Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what conversations she is having with the DVSA about the pressures faced by the DVSA booking system to manage new and repeated attempts to pass the ADI Part 3 test.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has seen unprecedented numbers of applications from people wishing to become approved driving instructors (ADI) - a 152% increase since 2018-19. Alongside this, the pass rate for the part 3 test has declined, from 33.8% in 2023/24 to 27.7% in 2025/26. Demand for qualifying tests (known as part 2 and 3 tests) is therefore exceptionally high, leading to high waiting times for these tests. DVSA recognises the time constraints this may place on trainee driving instructors and their understandable frustration.

DVSA operates a “book to hold” service, which enables trainees to make an application for either the part 2 or part 3 test even when no test slots are immediately available. This helps DVSA to understand when and where demand is highest, so that they can allocate examiner resource effectively, prioritising those closest to the end of the two-year expiry period where appropriate. As long as an application for the part 3 test is made before the end of the expiry period, the part 3 test itself can be completed after it.

DVSA has recruited, and continues to recruit, additional ADI examiners and has increased its capacity to train new examiners.