âDodgy sitesâ that resell driving tests to learner drivers for profit are âunacceptableâ, according to Britainâs transport secretary.
Many learner drivers are fed up with the waiting time, so they take practical tests through brokers who block-book and resell the tests for hundreds of pounds.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said tackling the testing backlog was a âtop priorityâ for the Labor government.
The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) says it only encourages students to take the test through the governmentâs official website.
Reselling tests is not illegal but the DVSA says it is âexploitingâ students.
The latest figures show the average waiting time for a test book in England, Scotland and Wales is four and a half months.
The delay is down to increasing demand and ordering tests of students before they are ready to graduate, according to the DVSA.
Via the official DVSA website, the driving test costs ÂŁ62.
Many brokers use automated software to block-book test driving slots on government websites and then sell them on.
Companies using âbotsâ that input data faster than humans can, so they can secure the test date before that without software.
âI waited hundreds of attempts to passâ
a BBC producer Nayana Mena ordered a test through a broker on Snapchat.
He paid ÂŁ150 which meant he could take the test within a few weeks.
He said, âI feel like a pawn in this game and many of my friends and colleagues have had the same experience.â
Nayana said she almost fell victim to a scam after another broker asked for her bank details.
He failed twice before passing, so he relied on a broker to get him a new practical test quickly.
âI spent almost a thousand years and it was really frustrating. I cried to my friend about it and I was really close to giving up driving,â he added.
âStudents order tests before they are readyâ
The DVSA said that 8.2% of students had booked a practical test before taking a driving course.
The governing body advises students to take the test only after having enough road experience.
An additional 145,000 tests are being made available by the DVSA between October 2023 and March 2024 in an attempt to overcome the backlog.
But 65,534 driving tests were canceled in the year to March 2024 due to annual leave, industrial action, bad weather, examiner illness and the coronavirus.
In the previous year 118,232 tests were cancelled.
The test can be ordered by anyone with a provisional license number, or an approved driving instructor (ADI).
The test time, location and temporary license number can be changed at any time, so itâs easy to rebook or resell the test driving slot.
The BBC has seen evidence in several WhatsApp groups where brokers are offering test dates for days, often for more than ÂŁ200.
The DVSA says it is using artificial intelligence to try to stop automated systems from order-blocking tests, but admits technology is developing rapidly.
Since January 2023, 283 DVSA test booking accounts have been warned, 746 have been suspended and 689 have been closed.
More than 4,700 accounts have been deleted that are not related to ADI.
âThe system thinks Iâm a botâ
Ava Devlin, 18, from Tunbridge Wells, was blocked from logging out of the DVSA booking site because she would check the system for tests several times a day.
The error message will prevent them from logging into the system.
After months of trying, he was finally able to give his practical test in London, 40 miles (64km) from his local test center in Kent.
He transferred the test to a local center when there was a cancellation, but the test was canceled that day and he was not given a reason.
He graduated in March this year.
Ava said: âThere are a lot of teenagers who go to the website trying to take the test but know that there are companies that come in and block the order of the test, why canât people who want to take the test do it themselves. And why does it have to cost so much?
âThe bots I ordered at first were terrible, then the fact that they couldnât beat him by a few hundred pounds made me angry.
âIt feels so inhumane,â she added.
âI quit being an instructor after 20 yearsâ
Former driving instructor Richard Ahsam, 59, from St Leonards, quit his âstressfulâ job after 20 years in the industry.
He said: âAs a driving instructor you are very keen to have your diary available.
âThere are a lot of things that donât give me the job that I want, itâs hard when someone says they need a test and you have to tell them you canât get it for another six months. A lot of students are lost.â
âTests will be wastedâ
Teresa Allen, 67, a 17-year driving instructor from Tonbridge, said the government should change the rules so that only instructors can give the test to pupils.
He said: âItâs demoralizing. People use brokers and apps and they pay well over the odds for the test and then they canât take the test because they donât have one to take it, so the test is a waste. .â
He said the attitude towards making practical tests has changed.
âI have a student who is very early in his driving training, I wouldnât advise him to go for the test, but we know we have to because we know it will be a five or six month wait,â he added.
Ms Allen said not being able to offer a solution to the students was âabsolutely heartbreakingâ.
âItâs extremely stressful, Iâm emotionally invested in every single person that I teach. They need that license to get to their job or education,â she said.
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said almost two million tests were administered in the last financial year.
He said the DVSA would continue to recruit more examiners and tackle bots that âexploit studentsâ, adding that the government agency does not open, endorse or approve other booking apps or platforms.