To want to know why the government hasn’t sorted out the driving test booking mess yet

[Iwantatest]

You literally can’t book a test thanks to bots and block booking. Go it on at 6 and just put in a 20 000 queue going down very slowly.Even if I was to get on it would be 6 months.

They know bots and block booking are a problem so why aren’t they sorting it?

They're really letting young people down.

Not unreasonable, but this will be so far down their priority list that they won’t have thought about it. I think it’s a government created mess - what happens when a government thinks it’ is best placed to control and centralise something like this. When I was a teenager, I waited until I was ready to pass, rang up my local test centre and booked a test about a fortnight later from a choice of available slots.

I agree. They need to go back to phoning the local centre. This system is ridiculous and doesn’t work.

you need to log on about 5.45am. We did was 3000 in queue , q took about 20 mins and we got a test date of April 22nd

They should make a system where you can only book 1 test. Not hard

The longer they leave to sort it the worse it’s going to get.

Make reselling a test, or booking through a reselling site, punishable by a massive fine.

Apparently its getting to the point where you need to book the test before you even start lessons in some areas

That’s mad. It means people will end up keeping tests when they aren’t ready to pass.

I just changed my son’s test this morning for a later one. I was on the page at 5.15, refreshed bang on 6 and got straight in. It is annoying, the issue is the Government’s ancient tech can’t stop the bots. And upgrading any government tech is costly and takes forever.

The government should never have got invited loved.

involved

You realise the driving instructors have the whole thing sown up?

In 20 years time when there is a televised enquiry on the levels of disruption and disinformation put about to enable 'net zero' you will catch a line that says they deliberately tried fucking up the Driving Test system in order to slow down the amount of drivers on the roads.

This depends on your area as well. Ds spent over a month doing this every week and there was nothing available. Then he eventually got one in a city 2 hours away for 6 months time. He booked that in the hope of a cancellation coming up in our area but absolutely nothing came up despite one or other of us checking every week.

There needs to be more tests. So more examiners. Have they actually done anything to increase those

They need to make it so that only individuals can book tests, not driving instructors. That's what is making it so ridiculous (in my area anyway) - the instructors control the tests.

My daughters both waited 18 months for tests and I spent thousands on keeping their lessons going. They are really letting young people down and it’s costly

I don’t think it’s instructors. I was speaking to one recently. It’s really damaging her business. People are reluctant to start learning and others who are ready to pass jus want “ticking over”
lessons

It’s costing us a fortune and my daughter has autism.

It’s appalling!

Like most things, they could sort it tomorrow if they wanted to. After all, it’s not a free service. People pay through the nose for it. They just don’t want to.

Like with most things, this government and the last are mostly bothered about how they can rip off the taxpayer. Two Tier’s dodgy donations, Rightmove Angela, CV forger Rachel from Accounts, jobs for donations Nandy.

Wouldn’t be surprised if there are government cronies involved in the reselling of tests. Why would they fix the system. And of course keeping people waiting and messing with their learning schedules just means they need to book more tests.

At the other end of the scale, and to add to the mix here - a local test centre published the reasons why tests didn't go ahead in one particular week - something like 60 or so - can't find the source right now.

Shockingly, candidates were unprepared- car not mot'd, no car!, no driving licence/documents on them, didn't show up on the day, the list goes on

The point being, all those wasted slots could have been offered, in good time, to other candidates - this only adds to the wait list problem.

And, who on earth shows up to a test with no car?

I’ve got a few relatives who have come unstuck with this. One of whom works in IT. They reckon it would be really easy to fix and actually a lot of the bots are using the same theory test number so it’s also fraudulent so should be stopped

But after all the fight to get a test I’m not sure I believe that.

Agreed I think the no shows were slots that failed to sell and most people go in there instructors car so why would it have no mot? No documents I can understand a bit more i was terrified i would forget mine

Perhaps the instructor didn't think they were ready?

I agree it needs sorting out.

I'm perplexed as to why you think the government care. They are obsessed with net zero and are trying to encourage people to stop driving. They have zero incentive to help people take their test.