The UK driving test system in 2025 stands at a crossroads. Once a functional rite of passage, it now grapples with staggering backlogs, plummeting pass rates, and a booking system buckling under pressure. So bad has the situation become, the government has deployed military driving examiners to provide up to 6,500 extra tests over the next year just to chip away at the mounting delays.
Average waiting times for a car practical test routinely exceed 20 weeks nationally, with hotspots like London seeing waits of 24 weeks or more far from the government’s target of seven weeks. The backlog traces back to the COVID-19 pandemic which shuttered exams, plus surging post-pandemic demand that has overwhelmed the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and its brittle IT infrastructure.
The DVSA admits the crisis is multifaceted. Staff shortages blame low wages and tight recruitment, despite efforts to hire and train 450 additional examiners. Bots and third-party apps exacerbate the problem, scooping test slots to resell at a premium or hogging times inefficiently. The DVSA’s outdated booking website even locks out genuine applicants who refresh pages too aggressively, mistaking them for bots.
Pass rates have dipped from around 53% to 47% in recent years, fueling speculation schools and examiners have relaxed standards. Yet many learners endure long waits only to become rusty by the time they take the practical test, hampering success. Research shows that about 23% of learners attempt a test within a month of beginning lessons, which experts suggests leads to unpreparedness and failure.
The government is doubling down with new rules to tighten booking practices, limit cancellations, and clamp down on fake bookings. However, these fixes are stopgap measures.
Enter military driving examiners. With their rigorous, disciplined approach and ability to flex resources quickly, the military has stepped in to provide critical manpower to clear test deserts. Though not a permanent solution, their involvement signals just how severe the crisis has become.
Learners face a stressful journey where securing a test is a battle in itself, and passing is anything but guaranteed. The hope is that military support, combined with greater recruitment and technology improvements, will bring the system back from the brink.
Until fundamental changes take hold, millions of hopeful Brits will continue to wait, and wonder when their turn behind the wheel will finally come.
