Robert Kamugisha Paid £726 for Driving Test Slots, New Rules Target Resellers
Robert Kamugisha, a 21-year-old criminology student, spent a substantial portion of his savings, £726, to secure three driving test appointments. These slots were acquired through resellers exploiting a system plagued by lengthy waiting lists, a consequence of which saw Kamugisha paying £242 per test, far exceeding the official £62 charge. He ultimately passed on his third attempt in December, describing the experience as feeling “scammed.”
Driving instructors across the UK have reported a surge in this black-market trade, driven by average national waiting times for practical driving tests reaching 22.3 weeks in April 2026. England's average stood at 22.7 weeks, Scotland at 22.9 weeks, and Wales at 17.3 weeks, according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures.
Sophie Stuchfield, a Watford-based driving instructor, highlighted how operators “manipulate the system” to book thousands of tests, reselling them at highly inflated prices. Stuchfield has documented receiving thousands of messages advertising test slots for hundreds of pounds, sometimes from other instructors. She criticises the practice of some instructors charging learners an additional £300 on the test day for car use.
New legislation, effective this week, makes it unlawful for anyone other than the learner driver to book or alter a driving test with the DVSA. This measure seeks to deter third parties from exploiting booking systems, particularly through the use of automated bots that have proliferated since the pandemic-induced backlog. While these changes are not expected to directly shorten waiting times, the government anticipates they will reduce wasted tests and provide clearer data on demand, enabling better resource allocation.
However, Carly Brookfield, chief executive of the Driving Instructors Association, expressed scepticism, suggesting the new rules may unfairly impact legitimate instructors and fail to address the fundamental issue of insufficient test availability. Simon Lightwood, the Minister for Roads and Buses, stated the government has delivered almost two million tests over the past year and introduced military driving examiners to boost capacity. Further changes in June will limit learners to swapping tests at only three local centres.
