The government restricts who can book and manage driving test appointments, moving bookings to learners themselves after concerns about long backlogs and reports of irregular practices by unofficial brokers. The change comes as many learners report significant waiting times—described in one account as up to 22 weeks—raising pressure to secure earlier slots. Multiple reports say some individuals were charged substantially more for earlier appointments obtained through non-official channels, with claims that prices could be doubled compared with standard routes.
Under the new approach, driving instructors are no longer allowed to book tests on behalf of students. The intended effect is to reduce opportunities for third parties to profit from access to scarce appointment slots, improve transparency around bookings, and ensure learners deal directly with the official booking system. The reports focus on the impact of the restrictions on instructors’ role in the test booking process rather than on the cause of the backlog itself, which remains attributed broadly to capacity constraints.
