Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce measures to (a) restrict practical driving test bookings to a candidate’s local area and (b) prevent fraudulent activity on third-party platforms offering driving test swaps.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.

DVSA is working hard to reduce the average waiting times, using the responses gathered from its public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. On 12 November, the Secretary of State for Transport, announced the outcome of the consultation to improve car driving test booking rules.

In the coming months, DVSA will:

• Change the booking service to allow only learner car drivers to book and manage their tests
• Introduce a limit on the number of times a learner car driver can move or swap a test to twice and also limit the area they can move a test to once booked.
• Make use of Ministry of Defence (MOD) driving examiners for up to 12 months to help tackle driving test waiting times.

DVSA encourages learner drivers to only use the official GOV.UK website to book and manage their driving test. DVSA has published advice aimed at learner drivers warning them of the risks of using third party services/apps to book a practical driving test. Further information can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/learner-drivers-warned-about-the-risks-of-driving-test-cancellation-finders.

On 6 January 2025, DVSA introduced new terms and conditions for use of the service driving instructors and trainers use to book and manage practical driving tests for their pupils. Since this change DVSA has issued 275 warnings, 404 suspensions, and closed 894 business accounts.