A Government target to clear the record high backlog of driving tests will be missed by up to eight months, according to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
The Cabinet minister said the Government “inherited an enormous backlog” but is “acting fast” to tackle the issue, with at least 10,000 extra tests to be available each month.
Ms Alexander told the Commons’ Transport Select Committee that her department is aiming to reduce the average waiting time for driving tests in Britain to seven weeks by summer 2026.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a target of reaching that position by the end of this year.
It has attributed the backlog to “an increase in demand and a change in customers’ booking behaviour”.
Giving evidence to the committee, Ms Alexander said: “The waiting times that people are experiencing are totally unacceptable.”
She announced that the DVSA has been instructed to make “additional overtime incentive payments to everyone delivering extra driving tests”.
DVSA staff qualified to conduct tests are being asked to voluntarily return to the front line, while the number of permanent trainers for new examiners will be doubled.
Ms Alexander also said the Government will launch a consultation next month on changes to the driving test booking system, in an attempt to stop bots mass-booking new slots and reselling them on the black market for inflated prices.
Recent analysis by the AA Driving School showed the average waiting time to book a practical test in Britain was 20 weeks in February, up from 14 weeks a year earlier.
The number of test centres with a 24-week waiting time – the maximum possible – nearly doubled over the period, from 94 to 183.
The PA news agency and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation found that on March 31 there were 583,000 tests booked for future dates, which is the highest on record.
Questioned about when average waiting times will be reduced to seven weeks, Ms Alexander replied: “We think that this package of measures I’m announcing today could result in us meeting that target again in the summer of next year.”
In a separate statement released by the Department for Transport, she said: “We inherited an enormous backlog of learners ready to ditch their L plates but being forced to endure record waiting time for their tests.
“We simply cannot deliver on our Plan for Change if thousands remain held back, with their aspirations on pause.”
Pauline Reeves, director of driver services at the DVSA, said: “Since December 2024, we’ve made significant progress on implementing our plan to reduce waiting times.
“But we know that many learner drivers are not seeing the immediate effects of the measures.
“The further action which the Secretary of State has announced today will help us to accelerate those measures, including expanding training capacity for newly recruited driving examiners so more of them can start carrying out driving tests sooner.”
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “The current system is failing learner drivers even before they sit their tests, and today’s news shows there won’t be a quick fix to the frustratingly long waiting times.
“For now, the best way candidates can help themselves is to be as prepared as possible for test day when it does eventually arrive so they have the greatest chance of passing.
“At the moment less than 50% of tests taken are passed.”
