Testing Time: The Driving Exam backlog

National World - Broadcast Video

Learner drivers across the country are being faced with an average of a 14-week wait when trying to book a driving test, and nearly two-fifths of test centres are experiencing wait times as long as five months or more.

Transcript

00:00If you're a road user in the UK these days, you might be forgiven for thinking that some

00:10people could do with taking their test again. But that's easier said than done these days.

00:18Waiting times for driving tests are still higher than pre-pandemic levels at three quarters

00:22of all driving test centres. Learner drivers across the country are being faced with an

00:27average 14 week wait when trying to book a driving test and nearly two fifths of test

00:32centres are experiencing wait times as long as five months or more. Join us as we drive

00:39a little deeper into this issue, talking to experts about why it's happening. And we hope

00:43to see that backlog drop. And we'll be testing the general public to see if they would still

00:48pass the test and discovering what happens when it all goes wrong. My other two tests

00:54that I'd failed, I was like, it's fine, we'll go again. But this one, I just went home and

00:58cried. I was so upset about it. UK learner drivers are facing a massive backlog when

01:11it comes to trying to book their practical driving tests. Data from earlier this year

01:15uncovered as many as 5 million learner drivers are seeking to book one of only 1.8 million

01:20slots that will be available this year. Young driver insurance specialist Marmalade put

01:24together the data and claims the DVSA capacity to carry out practical exams is a third lower

01:29than required. Research also shows a postcode lottery when vying for a slot. OneShore Insurance

01:35analysed government stats to find out which areas were worst hit and gave each place a

01:39score out of 100. Greater London is overwhelmingly the hardest place in the UK to book a driving

01:44test with the southeast of the city only scoring 1.8 out of 100. Outside of the capital, Liverpool

01:50is the hardest place to book with a score of 22. Also appearing in the bottom 10 were Manchester,

01:55Birmingham and Leeds. Bristol fared only slightly better with 39 while Newcastle scored 35. On the

02:02other hand, several Welsh towns appeared among the easiest places to book. With that being said,

02:06if you had to do it all again, how do you think you'd fare? Would you pass your test if you did

02:10it today? Question one. Which colour follows green at a Puffin crossing? A. Steady red,

02:25B. Flashing amber, C. Steady amber or D. Flashing green. Puffin? New one to make, what's a Puffin?

02:39Okay, so what's a Puffin crossing? Flashing amber. It's amber I think, but I can't tell you whether

02:47it's steady or flashy. Flashing amber. I always thought a Puffin crossing was someone, an old boy

02:54trying to get across a road quick. Question two. What distance should you keep from the vehicle

03:02in front? Is it A. A two second gap, B. A one car length, C. Two metres or D. Two car lengths?

03:13Two seconds, definitely. I'd go for two car lengths. I'd go for two car lengths. Two car lengths.

03:21It's a two second gap. Perfect, don't even need to go through the options. It's a two second time gap.

03:39And finally, question three. What colour are the reflective studs between a motorway

03:44and a slip road? Are they A. Amber, B. White, C. Green or D. Red? I think it's amber. It's wrong.

03:57It's green. Okay. Motorway and a slip road. Amber. The answer is green.

04:08No. Yes, I wouldn't do very well then. Honestly, I couldn't pass my mock driving tests.

04:18There's a backlog, unfortunately, partly because of COVID and the pandemic, which didn't encourage

04:23a lot of face-to-face transactions or lessons in our case. So there is a backlog. Unfortunately,

04:31some other issues such as public sector workers striking. Some of the DVSA examiners are public

04:38sector workers. So some strikes intermittently, 21, 22, haven't helped. That's why it's so hard

04:44for learner drivers in the UK to book their tests. But is that likely to change in the near future?

04:49We keep close conversations with the DVSA. We know they're committed to try and get the

04:55backlogs down. I think waiting lists of 18 weeks have been quoted, but they are working hard.

05:00They're resourcing more. They're putting more examiners on the case and we hope to see that

05:05backlog drop. Our view at Red is what we try and say to our Red students is don't panic, stay calm

05:13and use that time, albeit frustrating, use that time to make sure that you're fully prepared to

05:19take your test. There's a bit of a postcode lottery. Some places that really, really hard

05:23to book and some places it's a lot easier. Why is that the case? Maybe density of population,

05:28demand for tests and possibly some of the anomalies I've mentioned. So maybe there are

05:33less examiners available at a particular location. What is happening we observe is some learner

05:40students are taking the chance to book at a different test centre. But we'd encourage people

05:46to travel if they really have to. Otherwise, there's a danger that they're not familiar with

05:51the territory in which they've learned to drive. But some people are travelling a little bit further

05:56afield, finding a test slot and taking it successfully elsewhere. And we've been out and

06:01about in cities across the UK asking people if they took their driving test today, would they

06:06still pass? What do you think? Probably your experience as much as mine, when you see some of

06:11the behaviour we all see on the roads, I'm not sure there'd be that much of a success rate.

