UK driving test waits remain stuck at 22 weeks despite crackdown
Driving test waits were still 21.8 weeks in May, leaving learners paying for lessons while the government’s seven-week target slipped toward 2027.
Driving test queues in Britain were still running at 21.8 weeks in May, more than three times the government’s seven-week ambition and long enough to delay work, training and caregiving plans for learners who need a licence to move. The figures show a backlog that has barely budged despite a year of crackdowns on booking abuse and promises to add capacity.
The Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency set out a 7-point plan in December 2024 to cut waiting times, including recruiting 450 driving examiners and tightening booking rules. Ministers followed in April 2025 by pledging at least 10,000 extra tests a month, reopening the Additional Testing Allowance scheme for up to 18 months and introducing tougher notice rules from 8 April 2025 for changing or cancelling tests.
Those steps have not delivered the drop ministers wanted. Public figures reported in June 2026 put the national average waiting time for a practical driving test at 21.8 weeks in May, up from 18.1 weeks in July 2024. The average was already 22 weeks in September 2025, showing the backlog remained entrenched even after the government said it was acting to help young people reach training and job opportunities.
The seven-week target itself has slipped repeatedly. It was first expected by the end of 2025, then moved to summer 2026, and later to autumn 2027. The National Audit Office said in December 2025 that the DVSA did not expect to hit the target until November 2027, pointing to sustained demand, automated bots, third-party resellers, recruitment shortfalls and high examiner turnover.
That matters far beyond the testing system. Learners often keep paying for lessons while they wait, jobseekers can lose out on posts that require a licence, and families can be left without the mobility they need for school runs, hospital appointments and care duties. The backlog also inflates the resale market for test slots, pushing ordinary drivers toward higher costs and longer delays.
Officials have said some of the anti-abuse measures are having an effect. They reported that swap volumes had fallen by about 70 percent and refund volumes by roughly a third since 12 May, which they said suggested less speculative booking. Even so, the waiting list remains stuck at a level that keeps driving licences out of reach for months, not weeks.
London shows how deep the problem has become. A London Assembly Research Unit briefing said most London test centres had reached the maximum possible wait of 24 weeks, with the capital averaging about 22 weeks in early 2025. That was already far above the roughly eight-week wait seen a decade ago and around five weeks in February 2020, before the pandemic stretched the system further.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
