Driving Check Ready Occasions – June 2025

An replace from DVSA

DVSA stays dedicated to decreasing driving check ready occasions. 

The common ready time for a automobile sensible driving check as of the tip of Might 2025 is:  

• Nice Britain – 22.5 weeks 
• Wales – 19.1 weeks 
• Scotland – 21 weeks 
• England – 22.8 weeks 

The common ready time is the variety of weeks earlier than 10% of exams can be found to e book. 

DVSA’s figures for common driving check ready occasions stay right on the time of publication. These are official statistics and no different legitimate measures for driving check ready occasions exist. 

DVSA launched its session on enhancing driving check reserving guidelines on 28^th Might 2025. The session closes on 9^th July 2025. 

Loveday Ryder, DVSA Chief Government, mentioned: “We’ve been working tirelessly to convey down the driving check ready occasions. To assist sort out this, in December 2024 we introduced a brand new plan, on which we’re making good progress.

“DVSA is presently operating a session on enhancements we will make to the check reserving system, which can assist us plan our subsequent steps. 

“DVSA’s aim is to make reserving a driving check simpler and fairer for everybody whereas stopping extreme costs for learner drivers. GOV.UK is the one official approach to e book your sensible driving check.” 

Additional Info 

Session on enhancing automobile driving check reserving guidelines 

The session asks for views on: 

• Who ought to be allowed to e book and handle driving exams 
• If we should always restrict or take away the power to swap exams between completely different learners or change check places 

Moderately than creating new legal guidelines particularly banning the reselling of exams, the session focuses on proposals to alter how the system works to assist forestall reselling. That is preferable because it: 

• stops the issue at its supply quite than simply the signs 
• can be extra instantly efficient than enforcement after resales occur 
• makes the system fairer for all learners with out creating further regulatory burden 

The modifications proposed would make check reselling virtually unattainable, whereas preserving reliable makes use of of the system by learners and instructors. 

Extra particulars concerning the session can be found on GOV.UK.

Sensible driving check ready occasions 

Automotive sensible check ready occasions started to extend in 2020 after a number of months of driving exams being suspended, a sustained enhance in demand and low learner driver confidence in driving check availability, leading to a change of their reserving behaviour. This variation in behaviour has persevered.  

Many learner drivers e book their exams early of their studying journey. On common it takes learners drivers 6 months or longer to realize the on-road expertise wanted to be able to drive safely on their very own as soon as they’ve handed. 

DVSA supplied over 1.95 million sensible driving exams within the 12 months 2024-5. 

Measures to cut back ready occasions 

The Secretary of State introduced additional motion to assist scale back ready occasions on 23 April 2025. 

These included: 

• A quick-tracked launch for our deliberate session on placing a cease to the exploitation of learner drivers – launched on 28 Might 2025 
• Incentivised further testing affords for driving examiners – probably creating hundreds of additional exams monthly 
• Doubling our everlasting coaching capability for brand spanking new driving examiners – which means extra can begin finishing up driving exams sooner 
• A name for volunteers from these presently in different roles (however certified to look at) to hold out sensible driving exams 

The Division for Transport’s press launch might be seen right here: Transport Secretary acts to make hundreds of additional driving exams obtainable every month – GOV.UK  

This adopted a plan introduced in December 2024 to cut back ready occasions. 

These measures are: 

1. Recruit and practice 450 driving examiners. 
2. Evaluate and enhance the foundations for reserving driving exams. 
3. Introduce harder phrases and circumstances for the service driving instructors use to e book and handle automobile driving exams for his or her pupils. 
4. Seek the advice of on new proposals to extend the ready time to e book one other check in sure conditions. 
5. Improve the quantity of discover you must give to alter or cancel a automobile driving check with out dropping the charge to 10 days. 
6. Discover altering the present 24-week restrict on how far forward automobile driving exams might be booked. 
7. Encourage learner drivers to be higher ready for his or her driving check by means of the ‘Able to Go?’ marketing campaign. 

DVSA’s press launch might be seen right here: DVSA units out plan to cut back driving check ready occasions – GOV.UK 

DVSA’s progress to date towards the measures:   

• DVSA’s newest driving examiner recruitment marketing campaign has just lately closed, and we’re presently processing the purposes 
•  the introduction of harder phrases and circumstances for driving instructors who can e book exams for his or her pupils (6 January)  
• modifications to the quick discover cancellation interval applied (8 April)  
• following a name for proof (answered by over 27,000 folks), DVSA launched its session on 28 Might on the reserving of driving exams 

In January 2023, DVSA modified the phrases and circumstances for utilizing the reserving service to assist forestall anybody from promoting exams at revenue. 

Between 9 January 2023 and 5 January 2025, the DVSA issued 350 warnings, 792 suspensions, and closed 813 enterprise accounts for misuse of its reserving service. 

On 6 January 2025 ,DVSA launched new phrases and circumstances to be used of the service driving instructors and trainers use to e book and handle sensible driving exams for his or her pupils. 

Since this alteration DVSA has issued 73 warnings, 217 suspensions, and closed 358 enterprise accounts.