Latest news with #DriverVehicleStandardsAgency
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Driving instructors face ban on booking tests to stop bots taking slots
Driving instructors could be banned from reserving tests to stop bots from mass-booking new slots. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is also considering preventing bookings from being swapped between candidates. Learners currently face a huge backlog to take a driving test, with 603,000 future tests booked as of the end of April – up from 521,000 a year ago. The demand for tests has prompted an influx of bots that use complex systems to block-book new slots so they can be resold on the black market for inflated prices. Nearly a third of learners, newly qualified drivers and their parents or guardians responded to a call for evidence by the DVSA saying that they had used an unofficial booking service to get earlier test dates, paying an average of £122. Bookings made through the DVSA website cost £62 for weekdays and £75 for evenings, weekends or bank holidays. Preventing reselling Currently, instructors are able to book and manage tests for their pupils, and tests can be swapped between learners. The DVSA's consultation on removing these abilities stated that it wants to 'stop the mechanisms that make reselling possible'. It added: 'Preventing reselling rather than an outright ban is a better approach.' Lilian Greenwood, the minister for the future of roads, said: 'This consultation is an important move towards giving learners more say over how and where they can book, alongside setting out options to better enable DVSA to block bots from stealing slots, so learners can get on the road without unnecessary delays. 'Working with the DVSA, we want to make driving test booking fairer, protect all learners from exploitation and reduce lengthy waiting times.' Loveday Ryder, the DVSA chief executive, said the agency had been 'working tirelessly' to reduce waiting times. She added: 'DVSA's goal is to make booking a driving test easier and fairer for everyone while preventing excessive charges for learner drivers.'
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
New driving test centre approved in Reading after previous closure
A council has approved plans for a new driving test centre, more than a month after one closed down in Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who conduct the tests, applied to convert an office at Pacific House in Imperial Way, Whitley, into a driving test centre in previous driving test centre in Elgar Road South, Reading closed last month and plans for 16 flats were approved by the government's planning inspectorate last year.A letter from the DVSA states: "The facility at this site is required by DVSA to meet the local need for car driving tests and the government's objective to reduce driving test waiting times." The plan shows the DVSA occupying Suite A of the building, which is on the ground office will be staffed by five examiners and one manager. Each examiner can conduct up to seven tests per day, meaning 35 tests can be taken on a typical would also be the capacity to have a total of 12 examiners working from the site in the site provides 10 parking spaces, with five additional spaces being leased by the DVSA at the Holiday Inn, a six-minute walk from Pacific DVSA has argued it needs to address a "backlog" of tests after it predicted around a million tests had been missed due to the coronavirus letter states: "The backlog of driving tests, coupled with increased demand, has subsequently meant that there has been a continued post-pandemic surge in people seeking to complete their driving tests."There are insufficient test slots to meet the demand."It added: "Learners are often left unable to find an available test for months in advance and are resorting to booking tests in areas of the UK miles away from their home."The DVSA is therefore actively and urgently working to invest in new test centres to address the backlog." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
