Lengthy waiting times are continuing to delay learners’ hopes of getting their hands on a driving licence. According to research by the AA Driving School, 80% of test centres have long waiting times with two in five featuring times that actually grew between January and April this year.
In her blog, the head of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Loveday Ryder, reveals the three main reasons why some of you are still waiting months for your test:
1. “An increase in demand for driving lessons and tests”
Focusing on the tests themselves, Ryder reveals that in 2022 the agency carried out 1.8 million tests. That was 6% more than before the pandemic.
Initially, the agency was expecting this figure to fall once pent-up demand had been met post-Covid.
Alas, this didn’t happen. Instead, by the end of May this year, the agency had received 800,000 new bookings. This represents a potential increase of 7% in demand compared to before the pandemic.
Compounding the issue, says Ryder, is a decrease in driving instructor availability. For instance, only 28% of instructors currently have any availability compared to 32% in October 2022.
2. “Impact of sustained industrial action”
You may have noticed that some driving examiners have been on strike on and off since December 2022. Ryder says this has resulted in around 25,000 driving tests being cancelled and needing rebooking.
This has inevitably led to longer waits for learners who’ve been effected as well as reduce the overall number of test appointments available.
3. “Changes in customers’ booking behaviour”
Before the pandemic, Ryder says that learners would typically wait for their instructors to tell them when they were test ready before booking their driving test. This would then usually entail a 6 to 8 week wait.
However, because learners are now wary of waiting much longer for a test, they’re booking one straight after passing their theory test.
That might sound sensible – but Ryder believes this is leading to some learners then changing their test date when they realise they aren’t ready to sit their test. The knock-on effect? Cue pupils who are test ready potentially finding it more difficult to book a test because someone unprepared has already taken their slot.
Moving forward
Ryder promises to offer an update on what the DVSA can and can’t do about the long waiting times in her next update. In the meantime, check out her full blog about the reasons for waiting times here.
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