Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to enable those who were unable to take their practical driving test during the first covid-19 lockdown and whose theory driving test has since expired to take their practical test.

The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation and the Government has taken the decision not to lay further legislation to extend it. The primary reason is that the two-year validity is in place to ensure that a candidate’s theoretical knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point they drive on their own for the first time. Extending the validity would provide less reassurance that this is the case. Those whose certificate previously expired and have since passed the theory test will now have a further two years in which to pass the practical test.