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Desperate learner drivers buying scam tests for £200

BBC Chris Riley is sat in the driver's seat of a car, the camera is on the dashboard. His hands are on a red steering wheel and he is looking to the left as if checking the road is clear to enter. He has shaved black hair and wears a bright blue zipped up hoodie, with black detailing on the top half and blue jeans.BBC
Driving instructor Chris Riley fears people are getting desperate to take their test

Scammers are taking advantage of long waits for driving tests.

An MP says a growing number of youngsters are being persuaded to part with hundreds of pounds of "arrangement fees" to jump the queue.

Waiting times for a driving test across Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Dorset can now take anything between 14 to 24 weeks.

In the Thames Valley area fraudsters are offering learners tests more quickly for £200, on top of the standard £62 DVSA fee.

Bracknell-based driving instructor Chris Riley says he can understand why learner drivers are tempted.

There is currently a six-month wait period for tests in the Thames Valley and each batch of new appointments is snapped up within minutes.

Reselling is done on social media apps like Whatsapp and Facebook marketplace with dozens of ads for immediate driving tests on sale at up to five times the correct price.

Mr Riley said: “I’m sure my pupils are tempted, and I can’t blame them.

“If your job depends on a driving licence and you’re faced with the cost of extra driving lessons for six months.

“People are just getting desperate, and they are turning to whoever’s selling.”

The instructor warns his students that handing over their provisional licence number means scammers can use it to book tests all over the country.

He explained: "They're either unaware that their numbers are being used to book tests or they are somehow involved.

"I don't know how widespread or how many, but it does feel like people are making a mini-business out of it."

'Exploiting learners'

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said it was encouraging learners only to book tests through the official government website.

It explained re-selling a test isn't illegal, but it "exploits" learners.

Many brokers use automated software to block-book driving test slots on the government website and then sell them on.

The companies use ‘bots’, which input data more quickly than a human can, so they’re able to secure test dates before those without the software.

Three phone screenshots show Facebook adverts and Whatsapp messages about driving tests for sale
Mr Riley said scammers use Whatsapp and social media to advertise the driving tests

Long waits for tests

Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and collated by the House of Commons Library, show the average number of weeks' wait for a test in 2020 compared to 2024.

Hampshire:

  • Basingstoke: 13 weeks' wait in October 2020, compared to 24 weeks' wait in September 2024
  • Lee On The Solent: 15 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Newport (Isle of Wight): 7 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Portsmouth: 11.3 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Southampton (Maybush): 14.3 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Winchester: 7.5 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Farborough: 2.8 weeks to 18 weeks

*Test centres in Whitchurch and Southampton (Forest Hills) closed in March 2020 so have no been included in these statistics.

Dorset:

  • Dorchester: 18 weeks to 22.6 weeks
  • Poole: 14.5 weeks to 20.2 weeks

*A test centre in Bournemouth closed in February 2019 so has not been included in these statistics

Berkshire:

  • Reading: 15.3 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Slough: 13.8 weeks to 24 weeks

Oxford:

  • Banbury: 11.3 weeks to 24 weeks
  • Oxford (Cowley): 11.8 weeks to 14 weeks

*Oxford (Kassam Stadium) did not have figures available so has not been included in these statistics

Peter Swallow stands outside the Houses of Parliament, which are out of focus in the background behind him. He looks slightly off camera, smiling, has short spiked light brown hair and a short beard. He is wearing a pink linen suit with a white shirt and navy blue and pint patterned tie.
MP for Bracknell, Peter Swallow, called for action in parliament on Wednesday

Bracknell MP Peter Swallow has called for a ban on scammers and for more tests to be urgently provided.

He told parliament: "My constituents are scraping together hundreds of pounds to pay double, or triple, the test price, only to have their details cloned and these black market operators then use them to squeeze others out of the market."

After the debate, he told the BBC he didn't want to "cap" opportunities for young people by increasing the £62 it costs for a test.

Mr Swallow said: "We all remember that feeling of liberation when we first got behind the wheel after passing our test.

"For too many young people in my constituency that is just not a reality at the moment and pricing working people out of the test market is not really the solution I'm looking for."

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