just 83.
The NAO highlighted that the DVSA was operating at a loss of £24 per test, totaling a £44 million deficit for the year, since test fees have not changed since 2009.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, stated that the current system across England, Scotland, and Wales is not working satisfactorily, with long waits and slot resales harming learner drivers. The report urges the DVSA and the Department for Transport to take decisive action to restore a fit-for-purpose driving test service.
In response, the Department for Transport (DfT) has promised more tests and has announced plans to deploy military driving examiners to help reduce the backlog. Starting spring 2026, policies will limit test moves and swaps, and only allow learner drivers to book tests.
A DfT spokesperson noted that they inherited a frustrating system that left learner drivers waiting in limbo and exposed to exploitation. They added that the department is taking decisive steps to improve the situation, including the use of military examiners and a significant increase in testing capacity. They pointed to DVSA having already conducted 74,847 extra tests from June to November this year compared with 2024, with the new measures expected to yield thousands more tests over the coming year.
