Value for Money

Investigation into car driving test waiting times

Published 17 December 2025 4 recommendations Department for Transport Driving and road transportTransport nao.org.uk
Failure to resolve the problem of long waiting times for car practical driving tests has exposed underlying issues at DVSA.

Recommendations (4)

Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker
Government Response Pending
The NAO has not yet recorded a response to these recommendations. NAO tracks whether departments are acting on its recommendations via its recommendations tracker. This report was published 17 December 2025.
Department for Transport
Rec 1 Response Pending
review current governance arrangements between the two organisations and agree appropriate levels of support with arrangements that enable DVSA to develop and implement effective responses to challenges such as abuse of the booking system
Page 10, 21, 1st bullet
Department for Transport; Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Rec 2 Response Pending
increase the supply of test slots by exploring what would need to be in place to enable DVSA to successfully deliver its recruitment and retention strategies so that it is better able to scale up its workforce and respond quickly to any increasing backlogs
Page 10, 21, 2nd bullet
Department for Transport; Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Rec 3 Response Pending
examine causes of increased demand including assessing whether appropriate measures are in place to ensure that bookings for car practical driving tests are coming from those who are ready to take a test; and ensure that they are continuously improving demand and forecast modelling
Page 10, 21, 3rd bullet
Department for Transport; Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Rec 4 Response Pending
explore and evaluate whether there are alternative metrics to measure waiting times for car practical driving tests that will more accurately reflect the actual waiting times of learner drivers
Page 10, 21, 4th bullet