Covid Driving Test Backlog Means Learners Are Rushing And Failing

Learners who are rushing to take their driving tests because they do not want to wait for the Covid backlog to clear are pushing up failure rates, it has been claimed.

Teenagers are wasting testing slots, failing and then re-joining the hundreds of thousands of others hoping for a date to pass their exams.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said people may be accepting tests “whether they are ready or not, for fear of a long wait if they delay”.

A chronic bottleneck caused by the pandemic means learners are facing waits of up to six months to sit their exams. But when their dates do come, students who still feel unprepared are reluctant to postpone tests because they do not want to wait for another available slot.

Lockdowns brought tests to a halt
The delays are blamed on coronavirus, when lockdowns brought the industry to a halt.

More than 450,000 tests were cancelled during the pandemic, leading to spiralling wait times.

For the 12 months to March 2021, 437,000 people took driving tests. For that same period three years prior, 1,700,000 tests were sat, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures.

There were more than 500,000 learners waiting to sit their driving tests in August.

Instructors were unable to give lessons for 10 months, meaning many learners turned to their mothers and fathers for help.

Many falsely thought they had learnt enough to pass a test, booked one and promptly failed it.

More than 50,000 practical tests taken last year were by candidates trying for at least their sixth time.

Of these, 40 per cent passed, compared with an average success rate for all tests of 50 per cent.

Examiners being put in danger
Mr Gooding also warned examiners are being put in danger by unprepared students taking tests.

He said: “We all have a right to feel as safe as possible at work and that includes driving examiners. Therefore, learners are under an obligation to be well prepared for their tests. That doesn’t mean being so good that a pass is guaranteed but it does mean not being so bad that you put yourself and others at risk.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) recently said the frequency of examiners having to “physically intervene to avoid a dangerous incident” has increased to one in eight tests.

Practical driving tests cost between £62 and £75, depending on when they are taken.

The delays also led to the emergence of a driving test black market, with some learners paying £200 to avoid months of waiting.

Exam slots at vastly inflated prices
A BBC investigation published this year revealed people purchasing exam slots that had been secured by individuals or companies in bulk and resold at vastly inflated prices.

Some learners said they paid as much as £235 to book their practical test – more than three times the standard fee.

Registering as a driving school on the DVSA website allows access to multiple booking slots, the report found.

However, this feature can be abused because there is minimal verification to check whether the person registering does really run a driving school.

The DVSA said at the time that bulk-booking services were causing a “social divide” among test candidates who could and could not afford this option.

It said it is offering an additional 2,500 tests per month by also holding them on weekends and bank holidays. Up to 300 new examiners are being recruited to help reduce the backlog.