L-tests fail
Waits at 75% of centres are worse than before Covid
THE typical wait for a driving test at 75% of centres is still longer than the six weeks it was before Covid, a study shows.
The average wait is 24 weeks at 28% of test centres, according to the Freedom of Information figures.
It is just one week in some places. The figures for the end of January were four months into new measures by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to ramp up test capacity.
The backlogs had been partly due to the pandemic and an instructor shortage.
Camilla Benitz, managing director at
AA Driving School, which carried out the FoI requests, said: “Learners face a postcode lottery on driving test waiting times and, while many areas have seen an improvement thanks to the extra slots created since October, there are still vast numbers who are stuck with stubbornly long or increased waiting times.
“It is unacceptable we are now almost two years [after] pandemic restrictions, and learner drivers and instructors are still suffering the consequences.” The DVSA is aiming to have carried out an extra
150,000 tests between October and the end of March.
The agency said: “Our priority is to continue to reduce waiting times, and thanks to the measures we introduced since October 2023 we have reduced waiting times by more than four weeks and are on the way to reaching our target to provide an additional 150,000 tests.
“We urge learners to book their driving test only when they are ready to pass and have a checklist for them to check if they are ready.”
It is not acceptable learners are still suffering
CAMILLA BENITZ ON POST-PANDEMIC WAITS