The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) publishes monthly practical driving test waiting time data on GOV.UK. This includes the average (median) waiting time between booking and taking the test in weeks.

Information on average waiting times since January 2019 is available in table DRT121G, Car driving test waiting times and availability by country and region, and information on waiting times at individual driving test centres is available in table DRT122F, Car driving test waiting times and availability by driving test centre.

The Government recognise the vital role that community transport plays in connecting people with communities, enabling access to employment, education and essential services such as healthcare. I am happy to meet the hon. Lady.

Community transport minibuses, such as Mendip Community Transport, are a lifeline for rural communities, but the minibus driving test is costly—it costs up to £2,000 per volunteer—hard to access and pretty unrealistic for volunteers, and drivers who qualified before 1997, and therefore have the D1 classification on their driving licence, are retiring. Will the Minister meet me and representatives of the industry, and recognise officially the sector’s own minibus driver awareness scheme as a route for car drivers to gain a minibus licence?

The Department has not undertaken a specific analysis of the reduction in category D1 practical driving tests between 2019 and 2025, or assessed its impact on the availability of qualified minibus drivers.

The number of tests conducted does not, by itself, indicate the number of qualified minibus drivers available. Since November 2021, the vocational practical test has also been split into separate off-road and on-road modules, with the published D1 figures recording the on-road test.

The Answer, 9 September 2025, to Question 73857 provides data on the number of new driving examiners (DE) who successfully completed training and moved into post, broken down by month from July 2024 to July 2025. The table below provides this data for August 2025 to September 2026.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues driving examiner (DE) recruitment across the country to provide as many tests as possible; a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

The table below provides updated data, where possible, for the recruitment campaigns listed in the Answer, 21 April 2026, to Question 124880.

[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.

[note 2] – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known.

For any given campaign listed, the difference between those recruited and placed on a training course, and the number of applicants that successfully passed training for that campaign, reflects the number of applicants who did not complete training, including those who failed or withdrew. As some of these campaigns are still live, and commenced less than 12 months ago, it is not possible to provide data on those who left the Agency within 12 months.

All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Recruitment comes out of a central budget, so total costs of each individual campaign cannot be fully derived.

The Answer, 24 February 2026, to Question 113313 shows the number of vacancies advertised for campaigns from July 2024 to December 2025. For the February 2026 campaign, 80 vacancies were advertised. All campaigns, apart from May 2023 and February 2026 campaigns, advertised for roles nationally, rather than for particular regions. The May 2023 campaign was advertised as ‘National (except London and South East England)’ and the February 2026 campaign advertised for positions in ‘Southern England, East Midlands, East Anglia & London’.

DVSA monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:

• monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaigns
• average times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date.

In April 2026, DVSA changed the way it assesses prospective DEs. Working with the Government Recruitment Service’s (GRS) occupational psychologists, the assessment process was redesigned, introducing online tests aimed at identifying applicants with the specific skills needed to succeed, and to mitigate the use of AI within the application process.

DVSA continues to monitor the pass rates for each stage and bring in applicants as quickly as possible.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues driving examiner (DE) recruitment across the country to provide as many tests as possible; a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

The table below provides updated data, where possible, for the recruitment campaigns listed in the Answer, 21 April 2026, to Question 124880.

[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.

[note 2] – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known.

For any given campaign listed, the difference between those recruited and placed on a training course, and the number of applicants that successfully passed training for that campaign, reflects the number of applicants who did not complete training, including those who failed or withdrew. As some of these campaigns are still live, and commenced less than 12 months ago, it is not possible to provide data on those who left the Agency within 12 months.

All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Recruitment comes out of a central budget, so total costs of each individual campaign cannot be fully derived.

The Answer, 24 February 2026, to Question 113313 shows the number of vacancies advertised for campaigns from July 2024 to December 2025. For the February 2026 campaign, 80 vacancies were advertised. All campaigns, apart from May 2023 and February 2026 campaigns, advertised for roles nationally, rather than for particular regions. The May 2023 campaign was advertised as ‘National (except London and South East England)’ and the February 2026 campaign advertised for positions in ‘Southern England, East Midlands, East Anglia & London’.

DVSA monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:

• monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaigns
• average times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date.

In April 2026, DVSA changed the way it assesses prospective DEs. Working with the Government Recruitment Service’s (GRS) occupational psychologists, the assessment process was redesigned, introducing online tests aimed at identifying applicants with the specific skills needed to succeed, and to mitigate the use of AI within the application process.

DVSA continues to monitor the pass rates for each stage and bring in applicants as quickly as possible.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues driving examiner (DE) recruitment across the country to provide as many tests as possible; a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

The table below provides updated data, where possible, for the recruitment campaigns listed in the Answer, 21 April 2026, to Question 124880.

[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.

[note 2] – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known.

For any given campaign listed, the difference between those recruited and placed on a training course, and the number of applicants that successfully passed training for that campaign, reflects the number of applicants who did not complete training, including those who failed or withdrew. As some of these campaigns are still live, and commenced less than 12 months ago, it is not possible to provide data on those who left the Agency within 12 months.

All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Recruitment comes out of a central budget, so total costs of each individual campaign cannot be fully derived.

The Answer, 24 February 2026, to Question 113313 shows the number of vacancies advertised for campaigns from July 2024 to December 2025. For the February 2026 campaign, 80 vacancies were advertised. All campaigns, apart from May 2023 and February 2026 campaigns, advertised for roles nationally, rather than for particular regions. The May 2023 campaign was advertised as ‘National (except London and South East England)’ and the February 2026 campaign advertised for positions in ‘Southern England, East Midlands, East Anglia & London’.

