Driving Test Cancellations - Why have the DVSA made Driving Tests more difficult to find?
The DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) have been under a lot of pressure since January 2022 to put a stop to many of the automated driving test cancellation sites as they feel that these companies are holding onto driving tests making it more and more difficult for learner drivers to find a driving test cancellation test. Add to this the pressure from driving schools and driving instructors and so the DVSA had no choice but to change the way test dates were being added to the website.
Has this helped reduce waiting times?
On the contrary. The average wait for a driving test now sits around 17 weeks with some London test centres having an average waiting list of up to 29 weeks. This is because so many learners are realising that finding a driving test is near impossible therefore, they are still going ahead with their driving test regardless of whether they are ready or not.
What about pass rates?
In short, pass rates have plummeted, mainly due to learner drivers not delaying their test. In the good old days, you could find a test yourself or pay an automated earlier driving test company to find you a test and get one within a week or two, but now with all these changes, its near impossible to find a suitable driving test date. As you can guess, this has resulted in more learner drivers being eager to take their driving test despite not being test ready.
What has this done to driving lessons prices?
As you can imagine, demand outweighs supply and so driving lessons have been said to have increased by up to 40% in the last year alone and some learner drivers are paying up to £50 an hour for driving lessons. Many learners are so eager to pass this driving test that driving instructors are taking advantage of this as they sit in a good position to increase their lesson prices. It’s quite hard to imagine that a year ago the average driving instructor used to charge £32 an hour and now its closer to £! Wow, it’s definitely a great time to be a driving instructor but not such a great time to learn to drive.
Key things to note from these driving test changes:
- Driving tests are near impossible to find
- The average learner is choosing to go ahead with their driving test despite not being test ready
- Driving lessons have increased by up to 40% in some places
- Learner drivers have been known to travel for over 100 miles in order to sit their driving test
- The DVSA’s changes seem to have hit more learner drivers harder than expected
- According to certain media outlets, some ‘in-demand’ driving tests have been known to be sold for up to five hundred pounds
What have we learnt from all this?
We have learnt that sometimes its better not to make too many changes to a system that isn’t broken. Prior to this last year, finding a driving test wasn’t impossible and learner drivers and their driving instructors were able to get test cancellations pretty much anytime they needed, whether it was themselves searching for earlier test dates or using a company but now we are in a situation where driving tests are worth more than gold. This may sound like an exaggeration to you but to some learners that are desperate, then yes, they probably would sell one of their gold rings or even their gold neckless just to pass this all-important driving test. We mustn’t forget that certain employers demand a driving licence and without one, then well, you may find yourself looking harder to find a job, add to this the massive increase to bills this year, not having a job isn’t viable in most people’s eyes.