The RAC has issued fresh warnings to desperate learner drivers trying to beat the backlog by booking tests through unregulated websites after it found they could be paying up to four times the going rate.
The average waiting time for a test across England, Scotland and Wales is about four and a half months and many learners have turned to brokers who book out slots and resell the tests for hundreds of pounds.
According to the RAC, some sites are reselling tests for up to £195. One London-based learner said she paid just under £500 for a test in May 2023, including use of an instructor’s car, and about £400 for a second test after she failed the first.
A practical exam booked through the official Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) website costs £62 on weekdays, and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
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Third-party brokers are exploiting the frenzied hunt for tests and “cheating the system” by using automated software known as bots to book available slots on the DVSA website the moment they become available, faster than any human could, the RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, said.
More than 1.7m practical driving tests are typically carried out each year, but an increase in demand, industrial action and the Covid backlog has meant waiting times have drastically increased.
An estimated 500,000 learners had their driving courses disrupted or paused their lessons during the Covid lockdowns, which has had a big knock-on effect on test waiting times.
The DVSA has been taking steps to clamp down on the “black economy”, but many slots can still be bought through third parties online. Since January 2023, the DVSA, which is responsible for the driving test, has issued 283 warnings and 746 suspensions and has closed 689 businesses for misuse of its booking service.
However, tests are being sold via encrypted WhatsApp chats and sellers often use the disappearing message function so conversations are deleted and not traceable, according to the RAC.
Williams added: “It’s terrible that ‘brokers’ using software to reserve tests faster than a human possibly could are making it so hard for learners to book test slots.
“Definitive action needs to be taken to prevent bots booking tests and then selling them on to desperate learners for crazy amounts of money. This leads to genuine slots being wasted and learners, who are ready to take their tests, missing out and having to wait months for a chance to become a qualified driver. It’s no wonder some learners end up booking test slots before they’re ready.”