Skip to main content [Accesskey 'S'] Go to home page [Accesskey '1'] Are you a business customer?

Maximum waiting time reached at 81 per cent of driving test centres

81 per cent of driving test centres report waits in excess of 5 months

  • By May 2025 81% of driving test centres showed 24 week waits
  • Sign of hope as increased forward bookings signals greater testing capacity
  • AA Driving School says industry is waiting on tenterhooks to see if green shoots of recovery are coming

28 July 2025

There has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of driving test centres with average waits of 24 weeks since the start of 2025.

New data, from a Freedom of Information request* to the DVSA by AA Driving School, shows the number of driving test centres with the maximum wait of 24 weeks has risen to an astonishing 80.8% (as of May 5th 2025). Since January the number of test centres with 24 week waits rose from 161 (06/01/25) to 258 (05/05/25).

Overall, average waiting times for a driving test have reached a new high, with learners typically facing waits of 21.9 weeks (05/05/2025).

But new measures brought in at the start of April to tackle wating times may be starting to show green shoots of progress.

There were 122,000 more driving test bookings in the DVSA’s system for June this year than there was in June 2024**. While the amount of bookings in the system doesn’t initially make it quicker for people to secure a test slot, it does signal hope there is an increased capacity in test delivery on the horizon – in turn this should start to bring waiting times down.

“With the vast majority of driving test centres now showing waits at the maximum the system will allow the situation cannot get much worse.”
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School

There were 5,487 more driving tests conducted in June 2025 compared to June 2024. This is the first increase in the number of tests conducted in 2025 when you compare each month to the same month in 2024.

Number of practical driving tests conducted (DVSA DRT121G)

Month 2024 2025
January 188,179 153,016
February 187,940 151,171
March 184,317 162,259
April 157,432 143,734
May 159,519 147,687
June 152,926 158,413

More changes are expected this year following the results of a DVSA consultation into alterations to the driving test booking process.

Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: “With the vast majority of driving test centres now showing waits at the maximum the system will allow the situation cannot get much worse.

“New measures designed to start bringing down waiting times were implemented at the start of April by the DVSA.

“There are signs of recovery though, putting both the industry and learners on tenterhooks for more signs of improvement in the coming months.

“While we would expect these changes to take a few months to show a positive impact, it is still disappointing to see that learners are continuing to face an uphill battle when it comes to booking their driving test.”

*FOI 2504-075210

** Driving test and theory test data: cars - GOV.UK Table DRT121G