Britain’s system of allocating driving tests is in disarray in many parts of the country as learner drivers are forced to travel hundreds of miles for their tests or pay unofficial brokers up to £400 to avoid the queues, reveals an Observer investigation.
The number of drivers waiting to take their practical tests climbed above 500,000 this year, rising from 147,716 in January 2020 to 538,702 in August.
Brokers are exploiting the frantic hunt for tests by using software applications known as bots to book available slots on the government website the moment they become available – which they then sell at a hefty profit.
Driving instructors are calling for a ban on excessive profits from the reselling of tests. They say low-paid workers who need their driving licences are being unfairly penalised.
An Observer investigation found:
Brokers, operating like ticket touts, are inviting bids from driving schools for available test slots for their students, with prices of up to £400.
One broker with a registered business address at a terraced house in east London claims to offer better availability for fast-track slots than the government website.
Some students in London and the home counties travel to Devon and west Wales to take their driving test rather than pay inflated prices to scalpers.
Don Harris, 70, a driving instructor in Hastings, East Sussex, said: “‘Bots book tests faster than our pupils. Jobs are being lost because people can’t book the tests. It’s an absolute mess.”
More than 1.7m practical driving tests are typically carried out each year by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in England, Scotland and Wales, but an increase in demand, industrial action and lack of public confidence in the system has increased waiting times. A driving test booked on the government website costs £62 on weekdays and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
Bots buy up available slots in what has been described by DVSA officials as a “black economy”. A provisional licence number and candidate name is required to book a test but this can be changed once the slot is sold at a profit. Some of the brokers use business accounts that are intended for instructors to book multiple slots for students.
Margaret, 35, who works in the NHS and is from north London, said she paid just under £500 for a test in May, including use of an instructor’s car, and about £400 for a second test after she failed the first. “It’s unfair,” she said. “I can’t tell you what it feels like to pay nearly £500 for a 45-minute test and then fail it. Learning to drive is very expensive, and I know people who had to give up because of the costs.”
One website, FDT (Fast Track Driving Test) Booking, with a registered business address at a terraced house in Ilford, east London, claims it can “secure an early driving test” and “avoid the long waiting times”. It offers test slots for up to £175 at various centres,
