New driving test centre for city approved

A plan to open a new driving test centre in Wolverhampton has been approved.

Empty offices at the University of Wolverhampton Science Park would be converted into a new driving test centre after plans by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were backed by City of Wolverhampton Council.

The planning application said the "increased demand and existing delays" could not be met through existing provision in the city and there was an "urgent need" for a new centre to serve the area, given the "significant challenges" faced by the DVSA.

The application said the centre would be able to accommodate between 50 and 100 tests per day.

Approving the application, council planners said: "The proposals would bring a portion of this vacant building back into use, creating jobs and investment.

"The proposals would also help improve vehicle test opportunities for the city."

The offices at the science park off Coxwell Avenue have been empty since 2024.

The latest figures from the National Audit Office (NAO) released at the end of last year said the average national wait for a driving test in September was 22 weeks but has hit six months at nearly three quarters of test centres.

The DVSA had planned to cut waiting times to seven weeks by the end of 2025.

The planning application said: "The demand to book tests disproportionately outweighs the quantum of tests available locally.

"The DVSA is therefore actively and urgently working to invest in new test centres to address the growing demand for driving tests, with a particular focus on areas where there is particularly high demand or where current test centres are oversubscribed."

The application adds that conducting driving tests from the centre in Coxwell Avenue would bring "several significant advantages."

"One of the key benefits is the introduction of new, meaningful test challenges along the updated route," the planning application said.

"These improvements will ensure that candidates are assessed under more realistic and varied conditions, better preparing them for real world driving scenarios and raising the standard of road safety."

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