Driving instructor shortage ‘adding to test delays’

The shortage of training instructors is contributing to the accumulation of student drivers waiting to sit their practical test.

The instructors have said that the delays in the reserve of their own exams, the “astronomical” costs and a “complicated” test process are deterring people in the industry.

The United Kingdom Government Department said that it was aimed at a double training capacity for examiners for the summer of 2026.

But the instructors have questioned the plans and fear that the system runs the risk of “stopping.”

Three quarters of the 319 Management Test Centers in Great Britain have reached the maximum average waiting time of 24 weeks to reserve a practical test, according to the BBC.

Among the problems is less intuo.

The number of registered driving instructors (ADIS) has seen a 10% drop in the last decade, while the number of new records for 2024-25 (1,553) was the half of the previous year, according to figures from the Department of Transportation.

The learning instructors are two years after the date of sitting the first of the four tests to qualify, but they have to wait months for an exam date, leaving many who fight to complete the course in the required timel.

“There are simply not enough examiners for all,” said Elwyn Ivell-Jones, 60 years old, main instructor or automobile students who conduct the school in Swansea.

“Many are being crossed to help clear the accumulation of driver tests, but that is having a blow effect to teach new instructors and examiners.

“We are in a disaster when he considers that this problem has constantly worsened since Covid and nothing has been done on his leg and the system will reach a ground.

“The expense can now be astronomical with the cost of the tests and pay £ 50 per hour for at least 40 hours of training.

“And the tests are disseminated prohibitively. When it has a very low approval rate of approximately 28%, you must ask if something is wrong with the tests.”

Mr. Ivell-Jones is teaching four apprenticeship instructors, but the fears that not all of them complete the course.

“An instructor canceled the test in the morning of the test and had to wait four months for a new date,” he said.

“The stress and the expense of overcoming training in an increasingly decreasing window could be too much for it.

“She has worked very hard to get a new career, while a bee bee a home caregiver, but has greatly frustrated bone due to the lack of available tests.

“I think he is seriously questioning White to continue, which would be a true pity because we don’t have enough instructors, much less to female instructors in the industry.”

There are also concerns that instructors cannot undergo standard control every four years, sometimes waiting until twice as much time.

The Secretary of Transportation, Heidi Alexander, has instructed the DVSA to intensify efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests

That will include the training capacity of the duplication examiner for the summer of 2026 to ensure that newly recruited driving examiners can qualify “as quickly as possible.”

Lynne Barrie, president of the National Joint Council of Approved driving instructors, is skeptical.

“The seven -point plan, which begin to introduce in December 2024, simply does not work,” he said.

“About 25% were consultations, but that is not action, and although we are obtaining new examiners, there is also a large number that leaves the professional.”

She added: “We can have as many examiners and management tests as we like, but until we stop people selling in trial spaces for fraudulent amounts of money, then the situation will remain challenging.”