‘Dodgy’ websites re-selling driving tests for profit

“Dodgy sites” which are reselling driving tests to learner drivers for a profit are “unacceptable”, according to the UK’s transport secretary.

Many learner drivers are fed up with waiting times, so they are booking practical tests through brokers who block-book and re-sell the tests for hundreds of pounds.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said tackling the test backlog was a “key priority” for the Labour government.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said it was encouraging learners only to book tests through the official government website.

Re-selling a test isn’t illegal but the DVSA said it “exploits” learners.

The latest figures show the average wait time to book a test across England, Scotland and Wales is four-and-a-half-months.

Delays are down to an increase in demand and learners booking tests before they are ready to pass, according to the DVSA.

Through the official DVSA website, a driving test costs £62.

Many brokers use an automated software to block-book driving test slots on the government website and then sell them on.

The companies use ‘bots’ which input data more quickly than a human can, so they’re able to secure test dates before those without the software.

BBC producer Nayana Mena booked her test through a broker on Snapchat.

She paid £150 which meant she was able to take a test within a couple of weeks.

She said: “I felt like I was a pawn in this game and so many of my friends and peers have gone through similar experiences.”

Nayana says she nearly fell victim to a scam after another broker asked her for her bank details.

She failed twice before passing, so relied on brokers to get her new practical tests quickly.

“I spent in the thousands almost across a year and it was really frustrating. I cried to my friend about it and I was really close to giving up driving,” she added.

The DVSA said 8.2% of learners were booking a practical test before taking any driving lessons.

The government agency is advising learners to only book their test after they’ve had sufficient on-road experience.

An additional 145,000 tests were made available by the DVSA between October 2023 and March 2024 to try to tackle the backlog.

But 65,534 driving tests were cancelled in the year up to March 2024 due to annual leave, industrial action, bad weather, examiner sickness and coronavirus.

In the previous year 118,232 tests were cancelled.

Tests can be booked by anyone with a provisional licence number, or an approved driving instructor (ADI).

The test time, location and provisional licence number can be changed at any time, making it easy to rebook or re-sell driving test slots.

The BBC has seen evidence on a number of WhatsApp groups where brokers offer test dates within a few days, often for more than £200.

The DVSA said it was using artificial intelligence to try to stop automated systems from block-booking tests, but admitted technology develops very quickly.

Since January 2023, 283 DVSA test-booking accounts have been given warnings, 746 have been suspended and 689 have been been closed.

A further 4,700 accounts have been removed which were not linked to ADIs.

Ava Devlin, 18, from Tunbridge Wells, was blocked out of the DVSA booking site because she would check the system for a test multiple times a day.

An error message would prevent her from being able to log onto the system.

After months of trying she was finally able to book a practical test in London, 40 miles (64km) from her local test centre in Kent.

She moved the test to her local centre when a cancellation came up, but the test was cancelled on the day and she wasn’t given a reason why.

She passed in March this year.

Ava said: “There are so many actual teenagers that are logging onto the website trying to get a test but to know there are corporations logging in and block booking tests, why can’t the people who actually want to take the test do that themselves and why does the price have to be so much?

“The bots booking them in the first place is horrible and then the fact they can’t even flog them off for a few hundred pounds, it really makes me angry.

“It feels really unhuman,” she added.

Former driving instructor Richard Ahsam, 59, from St Leonards, quit his “stressful” job after 20 years in the industry.

He said: “As a driving instructor you become obsessed with making sure your diary is available.

“There were too many things against being able to give the job the way I wanted to give the job, it’s very difficult when someone’s saying they need a test and you have to tell them you can’t get one for another six months. Loads of pupils are missing out.”

Teresa Allen, 67, a driving instructor of 17 years from Tonbridge, said the government should change the rules so only instructors can book tests on behalf of their pupils.

She said: “It’s demoralising. People are using brokers and apps and they are paying well over the odds for a test and then they can’t take the test because they’ve got no one to take them, so the test goes to waste.”

She says attitudes towards booking a practical test have changed.

“I have a pupil who is very early in his driving training, I would never normally suggest he look for a test but we know we must because I know we’ll be waiting five or six months,” she added.

Ms Allen said not being able to offer learners a solution is “really really heart-breaking”.

“It’s extremely stressful, I’m emotionally invested in every single person that I teach. they need that licence to get to their job or their education,” she said.

DVSA’s chief executive Loveday Ryder said nearly two million tests were provided in the last financial year.

She said the DVSA would continue to recruit more examiners and tackle bots who “exploit learners”, adding that the government agency doesn’t run, approve or endorse any other booking apps or platforms.