Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current average waiting time is for a driving test.

Car practical driving test waiting times are currently at 15.7 weeks (November average).

As at 12 December, there were over 81,000 available car practical test slots to book within the 24-week booking window.

Since April 2021, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has created an extra 595,000 car practical driving tests appointments to help reduce waiting times. Actions already being taken by the DVSA include asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing, and asking recently retired driving examiners to return.

To help increase practical driving test availability, the DVSA is recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.