Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving test appointments were identified by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency as having been obtained through automated booking systems, bulk purchasing, or other practices intended for resale in each of the last five years; and what enforcement action was taken in each year.

In January 2023 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) changed the terms and conditions for the online business service (OBS), used by driving instructors and trainers to book and manage practical driving tests for their pupils, to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. In 2023 and 2024, the DVSA issued 352 warnings, 751 suspensions, and closed 743 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.

On 6 January 2025, DVSA introduced further terms and conditions for use of the service. From January 2025 to 11 May 2026, DVSA issued 337 warnings, 648 suspensions, and closed 669 business accounts.

Between April 2025 and 11 May 2026, for accounts that were suspended, there were 24,495 live test bookings linked to those accounts, at the point of suspension. For the same period, for accounts closed, there were 12,874 live test bookings linked to those accounts, at the point of closure. Please note that, prior to April 2025, DVSA did not hold the number of test appointments that existed at the point of warning, suspension or closure for any given business account.

DVSA has now taken further steps, including on 12 May removing access to OBS for the booking, changing and swapping of car driving tests and moving to a learner-only booking model through the Internet Booking Service. Where it detects activity that does not look like normal personal use, DVSA can suspend online access for 12 months meaning a driving test cannot be booked, changed, cancelled or rebooked online.

Since the changes to the booking system on 12 May, 6,799 suspensions have been applied and 1,310 tests have been cancelled.