Some driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are planning to go on a series of rolling strikes during December 2022 and January 2023.

The reason? Examiners want a 10% pay rise, improved pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.

When the strikes happening?

Taking place over a six week period, the dates are:

Tuesday 13 December to Sunday 18 December
in Northeast England and Scotland

Monday 19 December to Saturday 24 December
in Northwest England, Yorkshire and the Humber

Wednesday 28 December to Saturday 31 December
plus Tuesday 3 January
in East of England, East Midlands and West Midlands

Wednesday 4 January to Tuesday 10 January
in London, Southeast England, Southwest England and Wales.

What services are impacted?

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) says the strike action may affect:

  • car driving tests
  • motorcycle tests
  • lorry, bus, coach and minibus driving tests
  • tractor or specialist vehicle driving tests
  • approved driving instructor (ADI) part 2/part 3 tests
  • ADI standards checks
  • moped and motorcycle compulsory basic training (CBT) checks – but not the training courses themselves.

The DVSA says the strike action will not impact on theory tests.

It also points out that not all its staff are union members plus some who are may decide not to go on strike. The affected areas are:

North-east England and Scotland

These areas include these test centres:

Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South (Cove), Airdrie, Ayr, Bishopbriggs, Blyth, Darlington, Darlington LGV, Dumfries, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh (Currie), Edinburgh (Musselburgh), Elgin, Gateshead, Glasgow (Anniesland), Glasgow (Baillieston), Glasgow (Shieldhall), Gosforth, Grangemouth, Greenock, Hamilton, Hartlepool, Inverness (Seafield Road), Irvine, Kilmarnock LGV, Kirkcaldy, Livingston, Middlesborough, Paisley, Perth (Arran Road), Peterhead, Stirling and Sunderland.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber

These areas include these test centres:

Atherton (Manchester), Barnsley, Barrow In Furness, Beverley LGV, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton (Manchester), Bradford (Heaton), Bradford (Thornbury), Bredbury (Manchester), Bridlington, Bury (Manchester), Carlisle, Carlisle LGV, Chadderton, Cheetham Hill (Manchester), Chester, Chorley, Crewe, Doncaster, Grimsby Coldwater, Halifax, Heckmondwike, Heysham, Horsforth, Huddersfield, Hull, Kendal (Oxenholme Road), Knaresborough, Leeds, Macclesfield, Nelson, Norris Green (Liverpool), Northallerton, Pontefract, Preston, Rochdale (Manchester), Rotherham, Sale (Manchester), Scarborough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield (Handsworth), Sheffield (Middlewood Road), Southport (Liverpool), Speke (Liverpool), St Helens (Liverpool), Steeton, Upton, Wakefield, Wallasey, Walton LGV, Warrington, West Didsbury (Manchester), Widnes (Liverpool), Workington and York.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London

These areas include these test centres:

Ashfield, Barking (Tanner Street), Barnet (London), Basildon, Birmingham (Garretts Green), Birmingham (Kings Heath), Birmingham (Kingstanding), Birmingham (Shirley), Birmingham (South Yardley), Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield), Bishops Stortford, Borehamwood (London), Boston, Brentwood (London), Burton on Trent, Bury St Edmunds, Buxton, Cambridge (Brookmount Court), Chelmsford (Hanbury Road), Chesterfield, Colchester, Derby (Alvaston), Dudley, Featherstone, Goodmayes (London), Hinckley, Hornchurch (London), Ipswich, Kettering, Kings Lynn, Leicester (Cannock Street), Leicester (Wigston), Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road), Letchworth, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough, Loughton (London), Lowestoft (Mobbs Way), Ludlow, Northampton, Norwich (Jupiter Road), Norwich (Peachman Way), Nottingham (Chilwell), Nottingham (Colwick), Nuneaton, Peterborough, Peterborough LGV, Redditch, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Southend-on-Sea, St Albans, Stafford, Stoke on Trent (Cobridge), Stoke on Trent (Newcastle under Lyme), Telford, Tilbury, Warwick (Wedgenock House), Watford, Watnall, Wednesbury, Weedon LGV, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Worksop.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales

These areas include these test centres:

Ashford (Kent), Aylesbury, Banbury, Bangor, Barnstaple, Belvedere (London), Bletchley, Bodmin, Bridgend, Bristol (Avonmouth), Bristol (Brislington), Bristol (Kingswood), Bromley (London), Burgess Hill, Caernarfon LGV, Camborne, Canterbury, Cardiff (Llanishen), Carmarthen, Cheltenham, Chertsey (London), Chichester, Chingford (London), Chippenham, Crawley, Dorchester, Eastbourne, Enfield (Brancroft Way), Enfield (Innova Business Park), Erith (London), Exeter, Exeter LGV, Farnborough, Folkestone, Gillingham, Gillingham LGV, Gloucester, Greenford (London), Guildford, Hastings (Ore), Hendon (London), Herne Bay, Hither Green (London), Isleworth (Fleming Way), Lancing, Launceston, Lee On The Solent, Llanelli, Llantrisant, Maidstone, Merthyr Tydfil, Mill Hill (London), Monmouth, Morden (London), Newbury (Hambridge Lane), Newport (Gwent), Newport (Isle Of Wight), Newton Abbot, Oxford (Cowley), Pembroke Dock, Pinner (London), Plymouth, Plymouth LGV, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Rhyl, Sevenoaks, Sidcup (London), Slough (London), Southall (London), Southampton (Maybush), Southampton LGV, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton, Tolworth (London), Tottenham, Tunbridge Wells, Uxbridge (London), Wanstead (London), Weston-Super-Mare, Winchester, Wood Green (London), Wrexham, Wrexham LGV and Yeading (London).

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

What should you do?

If your test does fall on one of the days marked for strike action, you do not need to contact the DVSA.

Instead, the agency says it will get in touch you and your instructor with updates about the impact of any planned industrial action.

If your driving test is affected, expect your test to be rescheduled with the new booking details sent to you within 5 to 10 working days.

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Main photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash