Government efforts to recruit examiners fail again with average test slot wait now at 22 weeks, report says
Plans to cut the wait for a driving test to seven weeks by the end of the year will not be achieved until November 2027, an audit report has found.
Only a net 83 more driving test examiners have been hired despite 19 recruitment campaigns since 2021, with the average wait for a practical test now at 22 weeks across Great Britain, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which sets tests and issues licences, estimates that about 680,000 people who have passed their driving theory test may not yet have managed to book their practical test.
About 70% of driving test centres have every slot fully booked for the maximum 24 available weeks ahead.
