The average wait time for a driving test in Great Britain reached over 13 weeks in 2025, according to a new Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Data obtained as part of a request by Evans Halshaw, one of the UK’s leading volume vehicle retailers, to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) showed that the average wait to take a test has increased from 11.4 weeks in 2024 to 13.3 weeks in 2025.

Widespread delays and growing regional disparities were also revealed when analysing the data, which involved 321 comparable standard car test centres across Great Britain and excluding LGV only centres.

Where Are the Longest & Shortest Driving Test Waits Across Great Britain?

The Scottish town of Arbroath took the unwanted title of the longest driving test waits across Great Britain in 2025, with learners having to see out 20.8 weeks on average from the moment they book a practical test to when the earliest available date arrives.

Arbroath was one of seven locations in Scotland which made the list of the top 10 longest driving test waits, with durations which stretched far beyond the national average.

However, the towns and cities involved cover a mix of rural and urban locations, and highlights that the issue isn’t confined to a single type of area.

The top 10 longest driving test waits in 2025:

1. Arbroath: 20.8 weeks

2. Dunoon: 19.7 weeks

3. Montrose: 19.6 weeks

4. Pinner, in London: 18.8 weeks

5. Wellingborough: 18.3 weeks

6. Forfar: 18.2 weeks

7. Oban: 18 weeks

8. Glasgow’s Anniesland centre: 17.9 weeks

9. Lichfield: 17.8 weeks

10. Livingston: 17.7 weeks

A growing ‘postcode lottery’ of driving test availability for learner drivers has been further demonstrated by the fact that Scotland also had five of its locations feature in the top 10 shortest driving test waits of 2025.

Learner drivers in Elgin, Kyle of Lochalsh, Dumfries, Inverness, and Peterhead all had, on average, nine weeks or less to wait to take their practical exam.

Enfield and Watnall jointly took the title of the shortest wait times though, with just 4.3 weeks the average being more than two months less than the national average.

The top 10 shortest driving test waits in 2025:

1. Enfield’s Brancroft Way centre: 4.3 weeks

2. Watnall: 4.3 weeks

3. Elgin: 7.6 weeks

4. Kyle of Lochalsh: 8 weeks

5. Dumfries: 8.1 weeks

6. Basildon: 8.6 weeks

7. Liverpool’s St Helens centre: 8.6 weeks

8. Lowestoft’s Mobbs Way centre: 8.8 weeks

9. Inverness’ Longman Drive centre: 8.9 weeks

10. Peterhead: 9 weeks

Despite having no entries in the top 10 longest driving test waits in 2025, the South East of England is the area of Great Britain with the longest average regional driving test wait times.

This region’s 13.76 weeks is just over 1.5 weeks more than the area with the shortest regional average though, this being Wales at 12.24 weeks. It becomes clear then that wait times are now consistently high and part of a national backlog.

Every region recorded year-on-year increases in average wait times from 2024 to 2025 too.

However, the North East of England recorded the sharpest rise across this period – a jump of 3.7 weeks is equivalent to a 37.7% increase over the past year.

The regional breakdown of average driving test wait times in 2025:

1. South East England: 13.76 weeks (up 1.4 weeks from 2024, an 11.3% increase)

2. South West England: 13.73 weeks (up 0.8 weeks from 2024, a 6.5% increase)

3. West Midlands: 13.69 weeks (up 1.6 weeks from 2024, a 13.5% increase)

4. North East England: 13.66 weeks (up 3.7 weeks from 2024, a 37.7% increase)

5. Scotland: 13.62 weeks (up 2.6 weeks from 2024, a 23.9% increase)

6. East Midlands: 13.39 weeks (up 1.8 weeks from 2024, a 15.5% increase)

7. Yorkshire & Humber: 13.33 weeks (up 1.6 weeks from 2024, a 13.8% increase)

8. East of England: 12.89 weeks (up 1.7 weeks from 2024, a 15% increase)

9. London: 12.88 weeks (up 1.6 weeks from 2024, a 13.7% increase)

10. North West England: 12.87 weeks (up 2 weeks from 2024, an 18.2% increase)

11. Wales: 12.24 weeks (up 1.5 weeks from 2024, a 13.6% increase)

The Centres Where Wait Times Are Rising Fastest – And the Small Number Which Buck the Trend

Of the 321 comparable centres analysed, 278 sites have seen their wait times for a practical driving test increase between 2024 and 2025.

Several centres have recorded sharp year-on-year rises, with Grantown-on-Spey’s 8.2-week increase being a 112.3% jump and effectively resulting in its wait time more than doubling across a single year.

The top 10 centres with the biggest increases in driving test waits year-on-year:

1. Grantown-on-Spey: +8.2 weeks (up 112.3% year-on-year)

2. Airdrie: +7.2 weeks (up 98.6% year-on-year)

3. Thurso: +7.1 weeks (up 69.6% year-on-year)

4. Norwich’s Jupiter Road centre: +6.8 weeks (up 82.9% year-on-year)

5. Gairloch: +6.6 weeks (up 115.8% year-on-year)

6. Livingston: +6.5 weeks (up 58% year-on-year)

7. Macclesfield: +6.2 weeks (up 56.9% year-on-year)

8. Edinburgh’s Currie centre: +6.1 weeks (up 60.4% year-on-year)

9. Scunthorpe: +5.8 weeks (up 73.4% year-on-year)

10. Worksop: +5.7 weeks (up 60% year-on-year)

There are a small handful of driving test centres which have managed to achieve shorter wait times, possibly because of increased examiner availability or improved scheduling.

As well as having the second shortest driving test waits in 2025, Watnall, for instance, was able to reduce its wait times by 4.8 weeks on average – a 52.7% improvement compared to 2024’s figures.