To be livid at the Govs lack of action over the shambles around driving tests

[WynterQueen]

longer than expected

DS passed his theory test, and we booked his practical test. The first test was five months away at a random location, and I watched DVSA like a hawk to get a change to our preferred centre; the date was about the same.

In desperation, as he was nearer to ready to take a test, I used a black market site to get a change and nearly lost my money. These sites will only let you pay via PayPal and using friends and family, so there is no buyer protection. I refused, used goods and services and they wouldn't deal with me. Paypal paid me back after 28 days.

I tried another site and got a change, in my preferred centre for 6 weeks earlier. Cost £120 + £62 original test cost.

He failed, not through a lack of lessons, just an idiot van driver ... anyway he failed. That's life, only 47% pass first time. The odds were against him that morning.

I rebooked on DVSA. The first test anywhere in the country wasi halfway up the country in mid-April 2025. I took it.

Now I'm back on the black market again, the 'safe' place I used before has nothing until early March.

I found another site, but again, they will only accept payments from friends and family (no buyer protection). I am now sitting here with bated breath to see if I have been scammed out of another £122. I have 20 mins before I know

Anyway, my AIBU is, why are the Government doing nothing about this? Why can't they go back to the system of one learner who can book one test at a time and stop the bot's bulk buying tests using the Driving Instructor system bypass?

The place I have just used has offered me four different PayPal addresses and a bank account, all in different names. I hold little hope they are genuine. Particularly las they kept calling me Ma'am. WTF. Nobody in the UK addresses me like that.

Perhaps we need an MN list of black market sites with which we have had genuine transactions to help others feel more secure when working on the underbelly of the driving test market to get our children's tests.

Your are NOT BU
The Gov need to act

You are BU
Its a free market let scammers make money

I'm furious about this too. DS was supposed to sit his test at the end of November. He'd been ready for it and waiting for months.

It was cancelled three days before the test and he was given a new date at the end of February.

I'm so angry that tests are for sale on the black market.

Just download the testi app. They then send you alerts when the tests come available.
It takes you to the government site but you have to be quick.

Really doubt it's high on their list of priorities when everything has gone to the dogs

They're updated on Monday at 6am (and have gone by about 6:05am). Unless you're in a boarding school the schools policy is not going to effect that.

The ones on the app seemed to come up at various times. Although you coukd autobiography and cancel.

But they exist because of people like you

It's not instructors that block book. It's the middle men. My DHbus a driving instructor, he gets emails from websites with pupil details all the time. The websites like myintensivecourse (just an example of hundreds) just charge you a premium to 'find you' an instructor, then just contact random instructors they find online. They they 'book a test' My DH had one pupil who was paying £54 per hour through a site, if she had contacted him direct she would have paid £40, and it took them 18 months to book her a test.Apps like Testi and middle men sites are WHY you can't book tests, their whole revenue stream is done with bots booking slots as soon as they are available, then charging you for booking through them. It's a scam built on people needing tests, and it's a huge problem.

My instructor in the 1970s recommended booking a test months ahead as soon as you started lessons - same with my 5 children's instructor more recently - we all passed at age 17. I failed first time and had to wait ages for a retest but luckily got one a few weeks before I went away to university. My youngest who failed first time - we used some online service which took normal credit cards and he got a re-test quite quickly (before the pandemic) still for him in lower sixth before Easter and did pass 2nd time locally.

I certainly think given the issues have been the same for ate last 40 years the state should improve things.

Yes, the poor van driver had a TIA as my son was almost level with him, and the van driver tugged his steering wheel and ran over the road into the oncoming car (my son) while on his test. My son's fault No. The driving examiner wasn't happy either, he called an ambulance and police to the scene

@WynterQueen surely they can't fail your son for something that is deemed not to be their fault?

The thing that strikes me most in this is why a man's mother is booking his driving test for him. I sorted my own out, I would have been mortified at the thought of my mum sorting it out.

Ok, so I know there will be people who say he isn't a man until he's 18, but he still should be doing this himself.

But you called the van driver an idiot in your OP. And now you’re saying the poor man had a TIA. Hmmmmmmm……

That may be true. But if the government don't fix the NHS, jobs, the economy, GP's, education, then they won't need a licence because they'll have nowhere to go. So which if those things would you suggest they don't prioritise in order to get more young people driving licences? I live in a rural area. Believe me, the young people won't be able to afford cars (and their parents can't afford to buy them for them) if they have poor health, no education and no jobs. Where I live parents wouldn't be able to afford to even consider going on dodgy and expensive sites to get their kid a test.

Just shows how old I am!! I took my first test in 1988!! You were probably not born...and I can remember when this was all fields, beer was tuppence a pint, you could leave your door open all year, there was no crime, every one knew their neighbours, trains ran on time etc etc of a time that never was...apart from driving tests being months in the future

What can the government do to stop real people buying their own tests?
Surely it's simple.

How do the bots book tests? Why doesn’t the gov insist on a licence number being input

That's a question for the DVLA, but that is what's happening. Their systems are probably fairly basic. DH doesn't book tests for his students, neither do any of his colleagues. Direct payment students do it themselves, middle man websites will do it for you for a price. Huge sums of money being made.

Totally agree with you OP! I’ve emailed the DVSA and their response was we can’t do anything about it! I’m going to contact my MP as it’s ridiculous. The DVSA are a government body and shouldn’t be letting tests be bought like some private ticketing agency selling to the highest bidder.
What next bots buying up Doctors appointments and selling them back to desperate ill people! It’s a farce, write to your MP.

I didn't take my test when I was 17yo. So yes, I was born and I can remember people taking tests in 1988 and there definitely wasn't a huge wait in our area.

I remember one of my friends not long after failing their test in the morning, and rebooking it for the next day and passing, for example.
In 1988 they introduced a legislation saying that they had to wait 10 days after failing to retake.
If there had been months' wait as there is now, then they wouldn't have needed to do that, would they?

No child "needs" a test.

They do if they have or are trying to get a job where they need to drive.

It's a ridiculous system. When my kids were learning to drive 15 years ago it was nothing like this. You didn't need to book a test until you were ready to take it, and if you failed you got another chance in a month or so.

There are people who will never be able to drive and who will get jobs. No, your teens don’t need to drive, they want to because it will make their lives easier. Not all have that privilege.

If 47% fail why don't you just book 3 tests four months/4 months + 2 weeks/ 5 months

Surely that's cheaper than going through any dodgy sites and then he's got 3 goes?

You can’t book a test without the licence number and theory certificate. But the bots have those from all and sundry giving their information to them like the OP did.

Dd instructor advised her to book her test in October expecting wait of 3 months but now it's 6 months. We are checking for a cancellation but so far no luck
It's crazy.

It is a pain to find a test. We had the app that tells you when there are tests available. But didn't have much luck. In the end just got one by checking DVLA website at random times. Often got thrown off site as they thought we were a bof but eventually got lucky,