Driving test backlog sees wait in Bristol reach to 2024 and beyond

The backlog to the practical driving test in Bristol could reach to 2024 and beyond. According to a Google search, the average waiting time for a test in England as of May 2022 was around five months. It also adds that with cancellations that wait can reduce to three months. And herein lies the problem.

The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) claims the average time to wait for a driving test is 14 weeks with a commitment to bring this down to nine by the end of the year. I’m not sure what the DVSA is basing their figures on, but certainly not the actual wait times students are facing.

To placate a distressed industry, and the public, the DVSA claim they are tackling the backlog of learners waiting for tests by trying to recruit an extra three hundred examiners and extending the hours at test centres so more tests can take place in a day. This is their pledge in their 2022/23 business plan.

That sounds reasonable and good measures to implement, but there are a few barriers standing in the way of progress. Firstly, the use of the verb trying which means you want to do something, and you will take action which attempts to achieve it. Notice the DVSA didn’t say will recruit. Will is a modal verb of certainty to indicate affirmative, positive future action. That is because the DVSA’s plan contains a couple of flaws.

One of those is the number of test centres available. Bristol used to have four test centres and even with four, the city struggled to cope with the number of people wishing to book their tests.

Then about four years ago they decided to close Southmead driving test centre. So, obviously they had plans to build a better centre in a more useful location. No. Bristol a city of some 466,000 people had three test centres: only three test centres.  And then Brislington went during lockdown 2.  So now we're down to two. 

With only two test centres to choose from in Kingswood and Avonmouth learners and instructors have felt increasingly frustrated. The DVSA don’t seem to be doing much to alleviate this problem such as building a replacement centre.

Early in the pandemic, rumours circulated that Halfords could provide temporary test centres. This seemed like a practical solution. Most of these stores are in out-of-town shopping centres with excellent parking and access to a variety of roads perfect for tests, but nothing happened.

In May this year, an article appeared in the Metro claiming that the average waiting time for a test in London was up to 24 weeks. Other large cities including Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Bristol were facing similar delays.

So, what is exacerbating the wait?

Several factors have coalesced to create the perfect storm. Firstly covid: at the beginning of the pandemic driving instructors had to abandon work altogether. In fact, it was illegal to teach driving due to the proximity of instructor to student, the high transmissibility rate of the virus, and the lack of a vaccine.

Driving instructors were forced to stop work four times between March 2020 and June 2022. This led to thousands of cancelled tests by the DVSA, and even when some restrictions lifted some examiners were reluctant to return to work.

Not just covid surely…

There is a shortage of lorry drivers now in this country due to several factors connected to Brexit. Yet people in the UK still need goods so more lorry drivers from the UK need to be trained.

But what about all the extra slots opening at driving test centres to help with the backlog?

There may be extra slots but there are not enough examiners. On the DVSA website they admit that although they are attempting to recruit more examiners some recruits are being absorbed by those that retired during covid. In addition, some of these extra test slots are allocated to lorry drivers.

Then there is the shadowy world of sold on test slots and apps

How much is a driving test? If you book a test through the DVSA the cost of a test is £62 for a daytime slot or £75 for an evening test. Some tests costs as much as £200, but how can this be? There are some companies using automated software to book up multiple driving test slots as soon as they become available and then sell these on to driving instructors claiming they can make huge profits by reselling them to their pupils.

In a recent article from the BBC, reporters claimed they had uncovered how one operator was making a profit from the desperation of better-off learner drivers.

The BBC reported that ‘One operator claimed to be using “AI-powered software” to scoop up vacant slots as soon as they become available on the DVSA website.’

One company even sent an email (seen by the BBC) encouraging driving instructors to book tests for their students through their company.

You can only book one test at a time though, right?

Right and wrong. Individual learners can only book one test at a time but driving schools have access to another part of the DVSA website allowing them to book multiple tests at one time. If they are using this software, it acts like the ticket booking bots did a few years ago. Tickets were released for a gig you wanted to see, and within a minute no seats were available. The only way you could get a ticket for a much sought-after gig was by going through a third party paying inflated ticket prices.

To complicate the matter further, desperate learner drivers download apps which alert them to cancelled tests. Usually, the turnaround for these tests is noticeably short so the pupil then rings around driving instructors asking them to take them for their test. This not only clogs up the system further but means those ready to take their tests can’t.

According to Statista, in 2019-2020 1.6m people took a driving test, yet only 734,600 passed. This shows how some people are putting in their test before they are ready which contributes to the backlog.

What is the DVSA doing to counter the use of AI and apps?

Not a lot unfortunately. They should be hunting down and tackling this problem as it is fraud and exploitation. The only measure they have taken so far is to increase the ‘cooling-off period’ between when you take a test and can rebook another to dissuade misuse.

Some have suggested, insisting that drivers take at least 30 hours before putting in for a test to counter the problem of people taking tests who are not ready. Another solution could be banning the apps and tackling the AI.

Last June official figures reported that 440,000 were waiting to take their driving tests. As of 5^th May this year, the figure is closer to 520,000 people.

What is the wait in Bristol for a test?

At the time of writing, the current wait for a test in Bristol in 2024 and beyond. If you feel as aggrieved about this as I do, write to your local MP, write to Grant Shapps transport minister and petition to have a question asked in the House of Commons. Failing that, find ways to bring this story to national attention. This government seem motivated by bad headlines more than people’s misery. Get this pushed up the news agenda and something may happen.