Driving test booking rules shake-up: only learners can book a test from today
The DVSA has yet again changed the rules on driving test bookings, with only learners now able to book a slot
Practical driving test booking rules have once again been revised following now-outdated changes that were rolled out in 2025 and March 2026 as the Government continues its clamp-down on record waiting times and black-market scalping.
From 12 May, only learner drivers themselves are able to book a driving test; previously, instructors were able to make arrangements for rookie drivers that they were teaching, although even this was a reduction on who could book prior to January 2025.
Before this, driving instructors could book tests for clients that weren’t even under their supervision, while businesses that didn’t even employ instructors altogether could book up and subsequently resell slots en masse for up to £200 per go. While this wasn’t necessarily illegal at the time, these practices have nevertheless been deemed exploitative enough to prompt a rule change.
Motoring expert at Confused.com, Matt Crole-Rees, described May’s new rules as: “Another big shift for learners trying to get on the roads, especially following the earlier March changes that reduced the number of booking amendments allowed from six to two.”
From June 2026, to discourage reselling, learners will also only be able to move their test to a nearby centre if plans change, rather than one across the country. This is on top of amendments introduced in 2025 including new rules regarding administration fee visibility – these must be made abundantly clear at the point of booking – as well as an extension to 10 working days of the minimum notice period in which you can cancel your test before waiving your £62 booking fee.
All of this comes as part of a major plan from the Government and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency DVSA to slash waiting times. Yet Crole-Rees is concerned that a narrower eligibility for who can book tests could ultimately be a double-edged sword.
“While these are designed to reduce the use of unofficial websites to help secure earlier test dates, the latest rules could make it harder for learners to feel in control,” he explained. “For learners in lower-performing areas or places with long waiting times, having less flexibility around bookings could mean more retakes, more waiting and higher overall costs.”
Even more unimpressed by the changes, though, is the Driving Instructors Association (DIA). Speaking to Auto Express, a spokesperson for the trade body described the implementation of March's new rules as “a farce”. They pointed out how the new test swapping system requires both pupils to be on the phone at the same time and that “[Despite] the stated objective of the test booking changes being to halt the exploitation of the system by third parties, on day one of this change a rash of third-party sites were offering to assist with swaps – [all] for a fee.”
The DIA also called any fixes to the booking system in general “a red herring”, explaining: “[The] DVSA has not been generating enough tests to meet demand, and a lot of that is down to examiner shortages, not how the test is booked and by whom.”
Aside from tightening the rules on bookings, the Government has previously stated it plans to recruit and train 450 driving examiners, a move which is intended to offset the roughly 130 staff the DVSA typically loses per year in resignations.
The DIA says that ensuring examiners are “better paid [and provided with] a better recruitment and training process” is the key to solving the test backlog, with the DVSA currently “leak[ing] existing examiners out the other end of the funnel who are tired, stressed and don't feel adequately remunerated for their work.”
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