Hundreds of driving examiners to be recruited to cut wait times

Hundreds of driving examiners volition beryllium recruited to chopped "sky-high" hold times for tests, the authorities has announced.

Lilian Greenwood, curate for the aboriginal of roads, said "no 1 should person to hold six months erstwhile they're acceptable to pass" their driving trial and acknowledged determination was a "huge" backlog.

The recruitment thrust is portion of a wider program that the authorities says volition trim hold times to 7 weeks by December 2025.

Driving instructors person branded the existent strategy a "nightmare" and expressed doubts that the projected changes volition marque immoderate worldly difference.

Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this twelvemonth indicated that the fig of driving tests taken reached a grounds level successful the 12 months to the extremity of March, astatine 1.9 million.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has present acceptable retired a program to tackle agelong waits, with learners having to wage much for tests that are booked retired by 3rd parties trying to marque a profit.

Among the measures announced is the recruitment and grooming of 450 driving examiners crossed Great Britain.

The DVSA volition summation the play for changing oregon cancelling a trial without losing wealth from 3 moving days to 10 moving days beforehand successful a bid to discourage precocious cancellations.

There volition besides beryllium a consultation implicit proposals to summation the magnitude of clip for booking caller tests for learners who neglect aft making superior oregon unsafe mistakes. Learner drivers presently person to hold 10 moving days earlier being capable to publication different test.

Current rules astir tests being booked up to 24 weeks successful beforehand volition besides beryllium looked astatine to spot if learners could motion up further ahead.

Ms Greenwood said passing a driving trial was "a beingness changing accidental for millions" but "sky-high waiting times for tests successful caller years person denied that accidental to excessively galore people".

"No 1 should person to hold six months erstwhile they're acceptable to pass, question to the different broadside of the state to instrumentality a driving trial oregon beryllium ripped disconnected by unscrupulous websites conscionable due to the fact that they can't spend to wait," she said.

"The standard of the backlog we person inherited is huge, but today's measures are a important measurement to tackle the agelong driving trial hold times, support learner drivers from being exploited, and enactment much radical to deed the road."

Diana Mulrain has been teaching learner drivers successful Hendon successful north-west London for much than 40 years, and is portion of a WhatsApp radical of section instructors who swap tests betwixt themselves for their students.

She described the existent strategy arsenic "an implicit nightmare" and said students were incentivised to instrumentality the trial adjacent if they were not acceptable to debar waiting months to effort again.

Mrs Mulrain said the DVSA had failed to adequately code the contented of trial slots being booked retired by brokers.

She said adding much driving examiners lone increases the fig of tests that tin beryllium snapped up by 3rd parties, and she cannot spot however those businesses were being prevented from operating.

"What they should bash is to halt each bookings different than (for) the pupil. One recognition card, 1 licence, 1 test. End of," she said.

Helen Ansell has worked arsenic an teacher successful Cornwall for 4 years and said she was "not precise hopeful" the proposals would alteration anything.

She suggested students should person a grooming log to guarantee learner drivers were not taking up trial slots erstwhile they were not ready.

"Once they've done a definite numbers of hours with an instructor, accidental 20 hours, that's erstwhile they tin publication a test," she said.

The BBC has contacted the DfT for remark connected the driving instructors' concerns.