Learner drivers in England will take control of their own tests from 12 May, when only the learner will be able to book, change or swap a driving test. Instructors will no longer be allowed to do it for them.
The move is aimed at tackling waiting lists that can stretch to six months and at stopping slots being bulk-bought by bots and firms that resell them at inflated prices. Tests already booked by instructors will not be affected.
The change lands after months of complaints from learners and driving instructors about the scramble for appointments. Since 31 March, a booked test can only be changed two times, down from six changes under the old rules. If all the changes allowed under the old system had already been used, two more changes can be made from 31 March, but any further adjustment means the learner must cancel and book again.
That limit matters because a change can be small or large. Moving the date or time counts as one change. Switching the test centre counts as one change. Swapping a slot with another learner driver also counts as one change. If more than one detail is altered at the same time, such as the date and the test centre, it still counts as just one. If the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency changes the test, that does not count against the limit.
From 9 June, the restrictions tighten again. A test will only be able to be moved to the three test centres closest to where it was booked. The government says the aim is to make it harder for touts to game the system and to give learners a better chance of finding a slot at the standard fee of £62 on weekdays or £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
The pressure on the system was laid bare in a investigation in December, which found that some driving instructors were offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to hand over their official test-booking login details to touts. Those login details were then used to book tests in bulk and sell them to learners on WhatsApp and Facebook, with some slots going for as much as £500.
The new rules are designed to shut down that market rather than just shuffle it around. The immediate question is whether taking instructors out of the booking process, and limiting how far a test can be moved next month, will be enough to break the grip of resellers before another season of long waits sets in.
