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Driving Tests

Asked by Navendu MishraLabourDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 7 September 2026UIN 21955

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her department has plans to take steps to reduce the national estimated waiting time for driving tests.

Answered by Department for Transport

The Government set out a comprehensive package of measures in April 2025 to tackle long waiting times, aiming to deliver around 10,000 additional tests per month. A key step was reintroducing overtime incentives. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) conducted 1.99 million tests between April 2025 and March 2026, a record and 8.6% (159,000) higher than the previous year.

DVSA has continued to run national recruitment campaigns for driving examiners across the country. DVSA has also made changes to make the booking system fairer.

These are practical steps to increase supply, protect access to tests, and bring waiting times down, across the country.

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