Drivers face long wait to take test

Learner drivers are having to wait an average of 22 weeks for their test in Boston.

The average wait in the county is 18 weeks and the time has shot up from a four- week wait in February for Boston.
Grimsby had the shortest wait time at 13 weeks, and the Boston test centre was recording a time of 22 weeks in May.
Since the pandemic, drivers have struggled to secure a driving test because of a backlog.
Nationally, around 15,000 additional tests were made available in the last financial year. But national wait times have crept up again.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said long waiting times are due to increased demand and low confidence in availability which has led to changes in behaviour.
People are now booking their tests much earlier in advance, with 8.2 per cent booking before they have passed their theory test.
Some 26 per cent book their test immediately after passing their theory test and completing some lessons.
“Despite making additional test slots available between October and March, the average waiting time started increasing in February and was back up to 17.8 weeks in May,” said Camilla Benitz, managing director of AA Driving School.
“We need to see a renewed commitment from the DVSA to make additional driving test slots available, but also to recruiting and retaining more examiners so additional learner slots do not come at the expense of other vital DVSA services, such as driving instructor training exams, which we have seen falling availability of recently.”
Chief executive of DVSA Loveday Ryder said the average waiting time in Lincolnshire was exactly 17.7 weeks in July.
“In the past financial year alone, we’ve provided almost two million tests, and I was delighted to meet the Transport Secretary recently to discuss how we can continue to increase the number of tests by recruiting more examiners.
“DVSA wants 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 the likelihood of passing.”

By Donna Semmens and Local Democracy Reporter James Turner.

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