The National Audit Office Report on Driving Test Waiting Times: What It Means for Learners in 2026
In December 2025 the National Audit Office published a formal investigation into car driving test waiting times in Great Britain. It is the most detailed independent account yet of why learners are still waiting months for a practical test, five years after the pandemic, and it makes uncomfortable reading for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
For learners, the report matters for a simple reason: it sets out, with numbers, what the realistic timeline for improvement actually is. And that timeline is longer than most people assume.
Here is what the NAO found, and what it means if you are trying to book a test in 2026.
The Headline Figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average waiting time for a car practical test | 22 weeks (September 2025) |
| Average waiting time before the pandemic | Just over 5 weeks (February 2020) |
| Test centres at the 24-week maximum | 70% of DVSA’s 240 permanent centres |
| Bookable slots available in the system | 5% in September 2025, down from 15% a year earlier |
| When DVSA now expects to hit its 7-week target | November 2027 |
| Tests DVSA could not deliver because of COVID-19 | About 1.1 million |
| Increase in theory test passes, 2019-20 to 2024-25 | 43% |
| Standard weekday test fee | £62 (unchanged since 2009) |
| DVSA’s calculated cost of delivering a test | About £86 |
| Deficit on driving tests in 2024-25 | £44 million |
Why Waiting Times Have Not Come Down
1. The backlog was bigger than anyone modelled
DVSA estimates it could not carry out around 1.1 million tests in 2020-21. It has since delivered roughly 485,000 more tests than its pre-pandemic average across three years — real progress, but nowhere near enough. As of September 2025 the agency estimated around 400,000 bookings in the system were still backlog, with a further 360,000 yet to arrive.
2. Underlying demand grew at the same time
This is the finding that changes the picture. Theory test passes rose 43% between 2019-20 and 2024-25, which feeds directly into practical test demand. Provisional licence holders rose from 7.2 million in 2012 to 10.4 million by August 2025. Applications from drivers whose overseas licences are not valid in Great Britain after twelve months rose from 98,000 in 2018 to 339,000 in 2024.
The NAO found DVSA’s demand modelling was slow to reflect any of this. Until autumn 2023 the agency was still working on the assumption that it simply had a pandemic backlog to clear.
3. Examiner numbers barely moved
Perhaps the most striking figure in the report: DVSA had just 83 more full-time-equivalent examiners in September 2025 than it did in February 2021, against a target of a net increase of 400. Nineteen recruitment campaigns were run between February 2021 and September 2025, and all but one filled fewer than half the posts advertised. Examiner attrition in 2024-25 was around 14%, double the 7.1% average for the civil service.
4. Bots and resellers made the system worse
Web traffic on DVSA’s booking system increased five-fold between September 2024 and September 2025, driven largely by automated booking software. The system itself is nearly eighteen years old and struggles under that load. Around 327,000 tests were swapped between learners by instructors, businesses and driving schools in 2024, and DVSA closed 880 business accounts for terms-and-conditions breaches between January and September 2025.
Make the Wait Count
If your test is months away, use the time. The Exam Routes App lets you practise real test routes with turn-by-turn navigation so you arrive genuinely ready.
The Cost to Learners
Around 31% of respondents to a DVSA survey said they had used a third party to book a test, in some cases paying up to £500 — eight times the £62 standard fee. Roughly 30% said they needed to drive for their job, which is the point at which a booking backlog stops being an inconvenience and starts being an economic problem.
The NAO was also pointed about how DVSA measures its own performance. The published “average waiting time” is the first week in the 24-week booking window where at least 10% of released slots are still free. That is not the average time a learner waits to get a test, and the report says plainly that it is not a good indicator of individual experience.
What Is Actually Changing
- Only learners will be able to book. Following the November 2025 announcement, instructors and third parties are to lose the ability to book tests on a learner’s behalf.
- Geographical limits on moving a test. You will not be able to book at a distant centre and then swap to your local one.
- A two-change limit. Learners will be limited to two changes to a booked test.
- More examiners, slowly. DVSA needs to add around 18 examiners net every month to hit its target, and has introduced a one-off £5,000 retention payment in two instalments during 2026.
- Ministry of Defence examiners. Thirty-six MoD examiners are being used temporarily to add capacity.
- A new booking system. Approved at a lifetime cost of £181 million, to be rolled out between 2026 and 2030, with better anti-bot and security features.
What This Means If You Are Booking in 2026
- Plan for months, not weeks. With 70% of centres at the 24-week maximum, assume a long lead time and book early — but only when you are realistically within reach of test standard.
- Do not pay a reseller. Beyond the cost, the rule changes are designed specifically to shut this route down. Money spent now may buy you nothing.
- Book it yourself. With third-party booking being removed, get familiar with the official service and your own account details.
- Use your two changes carefully. Under the new limit, a casual reschedule is a resource you may want later.
- Treat the wait as preparation time. A five-month gap is long enough to go from shaky to genuinely competent — or long enough to get rusty. Which one depends entirely on whether you keep driving.
- Practise the routes at your booked centre. If you know where you are testing months in advance, that is an enormous advantage over a candidate who took a last-minute cancellation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the National Audit Office report on driving tests find?
That the average waiting time in Great Britain was 22 weeks in September 2025, up from just over five weeks in February 2020, and that DVSA does not now expect to reach its seven-week target until November 2027. It identified a persistent pandemic backlog, sustained growth in underlying demand, weak examiner recruitment and retention, and an ageing booking system vulnerable to automated abuse.
When will driving test waiting times come down?
DVSA’s own forecast, as reported by the NAO, is November 2027 for the seven-week target. That depends on recruiting a net 18 additional examiners every month.
Why is it so hard for DVSA to recruit examiners?
The report found that nineteen recruitment campaigns between February 2021 and September 2025 filled fewer than half their posts in all but one case, with attrition running at around 14% against a civil service average of 7.1%. Recruitment is particularly difficult in London and the South East.
Is it worth paying a third party to find me a test slot?
The report noted some learners paying up to £500 against a £62 standard fee. The announced rule changes are intended to restrict third-party booking and swapping, so the practical value of these services is likely to fall. This is information rather than advice — the decision is yours.
Will the driving test fee go up?
DVSA calculates the full cost of delivering a test at around £86 against a £62 fee, producing a £44 million deficit in 2024-25, and has been seeking an increase since 2018. No new fee has been confirmed, but the pressure to raise it is clearly documented.
Don’t Waste the Wait
Months of waiting is months of practice. Use the Exam Routes App to drive real test routes with turn-by-turn navigation and turn a long wait into a first-time pass.