DVSA monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:

• monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaigns
• average times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date.

In April 2026, DVSA changed the way it assesses prospective DEs. Working with the Government Recruitment Service’s (GRS) occupational psychologists, the assessment process was redesigned, introducing online tests aimed at identifying applicants with the specific skills needed to succeed, and to mitigate the use of AI within the application process.

DVSA continues to monitor the pass rates for each stage and bring in applicants as quickly as possible.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues driving examiner (DE) recruitment across the country to provide as many tests as possible; a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

The table below provides updated data, where possible, for the recruitment campaigns listed in the Answer, 21 April 2026, to Question 124880.

[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.

[note 2] – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known.

For any given campaign listed, the difference between those recruited and placed on a training course, and the number of applicants that successfully passed training for that campaign, reflects the number of applicants who did not complete training, including those who failed or withdrew. As some of these campaigns are still live, and commenced less than 12 months ago, it is not possible to provide data on those who left the Agency within 12 months.

All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Recruitment comes out of a central budget, so total costs of each individual campaign cannot be fully derived.

The Answer, 24 February 2026, to Question 113313 shows the number of vacancies advertised for campaigns from July 2024 to December 2025. For the February 2026 campaign, 80 vacancies were advertised. All campaigns, apart from May 2023 and February 2026 campaigns, advertised for roles nationally, rather than for particular regions. The May 2023 campaign was advertised as ‘National (except London and South East England)’ and the February 2026 campaign advertised for positions in ‘Southern England, East Midlands, East Anglia & London’.

DVSA monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:

• monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaigns
• average times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date.

In April 2026, DVSA changed the way it assesses prospective DEs. Working with the Government Recruitment Service’s (GRS) occupational psychologists, the assessment process was redesigned, introducing online tests aimed at identifying applicants with the specific skills needed to succeed, and to mitigate the use of AI within the application process.

DVSA continues to monitor the pass rates for each stage and bring in applicants as quickly as possible.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues driving examiner (DE) recruitment across the country to provide as many tests as possible; a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

The table below provides updated data, where possible, for the recruitment campaigns listed in the Answer, 21 April 2026, to Question 124880.

[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.

[note 2] – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known.

For any given campaign listed, the difference between those recruited and placed on a training course, and the number of applicants that successfully passed training for that campaign, reflects the number of applicants who did not complete training, including those who failed or withdrew. As some of these campaigns are still live, and commenced less than 12 months ago, it is not possible to provide data on those who left the Agency within 12 months.

All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Recruitment comes out of a central budget, so total costs of each individual campaign cannot be fully derived.

The Answer, 24 February 2026, to Question 113313 shows the number of vacancies advertised for campaigns from July 2024 to December 2025. For the February 2026 campaign, 80 vacancies were advertised. All campaigns, apart from May 2023 and February 2026 campaigns, advertised for roles nationally, rather than for particular regions. The May 2023 campaign was advertised as ‘National (except London and South East England)’ and the February 2026 campaign advertised for positions in ‘Southern England, East Midlands, East Anglia & London’.

DVSA monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:

• monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaigns
• average times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date.

In April 2026, DVSA changed the way it assesses prospective DEs. Working with the Government Recruitment Service’s (GRS) occupational psychologists, the assessment process was redesigned, introducing online tests aimed at identifying applicants with the specific skills needed to succeed, and to mitigate the use of AI within the application process.

DVSA continues to monitor the pass rates for each stage and bring in applicants as quickly as possible.

In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.

DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.

DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.

Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.

These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.

DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK

In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.

DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.

DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.

Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.

These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.

DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK

In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.

DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.

DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.

Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.

These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.

DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK

In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.

DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.

DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.

Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.

These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.

DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on the number of applications for category D1 practical driving tests.

Category D1 is a sub-category of category D. Practical driving test slots are initially booked as category D; the actual vehicle category is not confirmed until a few days before the test.

The answer of 16 July to Question 18160 provides the number of D1 minibus tests conducted by DVSA and by delegated examiners in each calendar year for which data is available.

There is no separate waiting time for category D1 tests because category D1, category D and lorry tests are all classed as vocational testing.

The below table shows the average waiting time for vocational tests for each financial year since 2019.

Please note for 2019, 2020 and 2021, DVSA calculated waiting times for vocational driving tests across all driving test centres, including part time and remote test centres. For the following years of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, DVSA calculated waiting times by using the official measure which includes permanent test centres only. Permanent centres may be excluded from time to time, for example if they close temporarily.

Since the changes to the booking reforms were introduced in May 2026, evidence continues to suggest that the measures implemented are having the intended effect.

Since 9 June, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has cancelled over 1,350 tests it detected as having been booked in breach of the terms and conditions and placed over 7,600 online booking suspensions on the system. High-volume booking activity has fallen sharply with test swaps reducing by around 63%.

Enforcement activity has increased substantially against those seeking to misuse the booking system. These reforms continue to help ensure that appointments are increasingly being accessed by genuine learners rather than by those seeking to profit from the system. DVSA is closely monitoring changes in behaviour to identify potential fraud.

The table shows how many learner drivers have had their driving test cancelled by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) (a) once and (b) more than once in each month from January 2023 September 2026. Please note that this data is based on the month the test was scheduled to take place, which may not be the same month the cancellation was made.

DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only do so as a last resort. DVSA will try to find another examiner to provide cover if it can, but this is not always possible.

DVSA publishes data on car practical test cancellation reasons by month and driving test centre (DTC) on GOV.UK. This data, in report DRT122B, is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2026. The next update is due to be published in June 2027.