Learner drivers who face waits of months to book their practical test have described queues of thousands of people while trying to get a slot.
Bots and middlemen are both being blamed for the backlog, as drivers and teachers claim the slots are being bought and sold at a premium.
The booking system, which is run by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), still faces an enormous backlog after tests were temporarily suspended during the pandemic for everyone except key workers.
In more than half of Britain's test centres, learners face waits of longer than six months, according to DVSA data.
The data, from a Freedom of Information request by the AA Driving School, shows the average waiting time to book a driving test has steadily risen in the last year from 14.8 weeks in February 2024 to 20 weeks in February 2025.
Mother-of-two Sara Thornton, from Aylesbury, keeps checking the DVSA website for her 20-year-old son Henry Thorton-Izzard, who is learning to drive.
She told Metro that she was “frustrated” after logging on to DVSA at 6am on a Monday only to find she was thousands behind in the queue.
She said: “I checked, and I was 23,000th on the queue – as if it was for Glastonbury tickets. It is a government service, not Wimbledon or Harry Styles.”
Rachel Newland, a driving instructor from Reading, explained that people and bots buying test slots and selling them on is a big part of the problem when there are only a few spaces.
She told The Independent: “Why do the DVSA keep allowing third parties on the business booking system? They should make these only accessible to candidates and driving instructors, and they should make it illegal to sell a test at more than face value.
“If there were enough driving tests for everyone, no one would use these third parties.”
In December 2024, DVSA made a rule change so driving instructors are no longer able to buy driving tests for learners they are not teaching. The aim was to clamp down on people reselling test slots for a profit.
But cyber fraud experts at DataDome revealed that bots are able to easily access the website and snap up tests for resale.
Fraudsters with a basic understanding of coding can book driving tests in under ten seconds, leaving learner drivers with no chance.
DataDome’s investigation revealed touts are reselling driving tests, which cost £65 through the official DVSA website, for up to £250 on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook.
But the backlog isn’t just frustrating for learners - it is also stopping many from getting to work or college.
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: “Bringing down driving test waiting times is vital to ensure a lack of driving licence does not become an ongoing barrier for young people trying to access education and employment.
“The most effective way to ensure waiting times are brought down is to increase the number of test slots available by increasing the overall number of driving test examiners.”
DVSA is in the process of recruiting 450 new driving test examiners who are expected to deliver around 590,000 additional driving tests annually.
A spokesperson for DVSA said: “Car practical test waiting times remain high due to an increase in demand and a change in customers’ booking behaviour.
“GOV.UK is the only official way to book your practical driving test, and we urge people to report any social media channels or posts offering unofficial test slots or bookings to the social media network.
“We continue to work on implementing our seven-point plan to reduce waiting times and help make the driving test booking system fairer for learners, better protecting them from exploitation.”
Fact check: Pension spending, ‘Hillsborough Law’ pledge and viral Gaza claim
MI5 files not deliberately withheld from Stakeknife probe, review concludes
Search for ‘high-risk’ mental health patient believed to pose risk to public
Kemi Badenoch dismisses suggestions Robert Jenrick threatens her Tory leadership
Stranded spaniel rescued from cliff edge by RNLI heroes
Coroner urges action on road deaths caused by drivers with failing eyesight
