The best time for a driving test

Stats from the DVLA show that the best month to take your driving test is April (pass rate 46.2%), August (pass rate 46.3%) and December (pass rate 46%). Dependent on where you are in the year when your practical instructor tells you to book, you may get a slot in one of these months. However, it is worth checking with your local test centre as due to Covid there is a backlog of people waiting to complete their practical tests. As of November 2022, on the GOV.UK website, it advises the current national average waiting time for a practical test is around 15 weeks.

What is the best day to take a driving test?

Stats from the DVLA currently show Monday as the best day, with a pass rate of 46.9%. Understandably, due to work or life commitments, you may not be able to take a test on Monday. If that is so, below are the pass rates for every other day of the week:

What is the best time of day to take a driving test?

Stats from the DVLA currently show between 19:00pm and 21:00pm is the best time. This is due to roads being quieter regardless which day of the week it is. There will be fewer drivers on the road and generally should be a calmer atmosphere than say rush hour in the mornings or evenings. If you can get an evening test in summer too, then you have the added bonus of it still likely being daylight when you drive and not dark like in the rest of the seasons. If you are tight on budget though, be warned that taking an evening driving test does cost more than the daytime. Currently, it’s £75 for an evening slot, compared to a daytime slot of £62.

If you are confident and feel you could handle morning rush hour between 07:00am and 09:00am, then stats currently show the pass rate as 50%. As mentioned though, consider your confidence level before trying to secure this slot. You will be contending with commuter traffic, parents on the morning school run and a lot more cyclist and pedestrians along your route. Perhaps even discuss it with your practical instructor to get feedback on if this would be the optimum time for you at your skill level as well.

Stats from the DVLA currently show the worst time is between 11:00am to 13:00pm. This is a traffic increase time in the run-up to lunch time for most people, and you can encounter a few more scenarios or hazards that are more unlikely during this period.

Naturally you will be looking for every bit of help with one of what may be the most stressful days in your life and the above I hope will have helped you further in securing a slot but my final added tip to you is you may have heard from fellow applicants the following sentences: Examiners only pass a set number of people each day, week or month so get in early!

This is a myth! Do not let other unqualified drivers or non-instructors get you worried; they do not have a quota to fill from the DVSA. The simple fact is if you pass the strict guidelines that are set out you will get your licence, if you do not meet the guidelines you will fail. Examiners have no reason to fail candidates on purpose, it just creates more work for them later down the line anyway! 

Driving test day insurance

On the test day, you will be required to show proof of car insurance, one day test drive insurance is sufficient and this can be booked online when you get your driving test confirmation date,  

Best time to check for driving test cancellations

The wait time at some test centres can be a few months, and the time from booking a driving test and actually taking it can be too long for some. The solution is to check for cancellations, this is net don on a daily basis early in the morning between 09:00 am and 11:00 am. In contrast, the waiting from booking the driving theory test to sitting the exam can be less than one week