2025 marks 90 years since the driving test was introduced in the UK. But back in December, GOV.UK reported that waiting times for a car practical driving test were nearly 21 weeks in England, and 13 weeks in Wales.
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00:00There's challenges around getting the actual driving test with the DVSA and having an examiner
00:07coming along and completing that driving test and that's actually come from not being able
00:14to do driving tests and driving lessons during the pandemic and during lockdowns and we're
00:18still sort of experiencing that wave if you like of pupils still looking to learn to drive
00:25but it's also as well changed the behaviour of people as well that are looking to learn
00:29to drive because they know they perhaps can't get a test for six months or more.
00:35It tends to be that there's a lot of people out there that are booking tests without actually
00:39having a driving instructor in place and then once they've got their test date then trying
00:44to sort of scramble around a little bit and find an instructor.
00:48The best way to do things really is to find a driving instructor to start your course
00:54of driving lessons but work very very closely with that driving instructor to ensure that
01:00you're hitting the right milestones at the right time and that your test is booked as
01:05early as you possibly can do.
01:07The DVSA has said it will consult on introducing longer wait times to re-book a test for candidates
01:13who fail by, for example, making multiple serious or dangerous faults, abusing driving
01:19examiners or failing to attend their test.
01:22The DVSA has said that this is hoped to discourage bad behaviour and to ensure that examiner's
01:27time is respected.
01:29I think driving instructors work quite hard to try and make sure they've got the right
01:34packages in place really to help people so that might be that you can bulk buy some lessons.
01:39I mean one of the big initiatives being undertaken by the DVSA is to recruit 450 more driving
01:44examiners and I think they also have some work in terms of ensuring that they retain
01:49driving examiners as well and make sure that they're keeping their workforce happy.
01:54I think if that can happen that will make a really positive effect.