UK Bans Third-Party Driving Test Bookings as Waits Average 22.3 Weeks
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 16
UK Bans Third-Party Driving Test Bookings as Waits Average 22.3 Weeks
2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 16
New UK rules now make it illegal for anyone except the learner driver to book or change a DVSA driving test, targeting resellers that used bots to grab slots and resell them at inflated prices.
The crackdown follows a surge in profiteering during long waits: Great Britain's average practical-test wait hit 22.3 weeks in April, with instructors reporting thousands of reseller messages and learners being asked to pay £200 to £300 for dates.
One learner, Robert Kamugisha, paid £726 for three test slots that should have cost £62 each, and £1,176 in total including car-use fees, after being steered to a reseller by his instructor.
Ministers say the change should cut wasted bookings and help the DVSA track real demand, after nearly 2 million tests in the past year and 158,000 extra tests since June 2025.
Driving instructors' representatives say the ban will not solve the core shortage of test slots, and further June changes will limit learners to swapping tests among three local centres.
As the UK cracks down on driving test resellers, is the entire system fundamentally broken and in need of a complete overhaul?
With bots banned but backlogs remaining, have officials solved the driving test black market or simply made it harder to get a license?