By FREDA LEWIS-STEMPEL, MOTORING REPORTER
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has appointed a new chief executive to tackle the extensive backlog of learners waiting to sit driving tests in Britain, which the agency says will take two years to clear.
Beverley Warmington has been parachuted in to lead the DVSA through the crisis, which has been mounting since the pandemic triggered the closure of test centres for months and enormous waiting lists former.
The announcement comes after a National Audit Office (NAO) report said the agency's target for reducing average driving test waiting times to seven weeks will not be met for another two years.
The watchdog added that the DVSA had failed to appoint sufficient new examiners to enable it to increase test slots to accelerate the process, despite several recruitment drives.
According to the latest published figures, over 650,000 learners are waiting to take their tests.
The backlog situation has become so bad, the NAO's report says, that a third of learners are paying third parties up to £500 to book a test because of the wait times.
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has appointed a new Chief Executive to tackle the backlog of driving tests in Britain. The wait time for driving tests is not going to drop below seven weeks until the end of 2027
As well as addressing the test backlog, Ms Warmington is tasked with leading the delivery of test booking reforms to cut waiting times.
A total of 1.1million tests could not be carried out in the 2020/21 financial year because of coronavirus restrictions, and an estimated 360,000 of these have still not been booked.
The NAO said the DVSA has struggled to understand the real demand for tests because third parties quickly book available slots using automated programmes, known as bots.
The average waiting time for a test in Britain stood at 22 weeks in September, compared with about five weeks in February 2020 before the virus crisis.
The DVSA initially set a timeline for reducing this wait time to seven weeks by the end of the year, but this is no longer expected to be met. Instead, it has been pushed back to the end of 2027.
The failure to recruit sufficient numbers of new examiners comes off the back of high exit rates among examiners because of 'perceived uncompetitive pay and safety concerns', the NAO found.
Only 83 more examiners are in place than in February 2021. This is much lower than the goal of 400 - and despite DVSA undertaking 19 recruitment drives.
The backlog is so bad that NAO's report discovered one in three learners are paying third parties up to £500 to book a test because of the wait times
The NAO recommended that the DVSA and the Department for Transport (DfT) assess whether there are enough measures in place to ensure learners are able to book a test when they need to.
It also called on them to investigate how to boost the examiner workforce.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: 'The current system for providing driving tests in England, Scotland and Wales is not working satisfactorily, with long waiting times and exploitation of learner drivers by resellers of test slots.
'Our report recommends that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the Department for Transport take decisive action to restore a fit-for-purpose driving test service.'
NAO's warning under Ms Warmington's new remit, with DVSA saying 'work is underway to reduce driving test waiting times that are preventing learners from accessing jobs and opportunities.'
Beverley Warmington is the new Chief Executive of the DVSA, parachuted in to lead the DVSA out of its backlog crisis
Warmington brings almost two decades of public service expertise to the role, with a track record that 'includes an outstanding record in transforming large-scale service delivery operations'. Recently she oversaw 12,000 staff across multiple sites as Area Director for London, Essex and Eastern England at the Department for Work and Pension.
She takes over from departing chief exec, Loveday Ryder, on 5 January, and will implement the Government's seven-point plan to reduce driving test waiting times, announced in December 2024.
Minister for Roads and Buses, Simon Lightwood, said: 'Beverley Warmington brings a wealth of operational leadership experience with her, including successfully managing large workforces and transforming service delivery.
'I have every confidence she will grip the driving test backlog and robustly oversee the reforms needed to ensure learners can get on the road when they are truly ready and safe to do so.'
Last month, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced that military driving examiners will be mobilised to test civilians
Military driving examiners usually test service personnel, covering cars as well as fuel tankers and armoured carriers
Last month, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced that military driving examiners will be mobilised to test civilians.
Military driving examiners will help conduct driving tests one day a week for 12 months, which the Government promises will deliver an additional 6,500 tests per year at the driving test centres with the highest demand near their MOD base or home location. However, this will cover less than 1 per cent of backlog.
Other measures aimed at tackling the backlog include combating the issue of people profiting from reselling tests, which have a standard fee of £62.
Only learners - not instructors - will be able to book slots, and they will also only be able to move the location of tests to centres near the original booking.
Learners will also only be able to make two changes to their driving test in total - including moves, swapes or location changes.
Examiners are being incentivised with overtime pay: almost 75,000 more tests have been carried out between June and November 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, as a result of overtime pay incentives for examiners.
A DfT spokesperson said: 'We inherited a frustrating system with learner drivers left in limbo waiting for tests, a system ripe for rogue individuals to exploit.
'That's why we're taking decisive action to address the backlog and seeing improvement - including deploying military driving examiners, and from Spring 2026, limiting test moves and swaps, and only allowing learner drivers to book tests.'
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: 'The report from the National Audit Office confirms what learners and driving instructors already know – the prolonged period of long waiting times for a driving test continues to have a detrimental impact on learner drivers’ income and on the wider economy.
'It is unacceptable that more than 5 years since the pandemic began, learner drivers and instructors are still dealing with fallout.
'The report highlights significant investment into upgrading the online test booking system, as well as clearer targets around examiner recruitment – both of which we welcome. To really drive-up examiner numbers the DVSA needs to look at all options, including greater promotion of part-time positions, which would also help improve examiner diversity.'
