Government promises to clear driving test backlog – but much later than expected

The Government has pledged to resolve the current driving test backlog by the end of next summer, which is over half a year later than originally envisioned by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

As part of Labour’s ‘Plan for Change’, the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has announced new measures to slash record waiting times for practical driving tests. These currently sit at an average of 22 weeks, up from 18 weeks when the party first came to power in the middle of last year.

The changes include asking those working for the DVSA who are qualified examiners to step in and help oversee tests, hiring more permanent examiners, reintroducing overtime incentives and finally, accelerating the current consultation into the abuse of driving test booking systems; scammers have been using bots to book up tests and reselling them for as much as £200 – something that, while not illegal, is certainly exploitative and is one of the key issues the government is looking into.

All of this, the government says, will free up as many as 10,000 additional tests per month; Auto Express has asked when drivers can expect to see these additional test slots flooding in, but has yet to receive a response. The DfT also expects the average test wait time to drop to just seven weeks before the end of next summer – although it is worth pointing out that this is still above the average six-week wait pre-Covid.

Despite the aforementioned increase in wait times over the past nine months, Alexander was quick to blame it on the previous Conservative administration, saying: “We inherited an enormous backlog of learners ready to ditch their L-plates but being forced to endure record waiting time for their tests.

“I am instructing DVSA to take further action immediately to reduce waiting times, which will see thousands of additional tests made available every month,” Alexander continued. “We’re acting fast to get Britain’s drivers moving.”

Of course, a deadline of summer 2026 is also over half a year later than what was once promised by the DVSA; in December last year, the UK’s vehicle licensing agency pledged to bring the backlog down to seven weeks by the end of 2025, meaning the government could miss its original deadline by as much as seven months.

Nevertheless, the government’s announcement has been welcomed by many, with the managing director of the AA Driving School, Emma Bush, saying that “there is an urgent need for effective action to bring waiting times down to an acceptable level and, as such, we welcome today’s announcement giving further details of how the DVSA will meet its target waiting time of seven weeks by the end of the year.”

Such support was echoed by road safety charity IAM Road Smart, with its director of policy and standards, Nicholas Lyes, stating the changes “will start to make a positive difference so that learners can focus on becoming safe drivers rather than deal with the stress of long practical test waiting times.”

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