New law to clamp down on driving test bots

Only learner drivers will be able to book driving tests in plans aimed at reducing long waiting lists and preventing slots being sold at inflated prices.

The Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said limiting third parties from reselling slots would stop people being “exploited” by online bots.

But she told MPs on the Transport committee that waiting times for driving tests would not be brought down to seven weeks by summer 2026, the most recent deadline she set.

The average waiting time was 21.8 weeks at the end of June.

She said that as well as a change to the law on who could book tests, examiners from the Ministry of Defence will be brought in to try to reduce the backlog.

The Department for Transport said 36 defence driving examiners will be brought in to conduct tests one day week for a year, at an estimated cost of £100,000.

Recruitment of 316 new examiners has resulted in a net gain of only 40, as others have left.

Driving instructors will be offered a “retention payment” of £5,000 from next year to try and keep them in the role.

Ms Alexander also said a limit would be placed on the number of times a driver can move or swap a test, and the area they can move a test to once they’ve booked it.

In April, BBC Verify found that the average waiting time across the 319 driving test centres in Great Britain was 22 weeks, with three-quarters of centres hitting the maximum average wait time of 24 weeks.

Every week, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) makes more tests available but many are rapidly booked up by bots – automated software that can act much faster than humans.

Companies then resell the test slots to desperate candidates at inflated prices.

The driving test costs £62 for a weekday slot or £75 for evenings and weekends.

But some third-party sites are charging up to £200.