To deal with the huge backlog of learners waiting to do their practical driving test, the Driving & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is increasing the amount of driving tests being conducted to seven each day from today.
This increase is being introduced across England, Scotland and Wales, bringing testing levels back up to pre-pandemic levels. The hike means that the current level of testing will increase from 15,000 to 20,000 tests a month.
“We are [increasing testing numbers] because our driving examiners are now used to carrying out additional COVID-19 safety measures, so we can now carry out seven driving tests each day with little risk of over-running.
This means we can keep these safety measures in place to protect learner drivers and examiners whilst safely increasing the number of tests per day.”
• DVSA update.
Because the extra test is being added at the end of each day, no existing booked tests will be effected.
Hopefully, this increase will also help those drivers who have currently put their test booking on hold because of a lack of available tests. And it needs to as the DVSA has said it will cancel your booking if you haven’t chosen a test appointment date by 31st August – click here for more details.
Where to book
Remember, you or your instructor can check for new appointments in two places:
- Your local test centre via the Book a Driving Test or the Change Your Driving Test services.
- The Book and Manage Driving Tests for Your Pupils service if your instructor is signed up to it.
More examiners needed
The DVSA has also been trying to recruit more examiners and while it says it has had a positive response, it’s still coming up short in some areas including the South East.
To try and deal with the shortfall, the agency is now considering the option of temporarily contracting in experienced driving assessors to qualify as examiners.
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