Driving test slot block booking banned

A six-month wait for driving tests could begin to ease as new booking rules come into force, an instructor has said.

Only learner drivers can book tests from Tuesday, in a move designed to prevent block-booking and reselling of tests by third parties.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said the change would "build on the more than 158,000 additional tests delivered between June 2025 and March 2026".

Chris Tassano, from Love 2 Pass driving school in Twyford, Berkshire, said waiting lists in Reading could shorten in two to three months' time.

He said: "Some individuals... have been buying tests in bulk, saving those details and then selling them on, not illegally, but with an inflated admin charge to people desperate for driving tests.

"Waiting six months is just an extortionate amount of time and money. They're buying tests on the grey market at £200 or maybe £300 a time."

Learner driver Alex, 17, said: "You have to get up at 06:00 on a Monday every week and try and log on. It's so hard to get a test.

"I could find nothing near where I am near Reading so we had to then expand it to the rest of the country and then eventually we got one in Wales.

"Another week we switched it to St Albans which is still quite far away but eventually managed to get it to Reading."

A further rule change from 9 June will restrict test swaps to the three centres nearest to the original booking.

Alex said that would make it harder to find local tests.

However, Tassano said: "It's a big benefit for me because I won't be having to travel around as far as I used to."

He said he was "quietly optimistic" that the changes and improved staffing at Reading Driving Test Centre would deliver results.

However, he added: "I don't think it's the final solution. It really needs to be more examiners."

In a statement, DVSA said: "Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties and put them in control of booking and managing their driving test.

"That's why we're making changes to the way driving tests are booked, making the process fairer and clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices.

"The changes will help us achieve that goal... supported by driving examiner numbers at their highest level since 2018 and the recent deployment of military driving examiners who are already carrying out tests."