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EpicJnr is trying to book a driving test. No test dates available anywhere local for the foreseeable (3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years) or anywhere further afield for that matter 🧐
I know they're sposed to be changing the system so bots can't book all the slots....but this seems ridiculous. {And the site is hopeless because you have to go back to dates and then re-enter the centre rather than the other way round. 🤬 }
A few of you have Jnrs of similar age - how have yours managed to get tests booked? Does he use Testi app or something else?
I'm stumped and puzzled and can't give him any words of wisdom
TIA
In Aberdeenshire my daughter passed her test a month ago after getting a cancellation which took her wait from almost 5 months to just under 4. The other halfs son has a 6 month wait in Aberdeen for his unless like my daughter he gets a cancellation.
I've heard the instructors say that there's a lot of people travelling up here for a test as it's a shorter wait, no idea how true that is though.....
No words of advice for the long wait I'm afraid
Mine has a date soon...nothing was coming up locally or nationally (Scotland), so a space popped up in Newcastle and that was booked.
In 24 hours we then saw a load of cancellation dates available to book in our local area, so the Newcastle booking got changed to a local one (Newcastle was sooner but also 3.5 hours drive away!).
System seems absolutely weird and more luck of the draw to get an actual test date.
Download and subscribe to the Driving Test Now app, you can set it to book cancellations for you. Costs a few quid but will get a test a lot quicker.
There was a bit of an expose about one possible reason for this on BBC News a few days ago, basically touts bulk-booking test slots as if they were legit driving instructors, and leaving none for Joe Public to buy through normal process.
Daughter has just passed after 6 month wait for a test. To get that you need to be up and logged on to a computer at 6am on a Monday morning - that’s when new dates are released. 6am not 6.15 they’ll all be gone by then. Don’t even bother looking for shorter dates at that point just find the closest test centre as far out as it will let you book - probably with the least convenient time of day (0800!). I assume your son already has passed his theory? All her friends have managed to book within 2 or 3 Mondays with this approach.
Once booked you can pay a bot to move it closer in time or geography if you don’t mind funding part of the problem. If you refuse to get up at 6am then you are paying one of the tout bots.
I would say she could have passed two months ago but the extra practice added confidence (for her and me!) so slowly might be no bad thing. The main issue (other than cost of lessons) is that failing means another long wait for a test.
I think the system is scandalous and the incompetence at not blocking the bots in days rather than months is ridiculous. Detecting ADIs abusing the system is not going to be hard either - so actually the brute force approach they are adopting which blocks instructors from booking on behalf of pupils is probably overkill.
System is an absolute disgrace. Daughter started learning and booked a test straight away, 6 months out. She failed, not possible to get another one any time soon. She did try the paid app, not sure she used it properly, but it didn't seem to help. She booked one in a different area but that was after she started Uni. Turned out to be not bad location wise but then she couldn't get an instructor near her Uni. I think her theory will expire soon. Many hundreds spent and you have to put up with this sh1t.
Book anything at 6am on Monday. (No later as per above). Then use a paid app like testshift to bring it closer/sooner. Or use a Google plug in (forget name) to do the same. Do not sit on the dvsa website and hammer F5 though or your ip address will get banned. The apps know how not to trigger this.
So you have to behave like a bot and use paid services. We are trying to access a government service not buy an Oasis ticket. I'm sure that is the correct approach to navigate this bollocks if you are determined.
My daughter has prioritised settling into her new life at Uni and concentrating on her education rather than chasing around after this crap. It can wait for now and hopefully this will settle down once they get a grip on the touts etc.
Oh, it's an utter crock of shit. I thought I would just bypass the paid apps by hitting F5 on the change test page on the dvsa... but I got banned. So went for testshift. It saved a month. Now I have a co-driver for long drives, he can run my youngest to after school clubs, I don't run him around now.... Many hours per week gained..!
Testshift app appears to work once you’ve booked a random test anywhere in the country. You need to pay for it though.
We, and by that I mean I, got up at 5am and sat on phone and laptop to be over 5000 places into a queue for his first one but got one eventually. When he failed (x2) I had to do the same thing but booked one further away and gradually moved it closer to home. Driving instructor recommended using the Testi app but if you want to look for a couple of centres you need to go for the paid version. Don’t, it’s a waste of money, by the time it alerts you to a test and you log in to the DVSA page and reauthenticate the slot will be gone. I refuse to contribute to the scumbags taking advantage of people, and that includes the driving instructors who sell their slots, so I had to try book through the proper website. I found that on the days I was WFH I’d have iPad, phone, and a couple of different browsers open on my work computer and just check regularly on different devices. Once you have something booked it’s easier to swap it. We eventually got a 9am Sunday morning slot and paid the extra, lovely and quiet and he passed with 0 faults.
