31/03/2023
News from DVSA -
Consultation results and changes to driving test booking and notice periods
Today (30 March 2023), we are announcing changes we are planning to make to the booking system in summer 2023.
These changes are aimed at encouraging learner drivers to only book and take their driving test when they are properly prepared.
The statistics from February 2023 show that around 53% of learner drivers are failing their car driving test and driving examiners are having to physically intervene in 1 in 8 tests for safety reasons. This suggests that more than half are not ready to take their test or drive safely and responsibly on their own.
These changes are intended to help improve pass rates, make more tests available for learners who are ready and help to reduce driving test waiting times.
They are part of a package of measures that were publicly consulted on in 2022. The changes include:
extending the period that those who fail their car test have to wait before booking another test from 10 to 28 clear working days. This will give learners the time to undertake additional learning, training and experience which will increase the likelihood of them passing their next test. We also foresee this having a positive impact on car test waiting times.
extending the notice period during which a cancelled car test will result in a lost fee, from 3 to 10 clear working days. We are extending the notice period to encourage learners who need more practice, to give DVSA more notice when cancelling. This will give better prepared learners more chance to take advantage of short-notice test appointments.
Why we are planning to make these changes
Many of you have told us that some learner drivers want to pass their driving test as quickly and cheaply as possible and that you’ve been unable to stop pupils booking a test before they are ready. We are planning to make these changes because we think they’ll:
encourage learner drivers to be better prepared for their driving test
help to reduce the number of driving test appointments that are wasted
make more tests available for your pupils who are properly prepared
make it easier for you to find tests that are cancelled at short notice for your pupils who are properly prepared
give your pupils who fail the time they need to properly prepare for their next test
What you and your pupils told us
Your pupils told us that:
1 in 3 learners told us this would encourage them to only book their test when they are ready, even if waiting times remained the same as now.
42.8% of learners said this measure would encourage them to only book their test when ready, even if waiting times were reduced. That's more than those who said it would not change their behaviour (42.2%).
37.1% of driving instructors agreed with increasing the number of days your pupils will have to wait to rebook from 10 to 28.
46.8% of driving instructors agreed with increasing the short notice cancellation period from 3 to 10 days.
You can read through the full results report on GOV.UK
When these changes are happening
We will need to work with Parliament to change the law to allow us to introduce these changes. We plan to introduce these in summer 2023.
We will provide you with regular updates on our progress and will contact you and your pupils when the date is confirmed.
How we plan to work with you
We also consulted on mandating the displaying of certificates when you take your pupils to test and providing consumer information to learner drivers. These measure will require changes to legislation in Parliament, the timetable to do this is still to be determined.
We know that some of you may be concerned about how some of these measures will affect you and the driving instructor industry.
In the coming days, we will publish a blog post to talk about how we plan to work with you and the driving instructors National Association of Strategic Partnership (NASP) to:
raise the recognition of the ADI certificate and the professionalism of qualified ADIs
understand and overcome the barriers to displaying ADI certificates
start to explore what consumer information that you would support being made available to help learner drivers and their family and friends to make informed choices
We will inform you when the blog post is published.
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