Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to mandate that learner drivers have practiced driving on motorways prior to taking a driving test.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no current plans to mandate that all learner drivers must undertake motorway driving prior to their driving test, for several key reasons.

Not all learners have convenient access to motorways, with many candidates living in rural or remote areas where the nearest motorway may be some distance away. Requiring all candidates to drive on a motorway would risk creating an unfair barrier to test readiness and accessibility.

While motorway driving is valuable, the practical driving test already includes a strong focus on high-speed driving environments. Dual carriageways, which can present even greater risk due to variable traffic flows, mixed vehicle types, and more frequent junctions, are included in test routes, wherever possible. They provide critical opportunities to assess a candidate’s ability to manage higher speeds and complex traffic situations.