Britain’s driving test pass rate has soared to a five-year high, suggesting learner drivers are increasingly heeding calls to sit their test only when ready.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reported a 51.4 per cent success rate for tests conducted in May.
This marks an increase from 50.9 per cent the previous month and represents the strongest performance since May 2021, when the pass rate stood at 51.9 per cent.
Officials have encouraged learners to delay booking until confident, a strategy to alleviate a persistent backlog. Despite 173,200 tests being conducted in May – up from 147,698 last year – future bookings reached an unprecedented 674,165 by month-end.
The Government has tightened rules around driving test bookings in a bid to cut the backlog and end unfair practices.
A regulation introduced on Tuesday means learners can only move a slot to one of the three test centres nearest the initial booking.
This is aimed at reducing incidents of people booking a test regardless of location, with no intention of using the slot.
The practice was done by people selling on slots for profit, or genuine learners who wanted to switch tests to a more convenient location if a place became available at a later date.
It made it hard for the DVSA to plan how much capacity was required at each test centre.
A ban on driving instructors booking tests came into force on 12 May, meaning they can now only be booked and managed by learners.
It is hoped this will make it harder for people to profit by using automated programmes – known as bots – to quickly book available slots and resell them at a higher price.
Freedom of information data accessed by AA Driving School showed the average waiting time to book a test increased from 20.8 weeks in January to 22.4 by 6 April.
In February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic, the figure was five weeks.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Knowing there’s a queue ahead for a practical test is frustrating for learners, but a pass rate hovering around 50 per cent suggests many would still benefit from more practice and real world experience before taking a test which is the gateway to the freedom and responsibility of unaccompanied driving.”
The DVSA was approached for a comment.
