It may come as a surprise to many – but the time you need to wait for a driving test in the UK is exceptionally long. In many parts of the world, you could expect to have to wait at most days or weeks to take your driving test. In some parts of the UK this can be as long as 3 months – which can really stretch your patience (even more-so if you’ve just failed your test).
The UK sees exceptionally high demand for their driving test centres. With a shortage of examiners, and an all-time peak of driving test candidates, it’s no wonder that the lists are just getting longer and longer with no end in sight.
Subtitle: How can you get a faster test?
Whenever a candidate – who has a test booked – cannot make their test, they will cancel it. Provided they do this within three clear working days of the test date (including a Saturday) then they will not lose their test fee.
However, there is no concept of a “cancellation list”. There’s only one system in the UK to book your driving test and that’s run by the DVSA (part of the UK government). They operate on a fair first-come-first-served basis: the sooner you book your test, the earlier you can get it.
The remaining question then becomes: how do you nab tests that get cancelled before anyone else? The best strategy is by using a company that provides driving test cancellations, such as DrivingScout. They check the DVSA service every few seconds in order to grab you the cancellations (in order to use them, you must first book your test with the DVSA. Once they spot them, they’ll reserve them for the maximum time they can (at least 15 minutes) and then send you a notification so you can decide if you want it. They can also book you in automatically, if you pick that option at no extra charge.