It really is a shit situation when driving instructors are taking bungs to sell their logons so they can screw over their own pupils. Absolute shower of shite.
We're just about to start on this merry go round, my son has his second theory test today so hopefully he passes this time and can get his practical booked. His driving is excellent, so don't thik he'll have an issue passing.....but it's gonna cost us a fortune waiting for a test!
It's a shambles, but the only way to do it without contributing to the issue is to get up early on Monday mornings and join the queue. Booked a slot 5months out, just hope my son passes first time now...
I think driving instructors should not be able to book tests it should be the individual who has passed the theory test only by means of a reference number when the theory test is passed.
It's scandalous that this situation has occurred, but then again what isn't broken at the moment?
As someone that is involved in the development of these kinds of GDS systems, I've followed how the driving test booking service has evolved.
At one point it was laused for making the cancellation data available so that those slots that would otherwise go to waste could be re-used; quite innovative to reduce waste. I'm not sure the examiners were that thrilled with it though 🤣
It appears that they have recently lost control though and it appears they don't have the leadership and/or skills to fix it. Probably because it was originally built with contractors that had the knowledge and experience to pull it off, and it's now being managed/built by a civil servants who don't have that. Just a guess though.
It's scandalous that this situation has occurred, but then again what isn't broken at the moment?
Applying for or renewing a passport has never been easier.
And Defra's Extended Packaging Responsibility charges are working nicely
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/22/poorly-thought-through-uk-food-firms-say-packaging-tax-is-pushing-up-prices
Probably because it was originally built with contractors that had the knowledge and experience to pull it off, and it's now being managed/built by a civil servants who don't have that. Just a guess though.
A guess which is badly wrong. If you look at the history its clear it was "broken" from the outset.
The difference was prepandemic there were plenty of instructors and no backlog to work through. Therefore there was not much point trying to game the system (I guess you could book up every test in the country but that would be rather costly).
Post pandemic though there was the inevitable queue of people waiting plus also a drop in the number of examiners. This drew various "entrepreneurs" attention and it has ended up where it has.
Its a business not IT issue and the business seem to be finally addressing it with the rule changes.
If you look at the history its clear it was "broken" from the outset.
It wasn't broken from the outset, it operated effectively and was innovative in providing that cancellation data.
Its a business not IT issue and the business seem to be finally addressing it with the rule changes.
It's a Service issue, which is a concept lots of civil servants struggle with.
Oh - I wondered when this would come up on STW!
We've just been through this with my eldest. We're in Leicestershire, apparently where you live makes a massive difference, there is more capacity in S.Wales and Lincolnshire than Leicestershire or so I have been told.
He passed his theory test the day after his birthday and got a driving test booked about 6 months out.
He did his driving lessons, was apparently quite good and promptly failed his test on a stupid mistake (missed a limit sign so was going 40 in a 30 - oopsie).
After all the teddies had left the proverbial pram he set about attempting to get another test. He managed to get a test in Birmingham for a couple of months out quite quickly. He tried Testshift but it appeared useless.
He would just go and check the DVSA a few times a day and possibly by luck he managed to get a cancellation in Leicester for the next week.
Based on conversations with other parents we got off lightly.
The whole situation stinks, imagine having to pay touts for GP or Dentist appointment!
Once you have a test, Testshift pings you available cancellations and swaps them for you. It took a while for it to work for us but I've had several options sent to me last week for rebooking. No 1 child is down for the 5th Jan. Fingers crossed!
Thanks all, so looks like an early Monday AM is on the cards. He is back from his first term, so it hasn't been a priority, so I guess we'll see how he gets on.
How are you doing the monday AM thing tho - are you logging in to DVSA, putting any date in, and seeing what availability is , or do you have to specify a day and hope. Do you keep looking for a single centre or look to get something further afield and then move w cancellations?
So when did this get so Sh1t - is this the Tory 14 year thing of letting everything go to rack and ruin unless you let the private sector exploit it. FFS
Thanks again.
