Anxious learner drivers face waits of up to five months to pass their test across Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands and islands amid warnings from instructors it could still take another year to clear the Covid backlog.
Many centres across the north and north-east say December is the earliest time available to try and get the L plates off – with many offering no availability at all.
Meanwhile, some driving instructors have revealed they have been contacted by students from as far away as London and Manchester who face even longer waits south of the border.
How long do you have to wait for driving tests?
When investigated by the Press & Journal and Evening Express, there was only one test available to book at the Aberdeen South test centre near Altens – likely due to a cancellation.
Meanwhile the earliest available at the Aberdeen North centre was December 19.
A number of test centres in Aberdeenshire had no availability at all, including Inverurie, Huntly, Ballater, and Banff with Wick, Thurso, Ullapool, Orkney, Skye and Mull also reporting no availability.
Meanwhile, Shetland and Fort William were also fully booked until December. However, there was limited availability in Peterhead, Elgin and Inverness.
This compares to the UK average wait time, which the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency says is 14 weeks.
The UK average pass rate for the last five years is 47%, meaning many learners will likely have to use the booking system multiple times before they get their licence.
Recruitment drive for more driving test examiners
Driving instructor and secretary of the Aberdeen and District Driving Schools Association Derek Young reckoned it could be “at least a year” before wait times go back to normal and blamed Covid for the continuing backlog.
“Examiners were off the road for eight months during Covid so you can imagine how many tests were lost,” he said. “They are trying to catch up as quick as they can.
“It’s down to resources as well. They are trying to recruit more and examiners are working lots of overtime to try and help the situation.”
Mr Young said the six-week course potential examiners have to take makes recruitment difficult, as does the offered salary.
He added: “It is not a very attractive salary that they are offered and that is getting looked into.
“The worst thing that we have heard lately is that the examiners might go on strike because their wage increase is not high enough, so what is that going to do to the waiting list?”
Moira Craib, also a driving instructor in Aberdeen, said: “We definitely have a shortage of examiners and they have definitely been recruiting quite a lot.
“But I have heard its quite hard to get through the exam and they keep getting pulled out to do other areas.
“How do we get better? We need more examiners. How do we get more examiners? Pay them more money.
“I do think they should be paid more. I know some of them are doing overtime now but should they have to do it? It’s a long day.”
Mrs Craib described the struggle of trying to find a last-minute cancellation to sit a test sooner.
“I know some of my customers driving license numbers off by heart as I spend so much time putting them in trying to get changes for them.”
“When people are working they haven’t got the time, or maybe aren’t allowed, to sit on a computer and check for things like this.”
Mrs Craib also suggested unofficial apps, including Testi, offering short notice cancellations may be contributing to the problem and leading to booked tests going unused.
Calls from London and Manchester to take driving tests in north-east
Peterhead driving instructor Mike Ferris said the wait in his area was better than Aberdeen and that this was leading to learners from further afield seeking to book tests in the north-east.
He said: “I had a phone call from a lady in Manchester yesterday looking for lessons for her son, who could not get a test down there for 10 months, apparently.
“That is the first time I have had that, but I have certainly heard anecdotally from other instructors that they have had similar sorts of calls.”
Mr Young had a similar experience. He said: “I have had people from London phoning me saying they have found a test in Aberdeen and asking to have some lessons before their test.
“You have got people in Aberdeen sitting their test in Peterhead. You have got people in Aberdeen going up to Inverness to sit their test because they have found a cancellation. It is just battling for availability all the time.
“You cannot get tests in Inverurie and you cannot get tests in Ballater, so all these people are fighting for tests all the time.”
A spokesperson for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said: “Following the suspension and disruption of driver testing over much of the Covid pandemic, we are doing all we can to provide learners with as many practical driving tests as possible and bring average waiting times down to less than 10 weeks by the end of the year.
“To tackle the high demand for practical tests we have introduced a number of measures including recruiting an additional 300 examiners, conducting out of hours testing such as at weekends and on public holidays and asking qualified staff that no longer work as driving examiners to conduct tests.”
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