Surely the current situation with regard to driving tests is unsustainable?

[lilacclementine]

I know of seven people trying to book a driving test whose lives are being negatively impacted by the fact that there are no tests available. We live in London and there is NOTHING to book between now and September (last visible date) at any of the sites. Everyone has registered on the booking apps and gets nothing. I was up at 5.50 am this morning before the new slots drop at 6.00 am- nearly managed to book the only slot in London at Mill Hill at the end of August but it vanished before I could complete the booking.

-3 are apprentice plumbers who work for my cousin. He part funds their lessons as being able to drive the van to the suppliers to grab bits they need is a big part of being an apprentice. You can’t be a tradesperson without being able to drive
-1 is my neighbour. Her husband had a small stroke and was suddenly not cleared to drive- they have young children plus sick elderly parents who live a 40 min drive away (2 hours on the bus or train). She’s been desperately having lessons and is ready for her test
-2 are friends of my daughter doing A levels. They are great kids who are funding their lessons and tests themselves via part time work – the inability to book a test means that they need to keep paying for lessons they don’t need to keep themselves test ready
-1 is my daughter who I’m funding and is also ready for her test but I’m having to keep paying for lessons while we find a slot.

How can we be in a situation where no one can book a driving test? This is utterly ridiculous. How are people in rural communities managing? Those who need a car to get employment? My daughter’s instructor says that he has 20 people trying to book slots and no one has managed to book anything in the past 3 weeks. I could live with a long wait (perhaps stagger or reduce lessons etc) but the fact is you can’t even book anything even months in advance. If you get a test and then fail (which lots of people do) then its back to the drawing board for another massive wait. The theory test expires after 2 years- it’s not inconceivable that people will in fact have to pay for and resit their theory test because they’ve not been able to book an actual test.

I am baffled that this appears to be one more shit thing that we’re all just putting up with. There’s a few articles I can find complaining about this and the government are saying it’ll all get better soon- but how can it? There’s a big pandemic backlog plus our driving instructor says that it’s lies that they’ve recruited more instructors- apparently the local test centre used to have 13 testers, they’re now down to 7 and no sign of any more.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to get a test let me know. We’re on a booking app but don’t seem to have any success.

@Abraxan it does need an overhaul but what you suggest is ripe for abuse without intense monitoring which would defeat the purpose of freeing up man hours. And not everyone has parents or anyone else who can take them out between lessons. Something needs to change though, I wholeheartedly agree.

Friend's17y booked a test straight after his theory test, which he booked before he'd even started lessons as soon as he was eligible. He initially booked a test up in Scotland - he lives near London / a few months away. Used a paid system to move it after a while and did it in a city about 2 hours away. First one was cancelled when he was on his way driving to the centre! He has since managed to move it and pass. He was in the waiting list for an instructor for months before he was eligible to start.

We struggled to get ds a test, nothing for months. Then I went on to the gov site at 6am on a Monday and got one for the following Friday! His instructor was ill so he had to take it in his car, luckily he'd had plenty of practice in it.
He passed thank goodness.
We are fairly rural (the Isle of Wight) Probably harder in towns and cities but worth a try as they release new dates and cancellations then.

To be fair that's just my very quick thought and would definitely need some work.

Current system isn't working and is inefficient anyway. It can really be down to luck of the draw on the day too.

I'd just l love for them to actually make some effort to look at the failing system we currently have and do something tbh.

Dd sent me this yesterday about some proposed changes to booking tests.

People don't want to do the job in the numbers required, you can't force people to. The options are to raise lesson and test prices to offer higher wages I suppose, that would also price some out and cut down wait lists, but it'd also be unfair. I agree it's frustrating but personally I think it's important to keep the standards rather than do a tick list with an instructor. It's a skilled job with a high level of responsibility too, can't just magic people off the streets.

Idk I have always thought going through with an instructor and getting signed off is a better model. So you need to demonstrate that you can do manoeuvres x number of times and “pass” a number of test condition drives in your lessons.

The driving test isn’t a real world driving situation and people fail for reasons that aren’t because they aren’t a safe driver but because something stupid and shitty happens.

I am biased I suppose because it took me 11 times to pass my test. Not because I wasn’t a good driver but because I got such bad performance anxiety at the test and every one I failed I got more nervous and felt more pressure to pass. I was nervous about the test, not driving, before anyone comes at me about it being good not to have a nervous driver on the road. So my heart goes out to these young people who have so much MORE pressure heaped onto them to pass their possible only shot at a test for 6 months.

