Driving test delays at crisis point – East of England instructor

Camilla Benitz, managing director of the AA Driving School, said: “If you’re looking for a driving test right now, it is incredibly challenging.

“We have seen a 20% increase in the wait time since the start of this year.

“Nationally it’s about 19 weeks. If you’re in the East of England it can be even longer.

“We’re looking at a maximum of 24 weeks in Ipswich, Colchester, Cambridge, Northampton, Stevenage – it’s really widespread.”

She said during the pandemic “about a million tests” were cancelled and despite it being a number of years since, “the DVSA has failed to tackle that backlog”.

Instructor Ms Papworth, who has been teaching learner drivers for 18 years, said: “Having checked [on Thursday morning] there’s no test availability for Cambridge – but that’s country-wide. We’ve reached crisis point, really.

“It’s very difficult for anyone to book a practical driving test – more than one million people are looking for a test,” she said.

Ms Papworth said in the city the wait for a theory test could be up to a month, but for a practical test the wait could be five or six months.