Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the period of validity of a Theory Driving Test Certificate in response to the covid-19 lockdown restrictions that were imposed on people learning to drive.

The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation and the Government has taken the decision not lay further legislation to extend it. The primary reason is that the two-year validity is in place to ensure that a candidate’s theoretical knowledge remains current. Extending the validity would provide less reassurance that this is the case, particularly over a period when a candidate was also unlikely to be having driving lessons. It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date as learners prepare to take their practical test.