​The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has made significant changes to the driving test booking systems in a bid to combat aggressive resale strategies resulting in learner drivers paying up to triple the standard rate in order to secure a test slot.

Since the end of COVID-19, driving test slots have been increasingly difficult to book as backlogs built up during lockdown periods have resulted in some needing to book tests many months in advance. 

Recent strategies have exacerbated booking difficulties as unscrupulous online resellers, or touts, have been employing computer algorithms known as bots to book up all available slots faster than human competitors are able to. These test slots are then resold to desperate learner drivers for prices in excess of £200.

Worst of all, some learners report being offered such prices by their own driving instructors. When a test slot booked directly through the DVSA website costs £62–£75, the inflated prices offered by touts are insulting. But up until now, many learner drivers have been left with no other option.

What has the government done to fix it?

Thankfully, the government has intervened with a new strategy to stop those looking to capitalise on the desperation of future drivers. Measures include outlawing the booking of driving tests for anyone besides the person making said booking. This means that learners must book their own tests and instructors are no longer allowed to do this for them.

Further stipulations include restricting the number of changes that can be made to a booking to two. Changes in test location will also be limited to nearby test centres, preventing long-distance switches. Changes also cover altering the time of a test and swapping time slots or locations with other learners.

These alterations to the booking process means that learners will have to plan their test dates more carefully to avoid the risk of missing their test date but crucially, that many of the strategies employed by touts are now ineffective. With any luck, this should make booking a test much simpler and more affordable for learner drivers in the near future.

These changes affect drivers of both internal combustion vehicles and EVs alike, but if you’re interested in learning to drive in an EV, you'll want to read this page first.

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