I felt like I was being scammed.
In Britain, a shadow market has grown in the space between desperation and delay — learner drivers waiting more than five months for a driving test have been paying up to twelve times the official fee to resellers who used automated bots to capture and resell government-issued appointments. This week, the UK government moved to close that gap, making it illegal for anyone but the learner themselves to book a test. The law addresses the exploitation, but the deeper question — why the waiting list grew so long in the first place — remains unanswered.
- With national waiting times exceeding 22 weeks, a black market in driving test slots has quietly extracted hundreds of pounds from some of the most financially vulnerable learner drivers in Britain.
- Automated bots swept up thousands of official DVSA test slots and resellers — sometimes including driving instructors — sold them back at prices reaching £726 for a test that officially costs £62.
- New legislation now makes third-party test bookings illegal, targeting the bot operators and resellers who have profited from systemic failure, though enforcement remains an open question.
- Industry leaders warn the ban risks penalising legitimate instructors while doing nothing to address the root cause: there are simply not enough test slots to meet demand.
- The government points to nearly two million tests delivered in the past year and military examiners drafted in to help, but the waiting list has yet to meaningfully shorten.
Robert Kamugisha needed a driving licence. The official waiting list stretched months ahead of him, and every week without one carried real financial and personal cost. When someone offered him an earlier slot — for £726 — he paid it. He was 21, studying in Croydon, and his instructor reassured him the reseller was legitimate. By the time he passed on his third attempt, he had spent £1,176 on test slots and car hire alone, not counting lessons. "I felt like I was being scammed," he told the BBC.
His experience reflects a wider crisis. The national average wait for a practical driving test in April 2026 stood at 22.3 weeks — a backlog that swelled during the pandemic and never fully recovered. Into that gap stepped third-party operators running automated booking programs, or bots, that swept up thousands of DVSA test slots and resold them at multiples of the official £62 fee. Learner drivers, with few alternatives, paid.
Driving instructor Sophie Stuchfield in Watford has watched the shadow market grow. She receives thousands of messages from people trying to sell her test slots, and learners regularly tell her they've been asked to pay £200, £300, or more — sometimes by their own instructors, who add surprise charges for car use on test day. Stuchfield refuses. "I already feel sorry for that person on how much they're having to spend on learning to drive," she said.
This week, the government introduced rules making it illegal for anyone except the learner to book a DVSA test. The measure targets bot operators and resellers, and officials hope it will also reveal where genuine demand lies, helping redirect resources to the most overstretched testing centres. But it will not, on its own, shorten the queue.
Carly Brookfield of the Driving Instructors Association is cautious. She argues the rules unfairly implicate instructors who were acting in good faith, and she is already hearing from learners frustrated that they can no longer get help booking. "The reality is we've also got this massive test supply issue," she said. Roads Minister Simon Lightwood pointed to nearly two million tests delivered in the past year and military examiners brought in to boost capacity, with further reforms due in June. The resale market may be closing. Whether the underlying shortage is being fixed is a different question.
Robert Kamugisha needed a driving test. The waiting list said months. Every week without a licence meant financial pressure and personal strain. So when someone offered him an earlier slot for £726, he paid it—most of his savings—and booked three test appointments through resellers who buy up slots and sell them at multiples of the official price. The actual cost of a driving test is £62.
He was 21, studying criminology in Croydon, and desperate enough to take the risk. His instructor encouraged it, reassuring him the reseller was legitimate. Once the DVSA sent the confirmation, Robert felt relief wash over him. But the relief came with a sting. He paid £242 per test slot, plus £150 each time to use his instructor's car. By the time he passed on his third attempt in December, his total spend had climbed to £1,176—not counting the cost of lessons themselves. "I felt like I was being scammed," he told the BBC.
Robert's experience is not unusual. The waiting list crisis has metastasized into a shadow market. Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency show the national average wait for a practical test in April 2026 was 22.3 weeks. Scotland waited 22.9 weeks, England 22.7 weeks, Wales 17.3 weeks. The backlog, which swelled during the pandemic, has created perfect conditions for exploitation. Third-party operators deployed automated booking programs—bots—to snap up thousands of test slots from the official DVSA website and resell them at inflated prices. Learner drivers desperate for earlier appointments had little choice but to pay.
Sophie Stuchfield, a driving instructor in Watford, has watched the black market flourish. She receives thousands of messages from people trying to sell her driving tests. On her social media, learner drivers message her saying they've been asked to pay £200, £250, £300 for a single test—sometimes by their own instructors. Some instructors wait until a week before the test to announce an extra £300 charge for using their car on test day. Stuchfield refuses to charge learners these fees. When other local instructors asked her why, she told them plainly: "I don't believe I should. I already feel sorry for that person on how much they're having to spend on learning to drive."
This week, the government introduced new rules making it illegal for anyone except the learner driver themselves to book a test with the DVSA. Anyone selling or changing a test on someone else's behalf is now breaking the law. The rules target the bot operators and resellers who have exploited the system. But they won't directly reduce waiting times. What they might do is stop wasted test slots and help the DVSA see where real demand actually lies, allowing the agency to redirect resources to testing centres that need them most.
Carly Brookfield, chief executive of the Driving Instructors Association, is skeptical. She says the rule change scapegoats the majority of instructors who were doing the right thing, and she's already hearing from frustrated learners who can no longer get help from their instructor to book a test. "There have been things the agency's done that have been productive to stop the rot of the bots," she told the BBC. "But the reality is we've also got this massive test supply issue that if there's not enough tests going in, people will still not be able to get a test anywhere."
Simon Lightwood, the Minister for Roads and Buses, acknowledged the government inherited record waiting times and a huge backlog. He said the government has delivered almost two million tests over the past year, with more than 158,000 extra tests since June 2025, and military driving examiners now helping boost capacity. Further changes in June will allow learners to swap their tests to only three of their local test centres. The ban on third-party bookings is a step toward closing the resale market. But whether it addresses the underlying shortage of test capacity—the real driver of the crisis—remains to be seen.
Notable Quotes
People have found ways to manipulate the system to be able to book thousands of driving tests themselves to then be able to resell on for a massively high inflated fee.— Sophie Stuchfield, driving instructor
If there's not enough tests going in, people will still not be able to get a test anywhere.— Carly Brookfield, chief executive of the Driving Instructors Association
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Robert's instructor encourage him to use a reseller if it was technically against the rules?
The rules are brand new—introduced this week. Before that, there was no law against it. His instructor saw a desperate student facing a 22-week wait and offered what looked like a practical solution. The DVSA sent official confirmations. It felt legitimate because, technically, it was.
But £726 for a £62 test. How does that even happen?
Scarcity. When you have 22-week waiting lists and bots hoovering up available slots to resell them, the price gets bid up. Robert paid £242 per slot. Add £150 to use the instructor's car, and you're at £392 per test. He took three attempts. The math is brutal.
Did the instructors know they were part of a problem?
Some did, some didn't. Sophie Stuchfield refused to participate. But others—many others—saw it as normal business. Some waited until a week before the test to charge £300 for car use. The system had warped so much that exploitation became routine.
Will the new law actually fix anything?
It stops the resellers and bots from accessing the booking system. That's real. But it doesn't create more test slots. If there aren't enough tests to go around, learners will still wait months. The law addresses the symptom, not the disease.
What happens to people like Robert who already paid?
They're out the money. The law came too late for them. He passed his test, so at least he has his licence. But he spent most of his savings to get it.
Is the government actually increasing test capacity?
They say they are. 158,000 extra tests since June 2025, military examiners helping out. But the waiting list is still 22 weeks. Supply and demand haven't balanced yet.