3% of Driving Examiner Applicants Qualify as Test Backlog Persists

Only 327 applicants, or 3 per cent, passed all stages to become a driving examiner last year even as test waiting times in England reached 22 weeks. The Department for Transport parliamentary response showed 19,138 applications were started and 11,132 were completed.

Currently there are 1,604 driving examiners, the most in eight years, yet a National Audit Office report in December found about 1,950 were needed to clear the backlog.

Justin Stanbrook took nine months and five rounds of application forms, driving tests and role plays to be offered a job as a driving examiner. He completed another six weeks of training before he was able to adjudicate driving tests. Stanbrook worked as a driving examiner for seven years before leaving his job in 2023.

The day before Stanbrook handed in his notice, a learner driver not in a dual-controlled vehicle pulled out onto a dual carriageway in Plymouth. He grabbed the handbrake and wheel to prevent a crash. In seven years Stanbrook's pay rose from £26,800 to £28,000.

"I know so many people that have left," Stanbrook said. "It's the way they're treated, the way the job has become extremely scary. 6 per cent, was not enough to balance the negatives of the job.

Driving test waiting times in England currently sit at 22 weeks, with 70 per cent of test centres operating at the maximum 24-week wait time. The latest figures are from September. Fourteen out of Rob Watts's current 25 learners are test ready but cannot find test slots until August at the earliest.

Three more have not yet been able to book tests and face waits until at least October. Rob Watts has been an approved driving instructor for two years. "It's public knowledge that the DVSA struggle to keep examiners," he said.

The shortage has also affected those seeking to become approved driving instructors. Anthony McKenzie completed part one (theory) of the approved driving instructor test in April 2025. All three parts of the approved driving instructor test must be completed within two years.

He applied to take part three of the ADI test in January but has yet to hear back. Part three of the ADI test has a 30 per cent first-time pass rate. McKenzie has spent nearly £500 so far on the ADI qualification process.

DVSA examiners trained to issue qualifications for new approved driving instructors are being redirected to adjudicate standard driving tests. The Department for Transport stated that many applications received were duplicates. A spokesperson added that anyone applying to become an examiner must undergo a rigorous recruitment and training process.

The Times reported that driving schools, instructors and examiners said the shortage stems from the excessively bureaucratic application process, low pay and job risks. Chris Benstead, co-founder of the Driving Instructor and Trainers Collective, said the convoluted recruitment and training process for examiners was preventing hiring and retention.

"The civil service-style process is a poor fit for the role," he said.