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.

YADNBU. It's absolutely ridiculous. We shouldn't even be paying for a service this bad!!! If they can't sort it out they should, at the VERY least remove the rule that you have to pass your practical within 2 years of your theory.

My DD is progreywitj her learning really well but we cannot get a test anytime soon. If she fails her first test, which is easily done, she will already be 12 months since passing her theory. And this is entirely because the test system is utterly shit and unfit for purpose.

I went on at 6 this morning and got in straight away

Reselling should be easy to fix - you just make it that the name booked is the only name can use that booking, so it’s not possible to sell on as the name can’t be changed. You make it that you don’t get a refund if you cancel.

that would be an easy fix and could solve the bot problem. Not sure why something so simple isn’t instigated. Just stop reselling of them, fuck the business model.

Can everyone write to their MP and say “why don’t you stop the reselling?” And make them see it’s a relatively easy win.

Yep so did my niece... her test was booked by her examiner easily, and she passed!!

Yep. Stop reselling it’s not hard.

The issue is not fixing reselling issues. You should be required to enter a valid provisional number or NI number and if cancelling it gets returned to them. No changes allowed.

scanning your documents when booking the test beforehand. And unless a bereavement etc you lose your booking fee when cancelling

This is being done.
Changes to cancellation and booking

• Tighter booking rules: Restrictions are being put in place to prevent test scams and misuse by individuals and bots, and to ensure instructors only book for pupils they teach.

Never understood how this works. Don't you have to give a provisional driving license number in order to book? How are the bots able to block book 1000s of slots without this?

The obsession with privatisation and middle manning basic government functions to skim off the top. As if private booking and ticket companies don’t have the same issues.

next they’d be offering dynamic pricing because of bot “demand”. all it requires is basic ID submission at booking times and no rebooking.

low productivity leeches can go and do something useful instead

The school of motoring has no advantage over anyone else booking a test, they do it on an individual basis as each student passes their theory test. I don’t see a problem with it tbh.

It didn’t cost thousands of pounds. They don’t charge any more for sorting the tests. By having a high first time pass rate they are leaving more test slots free for others.

Were the lessons totally free then? Bargain!

This is happening already. I booked my DD practical test as soon as she passed her theory and she had her first lesson the week after. I logged on to see if the situation really was as bad as it was and saw a test that was actually at a reasonable time so kind of panic booked. She will be ready by Christmas though and this test is mid-March.

i did see a post by a local MP on Facebook that they are trying to tackle it. They’ve recently changed from giving 3 days notice without getting charged to 10 days. Not far enough though. Need to kick the bots out.

No, the lessons weren’t free but dc1 didn’t have many and neither has dc2 so far. We take them out for plenty of practice.

Are you just jealous that we did some homework and used the service of a really effective and efficient local business rather than a one man / woman band who didn’t offer this as part of what they offered?

I have a feeling this started either during or soon after lockdown. Scalpers took over. I occasionally watch YouTube shorts of Amin from ClearView Driving school and she has investigated the block-booking. She was awake at bang on 6am one morning to check the slots and they do indeed get 'sniped'.

The government won't give two hoots about it. They're more interested in net zero and taxing the living hell out of everyone. They don't want people driving.

My child hasn’t had any lessons at all
and can drive beautifully. Just can’t get a test. Why should you have to go through any instructor at all? They are £50 an hour here.

Yes you can.
you can amend/change your test once booked.
I think this is usually a bit easier than getting a test in the first place.
I would recommend getting one a far as possible in the future to maximise your chances of changing it

Great, thanks

After you have booked your practical test, and you have an email with the booking confirmation number. You then go back onto the DVSA website and you don't go back into the book your practical test bit, you go into the change your driving test https://www.gov.uk/change-driving-test . You then log on with your provisional number and your driving test reference number. You can then (in theory!) change the time/date of your test, or the location of your test. I found to change location, if you entered the town eg Inverness, it will just give you possible dates in that test centre - invariable this just says "no tests available at any time" however if you put in the post code of your house, it will give you a list of test centres starting with the ones closest to your house. If you can find a test that is better time or location, you just click on it, and it changes the test date/location. At no point do you have 2 tests booked at once.
You don't need to cancel the one you already have. You can browse as much as you like (well eventually it will kick you out thinking you are a bot). If you can't find a date to change to you just exit the site. You still have your original/existing booking.

Brilliant. Thanks. You’ve made my day with such a comprehensive answer!

You don’t have to go through an instructor at all as you know, but we weren’t confident to take dc out as complete beginners so we decided to use an instructor to get them going and looked around before deciding who to book with. Once the instructor advised they were safe to drive with us (after 3 hours iirc), we started taking them out regularly. We paid £35 per hour.

You made a different decision which is fine, but you’re now having a problem that we didn’t have as a result.

Hope your dc manages to secure a test slot soon and passes 🤞🏻

As an aside I also aid to my MP that it would be hugely helpful if the website allowed you to show test centres that HAVE available tests. It would save us scrolling through pages and pages of ‘no test available on any date’.

Then you call the centre and re-arrange the test date. It worked in the past, why would it not work now?

It's not about being "jealous", it's about having a fair system that does not disadvantage people who can't afford or choose not to pay for an instructor.

That’s what should be possible. If we decentralised it then we could do this again.