The DVLA has had years to fix this problem and hasn't. My conclusion is that there are a few people there who are getting a "commission" from the people reselling tests.
The only person that should be able to book a test is the person taking it, and it should be non transferable. This hurts no one and solves the problem instantly.
The only person that should be able to book a test is the person taking it, and it should be non transferable. This hurts no one and solves the problem instantly.
+1
I did see some suggestion that there are people who might not be capable of booking their own test and the instructor should be able to do it for them. I can't but think they shouldn't be driving a vehicle on the public highway if that's the case.
Thankfully I've got a couple of years before my kids start so fingers crossed they get it sorted before then. The experience of the youngsters at work has been horrendous.
The only person that should be able to book a test is the person taking it, and it should be non transferable. This hurts no one and solves the problem instantly.
the reason ADIs can book tests is usually people sit the test in the instructor’s car. It’s possible that two pupils try to book tests at the same time (or at different test centres too close in time to do both). However that still doesn’t require them to be able to book via an API or book a test without the student’s driving license number.
the reason a driving school might want to book without a student license number is so they can offer intensive courses with a test at the end. I’m sure if dvla wants to support that market they could engineer a work around.
the bots rely on the ability to move a test - which dvla doesn’t charge for. An admin fee would tame the problem. You can currently move a test loads of times - it must be exceptional to move a test more than once unless you are a bot.
What you suggest doesn’t completely solve the problem - there is still a massive backlog, with more demand than supply.
Ignore my comments...turns out it was nothing like that! Mum was running around like a blue-bottomed fly trying to sort things and got lucky...story ingot told was what I recorded above, but reality wasn't like that!
the bots rely on the ability to move a test - which dvla doesn’t charge for. An admin fee would tame the problem. You can currently move a test loads of times - it must be exceptional to move a test more than once unless you are a bot.
Moving a test: (probably) fine. Transferring it, not fine.
Controversial answer - and not that I don't think the system for booking and moving tests is very poor (but we used it for both mine, swallowing morals) - but I think part of the problem is that too many people are failing their tests. The pass rate across UK is just under 50% (varies by centre, etc.) and while some fails are competent drivers that 'had a bad day' or made a silly error, a large proportion must be IMHO simply not ready, and they're clogging the system up.
How to fix. Again controversial, and not brilliantly thought through I'll admit but all driving instructors do mock tests in preparation. Maybe there should be a qualification process in which a candidate cannot go for their test until the instructor signs off on them achieving test ready standard, and gets a reference number from the instructor for that that traces back to the approval. I realise the longer they delay = more lessons, so there'd have to be some means of checking (eg: as MOT stations are checked so they don't fail without reason as a means to get work) and you can also benchmark instructors based on both lessons to achieve standard (how good are they at teaching) and also whether their 'approved for test' to 'passed test' ratio is within bounds (both high and low) and this could be made available to people as a means of making the decision who to get lessons from.
Ah, but what about self taught, I hear you say.
Again might be controversial but 1/ could still get a qualifying test as part of the process - adds a bit of cost to the process of learning to drive but if you saved the cost of lessons it's pretty minimal; 2/ even more controversial - this is approving someone to do probably the most dangerous thing that the average person will ever do - for them and anyone else they encounter - and I'm not sure that I'm comfortable you can learn to do that under the tutelage of a willing amateur. Sure, learn to drive the car and then then you can get time where you can tootle around with your Mum sat next to you to build experience, that's all important but being able to pass a test with zero lessons from a qualified instructor because you had a good day / nothing odd happened / it was 8am on a sunday morning just seems mad.
I wonder if the system is so borked that people are just booking dates whenever they can, ready or not, and then getting cancellations and taking them anyway regardless of whether they are ready, because they don't know when they might next get a date.
If the system was able to provide reliable booking, there would be no shenigans and people could book a month out when they were ready, and pass. At the moment, its throw spaghetti at the wall and hope it sticks, for some it does and lots of others it doesn't
Anyway, looks like an early morning for EpicJnr on Monday.......
It's not improved then. Daughter failed first time (wasn't happy as she NEVER fails) but re-booked straight away and it was a six month wait - and a considerable cost keeping the 'practice up'. This was 2 years ago.
but being able to pass a test with zero lessons from a qualified instructor because you had a good day / nothing odd happened / it was 8am on a sunday morning just seems mad.
Why? All driving lessons do is prepare you for the test so if someone can pass without using an instructor it sounds ok to me.