2,373

of 5,000 signatures

To Chief Executive of DVSA Loveday Ryder

The government Practical Test website only shows Test dates for the next 6 months. For the majority of the time there are no Practical Tests anywhere on the system, anywhere in the country. This is costing some candidates employment that rely on getting Driving Licenses, just because they cannot get a Practical Test date, and is unfair to all students who have done the work to learn to safely drive alone, and deserve the opportunity to become a Full Driving License Holder. There is a basic issue; supply of Driving Tests is being outstripped by demand. Every full time Examiner conducts 7 Practical Test a day. Back in 2008 Reading had 16 Examiners and a Test Centre Manager, with the Examiners conducting roughly 112 Tests a day. Reading now has 3 Examiners (2 of which say they are leaving) conducting approximately 21 Tests a day. That is currently approximately 22,000 less Practical Tests a year, at just this one site. A situation that is duplicated at many, many others areas.

Petition text

The staff retention issue is true at Practical Test Centres across the UK, where the Examiners salary does not reflect area pay, and even unqualified local workers are paid more thousands more then professionally qualified Driving Examiners. There has been an escalating Examiner recruitment crisis after the government made changes to Examiner pay and conditions in 2010. The DVSA figures comparing Covid years, where all Practical Tests were cancelled for sections of time, to non Covid years, and blaming the candidates for booking earlier, are distractions from not meeting current Practical Driving Test demand. Review the Examiners salaries to comparable jobs in areas, including Driving Instructors in that area, and increase their salaries until you can recruit and retain your staff, if necessary increasing the Practical Test fee from £62 to £72 in order to fund doing so.

Our core demands:
1) Reinstate the technical qualification bonus that they pay to MOT Testers but not currently to Examiners.
2) Pay the London bonus to all sites in the London commuter belt, including Reading, not just those in the M25
3) Increase pay for all examiners through the UK, in order to make the profession more attractive again.

23 Oct 2024
Thank you to MP Matt Rodda for asking about Driving Test Provision.

16 Jul 2024
Guardian Article sums up all of the current problems with getting Driving Tests

6 Jul 2024
On Average 15 Practical Driving Test Examiners Quit every month

28 Jun 2024
Waiting times have officially increased by an additional 20 Percent in 2024

25 May 2024
Driving Practical Test record shortage leads to Black Market Tests

14 May 2024
Learners traveling 48 percent further to get Practical Tests, and escalating

7 May 2024
Latest Nonsense Stats from the DVSA on Driving Tests provision

28 Apr 2024
DVSA wrongly blames Learners for what they should be doing; booking Tests

27 Apr 2024
Reading Driving Practical Test Centre to be turned into flats in 2024

19 Apr 2024
Learners who have lost jobs due to lack of Practical Tests on local radio

13 Apr 2024
Driving Examiners skills not valued by the DVSA, creating Practical Test crisis

26 Mar 2024
DVSA in UK turning away £200 million pounds in Practical Test Fees

22 Mar 2024
Reading Practical Test Centre has lost another Examiner

20 Feb 2024
Never-ending backlog predicted for Practical Driving Tests

3 Dec 2023
Waiting times for Practical Driving Tests have officially increased

19 Nov 2023
Another Berkshire Resident travels 100 miles for a Practical Test

12 Nov 2023
Losing 15,000 Reading Practical Driving Tests

29 Oct 2023
More Practical Driving Test Centres have no Test Dates

17 Oct 2023
Practical Test travel has made the local news and 'Rip off Britain'

12 Oct 2023
Practical Tests, not more disingenuous information.

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Increase number of Practical Driving Tests by retaining DVSA staff

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