Minister pledges 10,000 extra driving tests a month to clear backlog
Summary
The transport secretary in England said the government will do more driving tests to lessen the long wait times for learners. The goal is to decrease the wait time to seven weeks by summer 2026.Key Facts
- The transport secretary wants to decrease the number of learner drivers in England waiting more than five months for driving tests.
- The plan is to provide at least 10,000 extra driving tests a month to help with this.
- Right now, some people have to wait at least six months to book a driving test.
- By summer 2026, the government wants to reduce average waiting times to no more than seven weeks.
- The government originally had hoped to reduce waiting times to seven weeks by the end of this year.
- A lot more tests were booked last year — 1.95 million in total.
- One reason for the long wait times is fewer examiners available to do the tests.
- The government also wants to stop 'test booking bots' — computer programs that book lots of test slots quickly before people can get them.
- The system for booking driving tests might change to help with these problems.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.