Learners wait a month for driving test at Watnall in March

The coronavirus pandemic saw waiting times at driving test centres across Britain shoot up, as tests were halted during successive lockdowns.

New figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency show learners were waiting four weeks to take their driving test at Watnall testing centre, on Main Road, as of the end of March – within the Government's six-week target. This was up from two weeks at the end of March 2020.

As of the end of March, more than 500,000 people were waiting for a test across Britain, seven times the 70,000 waiting in March 2020, and up from 372,000 last year.

The number of people waiting by test centre was not available.

Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: “There’s little doubt the pandemic has had an impact on test backlogs, though we’re encouraged that the DVSA is taking steps to get on top of this, including offering overtime for instructors, as well as making tests available on weekends and public holidays.

“The figures powerfully demonstrate the continuing strong demand from younger people to get their full driving licence, given the opportunities and freedom that comes with driving.”

Across Britain, 123 driving test centres had waits of at least six months as of March – 38 per cent of the country's 324 testing sites. Just 43 sites, 13 per cent, had waiting times of less than a month.

The DVSA said it had since cut waiting times, with 23 per cent of test centres now having a wait of 24 weeks, and a further 23 per cent within the target of six weeks as of November.

Loveday Ryder, DVSA chief executive, said it had taken “swift action” to tackle the problem, but said more than half of learners are still failing their tests and urged them to check the Ready to Pass checklist available on the DVSA website.

Separate RAC figures show more than 50,000 tests in the year to March were taken by people who had already failed their test five times or more.

It said this may be driving up the backlog, as inexperienced learners take any test available, for fear of missing out on a slot later on.