For thousands of learner drivers across the UK, the process of booking a practical driving test has become an ordeal marked by long waits, spiraling costs, and a digital cat-and-mouse game with bots and third-party resellers. Now, a sweeping set of government reforms aims to restore fairness and transparency to the system—but not without controversy and concern from those on the front lines.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that only learner drivers themselves will be permitted to book driving tests, in a bid to reduce a severe backlog and curb the rampant exploitation of the system by bots and touts. As reported by BBC News and The Guardian, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander explained that the move is designed to stop people from being "exploited" by online bots, which have been snapping up available test slots and reselling them at exorbitant prices.
"Every learner should have an equal and fair opportunity to take a test," Alexander told MPs on the Transport Committee. Yet she also admitted that the government’s much-publicized target of reducing average waiting times for driving tests to seven weeks by summer 2026 will not be met. As of the end of June 2025, the average wait stood at a daunting 21.8 weeks, with little sign of rapid improvement on the horizon.
The scale of the problem is stark. At the end of September, nearly 670,000 learners had practical tests booked—a sharp increase from just over 579,000 a year earlier, according to figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). The backlog is partly the result of increased demand and a rush to book tests much earlier than before, a trend that has only intensified since the Covid pandemic. Tests can be booked up to 24 weeks in advance, and new slots are released on a rolling basis. But for many, that’s little comfort.
Take 20-year-old Amelia Lightfoot from Devon. She described to BBC News how it took her more than a month of daily visits to the DVSA website to secure a test slot—only to find her appointment was six months away. After failing that test, she’s now struggling to find another opening. “Because I live in a rural area with very poor public transport, having a driving licence would significantly improve my quality of life. The situation is incredibly frustrating and feels very unfair,” Lightfoot said.
The government’s new measures are multifaceted. Not only will instructors be banned from booking tests on behalf of their students—a practice that had become widespread—but strict limits will also be imposed on how many times a test can be moved, swapped, or relocated. Learners will be allowed a maximum of two changes to their bookings, including location changes, before they must cancel and rebook. Furthermore, the area to which a test can be moved will be restricted to centres close to the original booking, closing loopholes that allowed for endless shuffling and swapping of slots.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, welcomed the crackdown. “It is good to see steps being put in place to put a stop to those touting tests to frustrated learners,” he said in The Guardian. “Candidates stuck in the queue should at least be reassured that they aren’t being elbowed aside by those simply seeking to make a quick buck.”
The heart of the problem lies with bots and third-party companies, which have been exploiting the system by bulk-booking slots and reselling them at inflated prices—sometimes as high as £500, compared to the official cost of £62 for a weekday test or £75 for evenings and weekends. Last month, 38 MPs signed a letter urging the government to take “the strongest possible action” against such practices. Labour MP Amanda Hack, who organized the letter, argued, “The surge in [test] prices is linked to widespread test swapping since the Covid pandemic. While some changes are legitimate, bots and third parties exploit unlimited swaps, hoovering up tests and making it harder for genuine learners.”
In response to the mounting pressure, the DVSA has taken steps to boost capacity. Since the beginning of 2025, 316 new examiners have been recruited, though, as Alexander pointed out, this has resulted in a net gain of only 40 due to staff attrition. To further address the backlog, 36 civilian examiners from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be seconded to the DVSA for one day a week over the next year, potentially enabling up to 6,500 additional tests annually. These examiners, who usually test military personnel on a range of vehicles, will be deployed to centres with the highest demand and may also assist with vocational tests for bus and lorry drivers. Al Carns, Minister for the Armed Forces, reassured the public that this move would not impact military operations.
Driving examiners themselves are being offered a £5,000 retention payment starting next year, in hopes of stemming the outflow of experienced staff. The DVSA has also reported a 9% increase in the number of tests conducted in October 2025 compared to the previous year, with 182,000 tests completed that month. September saw a similar uptick, with 168,644 tests carried out—a 14% jump over September 2024. However, the pass rate in September dipped to 49.9%, a six-month low, down from 50.7% in August.
The reforms have drawn a range of reactions from those in the industry. Aman Sanghera, who runs Clearview Driving in west London, told BBC News she believes the changes are “the fairest way to fix the current system.” She argued that limiting the number of times a test can be swapped or amended would “stop third-party companies from exploiting vulnerable learners and make the whole process more transparent.” Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, echoed this sentiment, noting that “the tightening of the booking system should reduce the wiggle-room that is allowing unscrupulous test resellers to profit from learners’ misery.”
Not everyone is convinced the reforms will have the desired effect. Sarah, a driving instructor in Crewe, expressed concern that restricting swaps could actually make it harder for learners to get slots. “Because the waiting time is so long, people are passing their theory test and then booking their practical straight away because they know they'll have a five or six-month wait,” she explained. Instructors often collaborate to swap tests so that slots aren’t wasted when a learner isn’t ready. “If they stop us swapping tests, it’s going to be a nightmare,” Sarah warned.
Even with additional examiners and tighter controls, the sheer scale of demand means the road ahead will remain bumpy for many learners. By the end of October 2025, there were 642,000 learner drivers with a test booked—a testament both to the popularity of driving and the challenges facing the system.
As the government presses forward with its reforms, one thing is clear: the battle to make the UK’s driving test system fairer and more accessible is far from over. For now, learners like Amelia Lightfoot and thousands of others must keep their patience in the hope that these changes will, in time, deliver on their promise.
