Learner drivers are being forced to wait more than five months to book a slot at four out of five test centres, new figures show.
Some 258 locations in Britain had the maximum possible waiting time of 24 weeks for a test as of May 5, which is 81% of all sites.
That is up from 161 at the start of the year.
AA Driving School, which obtained the figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), warned the situation “cannot get much worse”.
The average waiting time across all test centres has reached 22 weeks, up from 14 weeks in February 2024.
The DVSA attributes the backlog to an increase in demand and some people booking their test much earlier than before.
Officials hope an increase in the number of tests being conducted will bring waiting times down.
The number of future bookings in the DVSA’s system was 122,000 higher in June compared with the same month last year.
Public spending watchdog the National Audit Office recently announced it will investigate the “root causes” of delays to booking tests, and “how the DVSA is responding”.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in April the Labour Government “inherited an enormous backlog” but was “acting fast”.
She told the Commons Transport Select Committee her department aimed to reduce the average waiting time to seven weeks by summer 2026.
A Government consultation on amending the test booking system closed last week.
This featured a plan aimed at stopping bots mass-booking new slots so they can be resold on the black market for inflated prices.
The Department for Transport also instructed the DVSA to offer additional overtime payments to incentivise instructors to conduct more tests.
Staff at the agency qualified to conduct tests are being asked to voluntarily return to the front line, while the number of permanent trainers for new examiners is being doubled.
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: “With the vast majority of driving test centres now showing waits at the maximum the system will allow, the situation cannot get much worse.
“New measures designed to start bringing down waiting times were implemented at the start of April by the DVSA.
“There are signs of recovery though, putting both the industry and learners on tenterhooks for more signs of improvement in the coming months.
“While we would expect these changes to take a few months to show a positive impact, it is still disappointing to see that learners are continuing to face an uphill battle when it comes to booking their driving test.”
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “DVSA’s goal is to make booking a driving test easier and fairer for learner drivers.
“We are making progress on our plans.
“We’re really grateful to everyone who has responded to our recent consultation, including learners, parents and driving instructors.
“We’re now analysing the survey responses.
“Using your feedback, we’ll be able to plan our next steps on improving car test booking rules.”
