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Hundreds of driving examiners will be recruited to reduce “dizzying” waiting times for tests, the government has announced.
Lilian Greenwood, minister for the future of roads, said “no one should have to wait six months before they are ready to take” their driving test and admitted there was a “huge” backlog.
The recruitment drive is part of a wider plan which the government says will aim to reduce waiting times to seven weeks by December 2025.
Driving instructors have called the current system a “nightmare” and expressed doubts that the proposed changes could make a material difference.
Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this year show that the number of driving tests taken hit a record high in the 12 months to the end of March, at 1.9 million.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has now drawn up a plan to tackle long waits, with learners having to pay more for tests booked by third parties trying to make a profit.
Among the measures announced is the recruitment and training of 450 driving examiners across Britain.
The DVSA will increase the time to change or cancel a test without loss of money from three working days to 10 working days in advance to discourage late cancellations.
There will also be a consultation on proposals to increase the time to book retests for learners who fail after making serious or dangerous errors. Learner drivers currently have to wait 10 working days before they can book another test.
Current rules around booking tests up to 24 weeks in advance will also be reviewed to see if learners can register earlier.
Ms Greenwood said passing a driving test was “a life-changing opportunity for millions of people”, but “extremely high waiting times for tests in recent years have denied too many people this opportunity”.
“No one should have to wait six months before they are ready to take their driving test, travel halfway across the country to take a driving test, or get scammed by unscrupulous websites just because 'He can't afford to wait,' she said. .
“The scale of the backlog we have inherited is enormous, but today's measures are a crucial step in tackling long driving test waiting times, protecting learner drivers from exploitation and helping more of people to hit the road.
Diana Mulrain has been teaching learner drivers in Hendon, north-west London, for more than 40 years and is part of a WhatsApp group of local instructors who exchange tests with each other for their students.
She described the current system as “an absolute nightmare” and said students were being incentivized to take the test even if they weren't prepared to avoid waiting months to try again.
Ms Mulrain said the DVSA had failed to adequately address the issue of testing slots booked by brokers.
She said adding more driving examiners only increased the number of tests that could be obtained by third parties, and she didn't see how those companies were being prevented from operating.
“What they should do is stop all bookings other than (for) the student. A credit card, a license, a test. End of it,” she said.
Helen Ansell has worked as an instructor in Cornwall for four years and said she had “not much hope” that the proposals would change anything.
She suggested students should have a training log to ensure learner drivers do not use test slots when they are not ready.
“Once they have completed a certain number of hours with an instructor, say 20 hours, that’s when they can book an exam,” she explained.
The BBC has contacted the DfT for comment on the driving instructors' concerns.
Additional reporting by Anna Lamche