You see I don't think the one off test does keep standards high.
It doesn't show a consistent level of good driving, over time, on a range of roads and weather conditions.

It's so dependent on examiner in the day, weather, road conditions, which route, which manoeuvre - and often luck. Everyone knows that there is luck which route you get given on the day. For us, if you turn right from the test centre you know you've got the trickiest route. Certain manoeuvres are known to be trickier than others - but you're only tested on a couple in the test and they can be the easiest two.

It must be regional.

we were aware of the reported delays, so dd booked her theory the day she turned 17, then booked her practical as soon as she passed.

it was 6 months away but we figured we could try and get a cancellation if she was ready earlier or later. Timing was right in the end and she took that slot.

that’s how all the youngsters are doing it round here and they all seem to be managing to pass their tests before they turn 18.

6 months wait is a long time though. It used to be a much shorter wait.
Dh passed his test about a month after turning 17y back in the day.
I took longer, a few years later, but never had to wait longer than a month or so for a test date.

@Abraxan yes, you make good points and at least you're trying to think of solutions, unlike me! I'm just so weary with it all < grump grump >

This so much.

So many people I knew when I was a teenager failed driving out of the carpark because it had a system where you had to put a coin into open the barrier and it made them feel flustered

Oh agree six months is a long wait.

but when I hear on the radio about people having to resit theory because it expires before they can book a test - is it because people are waiting til they’re ready before booking a test? Or are there genuinely 2 year waiting lists in some areas?

I mean some of them are saying they started to learn before lockdown and still haven’t been able to get a test?

if it’s that bad in some areas surely it’s possible to book a different area and cut the waiting time?

But this is somewhat the point. You have no idea what the conditions will be like on the day of your test, or the route or maneuvers so you have to be familiar and at least somewhat confident in all of them. Of course there's an element of luck, but i suspect the amount of people who luck out and pass because they've had the 'easy' stuff (which is subjective anyway) is lower than the amount who rightly fail.

Having a driving instructor (who even if they try and suppress if has a vested interest) tick things off across lessons is so variable and wouldn't be as fair as a test is which is a consistent level of standards in the same conditions. A decent instructor though should be informally doing this anyway, they should be ticking stuff off and only suggesting going for the test when they feel a learner is ready.

but when I hear on the radio about people having to resit theory because it expires before they can book a test - is it because people are waiting til they’re ready before booking a test? Or are there genuinely 2 year waiting lists in some areas?

This was a problem through lockdowns. If you passed your theory before the first lockdown, you would not have been able to book your practical test for a few months. If you were unlucky you would have been caught in the second lockdown meaning it was almost a year and you hadn't yet been able to sit a test. Throw in the six month waits for tests and a fail, possibly two and you would need to resit your theory.

They wouldn't have failed because they couldn't operate the coin machine, it will have been because of how they managed and reacted to feeling flustered- that's surely fair? Although you do learn a lot once you actually start driving independently having passed you should have a level of confidence and skill to deal safely and appropriately with stuff like this, they shouldn't pass people who don't. Being a safe driver includes this type of thing.

but when I hear on the radio about people having to resit theory because it expires before they can book a test - is it because people are waiting til they’re ready before booking a test? Or are there genuinely 2 year waiting lists in some areas?

Covid caused a lot of problems with theory tests. Cancelled practical tests and long delays for tests and instructors. That then meant that theory tests were expiring. DD's did. Her first test was cancelled due to covid, second was as the examiner got covid. Lots of people had a similar experience. When dd resat her theory test several people there were doing it a second time due to it expiring due to covid delays.

But this is somewhat the point. You have no idea what the conditions will be like on the day of your test, or the route or maneuvers so you have to be familiar and at least somewhat confident in all of them. Of course there's an element of luck, but i suspect the amount of people who luck out and pass because they've had the 'easy' stuff (which is subjective anyway) is lower than the amount who rightly fail.

A report we read recently said that most people don't actually fail due to being an unsafe driver. The test system plays a big part as it's not a norma situation and benefits over confident drivers generally. Not always.

Although it's finally over for us - dd passed her practical test this lunchtime

@Abraxan yes!!! Huge congratulations!!!

I absolutely agree with this. I could pass my mock tests with my instructor but I couldn't pass my actual tests. I'm a good driver. I know I'm a good driver. But driving tests are awful and it's so easy to fail.