Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the validity of the Driving Theory Test certificate, in the context of long waiting times for practical driving tests.

The validity period of the theory test certificate is two years. The cost of taking a theory test is £23.00. It is not possible to estimate the total sums paid by learner drivers for resitting their theory test because they have been unable to access a practical driving test before their previous certificate expired.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is doing everything it can to ensure that learners can access practical tests within that time, to prevent candidates from having to retake the theory test.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.

Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the preparation of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Learners will therefore need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.