Since January 2023, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which is responsible for the driving test, has issued 283 warnings, 746 suspensions and closed 689 businesses for misuse of its booking service.**
Unfortunately, however, the RAC has found many unofficial sites are still trying to exploit learners struggling to become qualified drivers.
Learners desperate to beat the test backlog are regularly being sucked in by a ‘black market’ that uses bots to book test slots faster than any human could.
These slots are then resold at overinflated prices, or by paid-for services offering to alert users to test cancellations in their local area as they become available.
While the official driving test costs £62, the RAC’s research shows some sites are reselling tests for up to £195 – more than three times the official price.
The DVSA is taking steps to quickly clamp down on the black market for booking driving tests, but the RAC has found many slots can still be bought through third parties online as they are sold via encrypted WhatsApp chats.
On these channels, sellers will often use the ‘disappearing message’ function so conversations aren’t traceable.
Other third parties are profiting from the backlog through ‘cancellation alert’ schemes and apps, which charge users a one-off fee to receive alerts every time a slot becomes available sooner than their original test.
While these sites require legitimate proof of a DVSA test, sign-up fees can still set drivers back nearly twice the amount of an official test, with ‘VIP packages’ advertised for up to £117.
The RAC has also found it’s not just money learners should be concerned about losing, it’s their personal details too. Freelance journalist Lara Olszowska, who the RAC has spoken to, is one such victim.
Lara said: “I bought into the driving test black market at £169 for a test worth £62, just to avoid having to retake my theory and delay my practical exam. I gave them my driving licence number, my theory certificate number, and my home address without batting an eyelid.
“After failing that test, I went online to try to book my next attempt, but the DVSA website kept popping up with an ‘error’ message.
“That led to a fateful phone call with the DVSA where I learned my account was blocked for having ‘too many’ tests booked using my details – even though I was blissfully unaware for the years it was going on.
“A company had used my details to repeatedly book tests under my name 52 times and swap them with other candidates who wanted the slots for triple the price.
“My advice to other drivers is always to book through the DVSA online or over the phone and, if you have months of waiting time, plan backwards from there with your instructor so you know you are more than ready to pass by the time your test date comes.
“You don't want to end up spending hundreds on sooner test dates, only for a third party to run off with your details to book multiple tests so your details get blocked, and you find out when it's too late.”
To avoid any doubt, the RAC is advising drivers to book directly through the Government website rather than through a third-party ‘black market’ site, which often contains false information such as how frequently you can book your driving test.
Scammers are even recommending their sites on Reddit and Mumsnet forums, where learner drivers are vocalising their frustrations with the booking process.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s terrible that ‘brokers’ using software to reserve tests faster than a human possibly could are making it so hard for learners to book test slots. It seems as though technology is constantly being used to cheat the system as we’ve been told someone’s driving licence number was used to book multiple tests.
“Definitive action needs to be taken to prevent ‘bots’ booking tests and then selling them on to desperate learners for crazy amounts of money. This leads to genuine slots being wasted and learners, who are ready to take their tests, missing out and having to wait months for a chance to become a qualified driver. It’s no wonder some learners end up booking test slots before they’re ready.
“It’s also very wrong that real people who are genuinely trying to book their tests are being treated as if they are ‘bots’ because their data has been stolen by fraudsters.
“The best course of action before the DVSA finds a solution to this problem once and for all is to book only via the official Government website and not pay well over the odds by using a so-called broker’s site.”
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* FOI data provided to the BBC by the DVSA. Additional data provided in response to Parliamentary question on 9 October shows average waiting times in September 2024 were 18.83 weeks.
**Data taken from Lilian Greenwood MP’s answer to a written question about driving tests for the Department for Transport, 9/9/24