06:17So it took me four times to pass my driving test. The first test, fair enough, there was

06:23plenty of things that especially now as an experienced driver, I look back on and think,

06:27yeah, you totally did that wrong. Same with the second one, I got closer, but still made quite a

06:32lot of mistakes. But the third one, I was thinking the whole time, I'm smashing this. I'm doing a

06:36great job. I'm absolutely killing it. And then because of that, and she failed me, I was so

06:43gutted about it. Probably the most frustrating thing that happened was on my third driving test.

06:51So I was already quite nervous because I'd done two tests already and I was really determined to

06:58pass this time. And it was going really well. Nothing was going wrong. And then right at the

07:04end of the test, where the test centre is, you have to take a right across the road. So I pulled

07:11up, pulled into the middle of the lane. And then as I pulled into the middle of the lane, waiting

07:16to turn right, there was a car coming the other way. So I stopped, but because I'd moved into the

07:22middle lane, the instructor actually slammed the brakes on and told me that I couldn't turn yet,

07:28which I was like, yeah, I know that. That's why I haven't started to turn. So then the car passed,

07:34I turned, we did all of the manoeuvres, we ended the test. And then she turned to me and said,

07:39you've actually failed your test. And other than being completely perfect throughout it,

07:44because I had to slam the brakes on, I had a failure, which I was so frustrated at because I

07:49thought there was nothing, I wasn't doing anything wrong. She'd assumed that I hadn't seen the car.

07:56And actually, if she hadn't have done anything, I still would have stopped. So that was

08:01so frustrating because I was absolutely determined to pass, was so prepared to pass. And then because

08:07of the instructor's mistake, then I didn't. And my other two tests that I'd failed, I was like,

08:15it's fine, we'll go again. But this one, I just went home and cried. I was so upset about it.

08:23Now, imagine having a test the day before a dream driving holiday in Florida.

08:30What happened was me and my wife were going to go to America on a holiday,

08:34like a two-sensor Orlando, Miami holiday. We thought it would be brilliant.

08:39It did involve driving though, and didn't have a test. So I started taking some lessons,

08:44quite confident that I'd pass after about a dozen lessons, got the test booked. Then that got

08:51cancelled and rearranged for the day before we were going away, which was a bit of a dilemma,

08:56but I was still confident. So everything happy until the day of the test. And everything was

09:03going great, but then I had to take a turning off a roundabout and I just overshot it. As soon as I

09:11did it, I kind of knew that I'd made a mistake, but I thought I might be okay because everything

09:15else was fine, but I wasn't. So I'd failed. Absolutely gutted, but we still went away.

09:22So when we arrived in Miami, we spent the first day getting buses everywhere. And I had a friend

09:27that lives in Fort Lauderdale and he had some apartments there, so I rang him and said,

09:32well, we're out there, might pop down and see you. And I asked him, what's the best way to get

09:37up to Orlando? I said, would it be better flying or getting the bus? And he said, no, just drive.

09:42And I said, no, I can't do that. I said, I've actually got a car hire, but I failed my test

09:47a couple of days ago. And he went, oh, idiot. And so he said, he gave me this book and it was

09:54like a highway code, Florida equivalent. He said, all right, read that tonight. He said,

09:59and I'm going to come for you at quarter to eight and we'll get your license. And I said,

10:04what, that easy? He said, yeah. Okay then. So he picked me up the next morning. I drove,

10:11drove us to the test center when it was like in three parts. First part was a written

10:16test on a computer. That was really easy. Passed that one. Then went for the actual driving test,

10:24which was even easier. It was literally driving around the car park and parallel parking in a

10:30space that you could get three buses in. So that was, that was incredibly easy. And then the third

10:35part was like an eye test, but it's not like over here where you just say, read the number plate of

10:42that thing. They give you a proper eye test and I failed that one. So I said, oh, now what I've

10:47got to do is somebody gave me a form and said, get this filled in with an optometrist. When you get

10:52some corrective lenses and we'll give you a license. So friend Eric said, right,

10:59I know where to go. I'll take you to my optician. So we went along, he tested my eyes. I said,

11:03yeah, you definitely need some glasses. I'll get them ordered. We'll be here within a week.

11:07And I said, yeah, I said, I'm gone. I haven't got that long. I said, well, you've got 10 days.

11:13I said, so what can I do? And he said, well, he opened up this drawer. He said, there you go,

11:17some clear glass lenses. You can have them because your license will say you have to have glasses on.

11:23So I think brilliant. Went back to the test center. Again, I was driving, locked the car up.

11:29We went in and I got my license after a bit probably. They wanted me to do the test again,

11:36but I said, oh my, I'm just getting used to these. It's a bit fuzzy. So they said,

11:39oh, it doesn't matter. They signed your form. So that'll be okay. And then I was ecstatic.

11:45Then I got my license, got my photo, got the license, went out to get in the car

11:50and I'd locked the keys in the car.

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