This is becoming a very common question to hear now, due to the responsibility for booking driving tests being handed over to the pupils.
Some driving instructors used to do this activity on behalf of pupils because it enabled the instructor to ensure they were never double booked, it also ensured the instructor was controlling the timing of the test (their pupils were not going to test too soon, before they were ready), and also, it enabled the pupils to concentrate on the driving and not get bogged down with test bookings or any test booking changes. But those days have now gone with the new regulatory changes from the DVSA. According to the DVSA, in their national research, 71% of the responses said it was deemed necessary to remove the service that some driving instructors were offering of booking up tests for their pupils, and instead only allow pupils to book and manage tests. So that is going live from 12/5/2026.
So, having voted to only allow pupils to book tests, now pupils are wondering to themselves, when should they book up the test? Do they wait until they are APPROVED to go to test by their instructor, or do they just book up a test for 5 to 6 months in advance, and hope that it turns out to be correct?
Looking at the booking system today [27/04/2026], for Boston, Grantham, Melton Mowbray, Peterborough and Lincoln, the only test centre showing any slots available in the next 6 months is Boston, starting 28/09/2026 and then Grantham has slots available for the first week of October; and that is it, that is all that is available across those five test centres. And this is where the problem is for pupils. If they only interrogate the system in a fleeting moment, the chances of them stumbling across a cancellation slot are minimal – extremely unlikely. But, if they constantly interrogate the system, repeatedly, dozens of times in just one evening for example, they are significantly increasing the chances of finding a cancellation slot (and these cancellation slots are going to be for the next few days). So that level of accessing the booking system is going to take some effort, many people will not be prepared to invest that time and effort to do so (which was one reason why driving instructors used to do it on behalf of their customers). So what this becomes is a test of your willingness to invest in the effort to locate one of these cancellation slots.
The other option, instead of putting the graft in, to locate one of these cancellation slots, is to book up a slot 6 months in advance and then work closely with your instructor, to ensure that you track your learning progress, so that you will in fact be ready in 6 months time. The DVSA did national research, twice in fact, of asking people who pass the test how long it took them, and the answer was about 7 months – having done on average 45 hours of lessons with an instructor plus 22 hours private practice. So it is possible, armed with this knowledge, to calculate how many lessons to do each week, so that you will increase the likelihood of being ready several months in advance. This is a skill needed in planning and organisation. Again, many people will not be willing to put in the effort to plan to that degree.
This is where we are now with the driving test booking system. It is an extremely common question that people are now asking, and as you can see from the above, you basically have two choices: you either delay any test booking until your instructor approves you for taking a test, and then once approved, book a test to then pull that test slot forward with a cancellation slot. Or, you book up a test 6 months in advance (like the slots that are available today in Boston or Grantham), and then plan your training schedule so that you will be ready in that period of time.
If you don’t want to be relying on your driving instructor’s advice of being approved to go to test, and you want to just go to test whenever you want (in your own car), then that option is still available to you at the moment (this option may come with some restrictions attached from the DVSA in the future – time will tell, but currently, there are no such conditions/restrictions).
Some people are still making use of the BIG TOM intensive courses for their driving training, because they are very much attracted to the fact that they can learn in much shorter timescales than the DVSA research of 7 months quoted above. And of course, that is a viable option, and many of those customers already have considered the above, and have made their plans in advance regarding the booking of driving tests. This is of course, entirely their choice to make now that test booking is only available to pupils alone.
Pupils are still asking about the cancellation test finder providers, and if they should still use them. The DVSA are very clear on this point as they feel that these providers are a big contributor to making the overall booking system very unfair to all users. If the DVSA do detect that one of these providers has been used to source a cancellation slot, they will immediately restrict the licence holder to only change bookings via phone only.
We hope that this offers some guidance to people who are currently wondering when should they book their driving test.
