Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the validity period of driving theory test certificates for learner drivers who have been unable to secure a practical driving test date within the standard two-year window due to ongoing DVSA booking backlogs.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.

Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is doing everything it can to ensure that learners can access practical tests within the theory test validity period, to prevent candidates from having to retake the theory test.