The latest research reveals the extraordinary distances some learners are travelling to secure a driving test as soon as possible – and who can blame them? After all, waiting times are now up by 20%, leading to many learners booking at test centres further afield than usual.

This is reflected in the latest research. According to analysis of six million records between 2019 and 2023, the insurer Marmalade discovered that learners travelled 12.3 miles on average in 2023 to get to a test compared to 8.3 miles in 2019. That represents a 48% hike.

Miles to go

Mileage varies from region to region, too. While those in the North West travel only 7.1 miles on average, those in the South East are averaging nearly 19 miles. Perhaps most worryingly, Marmalade calculates that if this trend continues, learners could be travelling up to nearly 25 miles to get to their test by 2030. As for those in London and the South East, it could be over 70 miles.

“I’m amazed at the year-on-year increase in distance travelled for a test, but I suppose it shows the desperation that people have in wanting to learn how to drive and they’ll go to any means necessary to do it.”

• Mark Steeples, Driving Instructor, Pass Mark School of Driving to Marmalade

Test centre trek

However, many learners are already clocking huge mileage to beat the waiting times. One learner, 18-year-old Kayla Van Dorsten, travelled a whopping 400 miles.

This meant she had to take two days out of her college education as well incur travel costs and pay for accommodation for the round trip – plus the test experience proved to be a trying time for her nerves as she revealed to the Daily Mirror.

“I was already nervous about taking my driving test,” Kayla explains, “but being in an unfamiliar area raised new obstacles to navigate. There were different speed limits from the local routes I had practised on and also other road users that I wasn’t familiar with.”

“[The whole thing was] very inconvenient, but I needed to get my licence as soon as possible because I couldn’t rely on public transport anymore due to strikes to get to college.”

• Kayla Van Dorsten in an interview with the Daily Mirror

Easy does it…

Another complicating factor is that learners are prepared to travel huge distances to a test centre where they believe it will be ‘easier’ to pass based on official pass rate figures. Take the learners who have traveled up to 690 miles to test centres in the Western Isles in Scotland, hoping to snare an easy pass.

However, according to locals, they may want to reconsider. For instance, in an interview with the Press & Journal, Angela Campbell of Isle Drive, based on the island of Benbecula, reveals that it is not uncommon for half of the driving tests on the island to be booked by those who don’t live anywhere near it.

“It can often happen that someone will book up a test from London,” she says. “And they think they are coming up here that they will pass easily. But I guarantee you the majority of them will not pass.”

The reason? Angela explains it’s because learners from urban areas aren’t used to navigating the island’s roads because they require new skillsets including how to drive on single-track roads.

“Unless you have been instructed in driving to these island conditions, and the hazards you might need to think of – it is a new set of skills that people need to be competent enough [in] to pass a test.”

• Angela Campbell, Isle Drive

Our advice?

It’s simple – while, yes, it’s frustrating being forced to wait for your test, use that time to hone your driving skills with your instructor or have further private practise with a qualified adult driver.

Ensuring you’re truly test ready means that you’re more likely to pass your test first time – and once you’ve passed, ready for a lifetime of far safer driving.

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