Learner drivers' anger over six-month wait for driving tests in Horsham and Crawley
Learner drivers in Horsham and Crawley are being driven to distraction because of a six-month wait to take their driving test.
And some are having to wait so long that they have to re-take their driving theory test which is valid for only two years.
Among those affected is Horsham resident Shaun Bacon who has waited so long for a test at the DVSA Driving Test Centre in Pease Pottage that he has now got to the point of giving up.
“Even though the DVSA keeps saying they are working on bringing down the waiting lists, since the end of the pandemic, there has been frankly no improvement,” he said.
“I am not the only one and there are people trying this October to book a driving test, either for the first time, or for a re-take, and the earliest they can get a test is March 2025 with April 2025 being an option now! What used to be a six-week wait has turned in to a six-month wait.”
And the delay means added costs for driving lessons between when learners are ready for their test, and when they can actually take it. Shaun said: "Now I need to retake the theory and pass again – another cost – and then wait a minimum six months before a practical driving test will be available, and take more lessons during all that time.
“It’s gotten to the point now where I’ve had to give that up, as I’ve used up all my money on lessons etc over two-plus years, I now need time to re-save before trying again.
“This isn’t helped by the fact there are so few examiners and so few tests that pretty much everyone is having to turn privately to pay a cancellation app to get a test, which the DVSA advises you not to do, but everyone does, as these apps and bots they use make it nigh impossible for anyone not on an app service to get any test at all.
“The DVSA says they have a plan to reduce wait times and clear the backlog, but in the last 12-18 months the waiting times have not decreased from their now ‘normal’ levels of a six-month wait. Much more needs to be done.”
The DVSA itself says that practical test waiting times remain long due to an increase in demand and ‘low customer confidence’ in test availability. Learners, it says, are now booking their tests far earlier while learning to drive with around a quarter booking their test immediately after passing their theory test having had just a few driving lessons.
It maintains that it takes learners ‘months or longer to gain the on-road experience needed to be ready to drive safely on their own once they have passed.’
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “In the past financial year alone, we’ve provided almost two million tests, and I was delighted to meet the Transport Secretary in September to discuss how we can continue to increase the number of tests by recruiting more examiners while tackling bots and those exploiting learners.
“DVSA want to see more learners passing first time, so we’re working with the driver training industry to educate and advise learners on what they can do to prepare and improve their likelihood of passing."