Overview
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs on Wednesday that the national backlog is unlikely to be cleared before autumn 2027 and cited DVSA data showing average waits near 22 weeks.
- The Department for Transport and the DVSA are expanding examiner recruitment, fast‑tracking training and using military personnel to add testing capacity.
- The DVSA introduced booking limits—two slot changes from late March, pupil-only booking from 12 May and moves restricted to the three nearest centres from 9 June—to curb speculative reservations.
- Early operational signs cited by ministers include a roughly 70% fall in test swaps and a one‑third drop in refunds since mid‑May, but officials say it is too soon to say these changes have solved the backlog.
- Independent analysis of DVSA data shows sharp local variation, with some centres offering tests in about four weeks and others approaching five months, and the agency will publish monthly centre‑level waiting‑time data to improve transparency.