Recent driving test waiting times: still very high

Since 2011 at least I have never known it so difficult to find an available practical test slot.

A student this week had to travel to Ludlow, to sit test before going abroad to continue studies.  He had never visited before (important if you're used to driving in your own neighbourhood, because that is where you expect to drive when you're a full licence holder).  Understanding a Shropshire accent could have been an extra hurdle!

Thankfully, he passed.

The table on this page comes from a FoI request made by MSAgb to the DVSA. It shows how many weeks you can expect to wait in the West Midlands.

It's the same in neighbouring Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire: all the centres I've used before. (My Business Booking Service can search 5 test centres at once, but only very rarely finds any slots: it's “fishing from the same pond” as everyone else, of course).

The DVSA are "stuck at a three-way junction", between  [1]  obligations to staff contracts (fixed-term, capped pay, max. working hours);  [2]  statutory restrictions to change (test fee, content, rebooking interval); and  [3]  automated 'bots' sweeping up any cancellations to sell on for profit (not illegal, but a drain on DVSA resources to keep tests available to all at a fair price).

Just as when there's rumour of a fuel strike, people panic-buy ... which creates a crisis faster. But here, it's even worse: examiners have been allocated to test centres BEFORE candidates have to finalise where they want to sit their tests. So the 'cat' is often in the wrong place to catch the 'mouse'! Perhaps that's why many people still do not turn up for their driving test.