Learner drivers waiting up to six months for test

Stephen Pearson said some of his pupils were waiting up to six months for a test

Long delays in booking driving tests are having a real impact on people's lives, an instructor has said.

A backlog from the Covid-19 pandemic and block-booking agencies are the major factors behind the delays, meaning in many places, especially Boston in Lincolnshire, learners are waiting months for a test date.

Stephen Pearson, 67, who runs Chariot School of Motoring in the town, said when he checked on Wednesday morning there were no tests available at all.

"Pupils obviously want to book their test, and they can't get a test," he said.

According to official figures, Boston has the longest waiting times for driving tests across the region at 23 weeks.

In comparison, in Bridlington in East Yorkshire, the waiting time is just over seven weeks.

Mr Pearson said the backlog had come about as a result of instructors not being able to work for seven months during the pandemic.

However, he said the situation in Boston had been further exacerbated by the recent retirement of two local examiners and by third-party brokers who block-book and re-sell the tests for hundreds of pounds to people from all over the country.

'Very frustrating'

"The problem is you get people coming from other towns," he said.

"When I was on test the other day there was someone there from Cambridge and someone from Derby," Mr Pearson said.

"Quite often you get people coming from London."

He said it was very frustrating for him and his pupils.

Mr Pearson said he was working with other local driving schools in a bid to speed things up, swapping driving tests around so that someone who was ready could take the appointment.

He said he was also booking tests in other local towns with a view to transferring them back to Boston at a later date.

Learner driver Lucy Bell, who has managed to book a test, said she was concerned about a long wait for another should she fail

Learner driver Lucy Bell, 34, said she had been lucky in securing a test date in a few weeks, but feared a long wait to get another if she failed.

She said the prospect of waiting months for a retest brought added pressure.

"I am concerned that if I do fail I am looking at the middle of next year - it's just not doable," she said.

"I need a vehicle to get around - this is so important to me so I can do more things with my daughter, rather than relying on public transport.

"I think it's ridiculous. I understand there is a backlog, but I do think people should stick to their own areas when booking their tests."

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said it was clamping down on attempts by automated systems to make block bookings by restricting access to its website.

Chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “In the past financial year alone, we’ve provided almost two million tests, and I was delighted to meet the transport secretary recently to discuss how we can continue to increase the number of tests by recruiting more examiners while tackling bots and those exploiting learners."

The government agency also advised learners to only book their test after they have had sufficient on-road experience.

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