wrans/answers2025-05-15 conversation_129
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-15 conversation_129

Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the period for which driving theory test certificates are valid. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The average waiting time in April 2025 for a car practical driving test at Birmingham (Kingstanding) was 24 weeks compared to the National average of 22.3 weeks.

It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.

Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.

The table below shows; the number of driving examiners (DE) DVSA onboarded, the number of DEs that passed or failed the required training course; and the DEs that left DVSA from January 2021 to April 2025 for its Birmingham (Kingstanding) driving test centre. DVSA has one potential new entrant DE currently undergoing pre-employment checks before a course start can be agreed.

2025 to April 2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

DEs onboarded

1

1

0

2

0

DEs passed training

0

1

0

1

0

DEs failed training

1

0

0

1

0

DEs left

0

0

0

0

2

DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only cancel a test as a last resort as it knows how disappointing it can be for customers. When DVSA does have to cancel a test, it will reschedule it to the next available date at the time. The table below shows the total number of tests and how many DVSA cancelled due to either medical absence or annual leave for Birmingham (Kingstanding):

01/01/2024

- 30/09/2024 *

2023

2022

2021

2020

Total Tests

13865

11298

8616

8089

5688

Test cancelled due to medical absence

1008 (7.3%)

657 (5.8%)

393 (4.6%)

238 (2.9%)

468 (8.2%)

Tests cancelled due to annual leave

222 (1.6%)

166 (1.5%)

82 (0.9%)

152 (1.9%)

92 (1.6%)

Note: This data does not include tests cancelled because of the pandemic.

* - Donates latest available published official stats that can be viewed on GOV.UK

DVSA’s additional test overtime incentive is a voluntary scheme open to all eligible volunteers authorised to provide car practical driving tests. The scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer both nationally or in the Birmingham Kingstanding area.