Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the extent to which Approved Driving Instructors are sharing their official driving test-booking login details with third parties in order to profit from the resale of tests.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.

While the majority of driving instructors who use DVSA’s booking services do so as intended, DVSA takes action to prevent learner drivers from exploitation and limit opportunities for misuse of the online booking services. DVSA have a zero tolerance for those who exploit learner drivers. In addition, DVSA will investigate any breaches reported to them.

Since the pandemic DVSA has been aware of third-party websites selling driving test appointments at inflated prices and does not approve use of such applications.

In January 2023, DVSA changed the terms and conditions for using the booking service to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit.

On 6 January 2025, DVSA introduced new terms and conditions for use of the service driving instructors and trainers use to book and manage practical driving tests for their pupils. Since the introduction of the revised terms and conditions, DVSA has removed access for 346 businesses and driving instructors for misuse of the booking service.

The new terms and conditions make it clear that driving instructors and businesses must not book driving tests on behalf of learner drivers they are not teaching. They also stop driving instructors and businesses from using a learner driver’s details to book a driving test that they have no intention of that particular learner driver using.

DVSA does not hold any information about ADIs sharing their official test booking login details and DVSA has not removed any approved driving instructors (ADI) from the ADI Register due to being involved in the reselling of practical driving tests. However, as stated above, where misuses of the booking service have been detected, individuals have had their access removed, to prevent the selling of tests.

DVSA has also deployed bot protection to help stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly and will continue to remove the accounts of those who are proven to have broken the rules.