The Hidden Cost of UK Driving Test Delays

Learning to drive is already a costly milestone, but long delays at test centres are quietly pushing those costs even higher. With wait times blowing out across the country, many learners are paying far more than they planned - from extra lessons needed just to stay test-ready, to booking new tests after failed attempts, to taking additional time off work to secure a slot.

Because of this, EzLicence set out to uncover where in the UK learners are being hit hardest financially, and identify the areas where long test delays are driving up costs the most.

The most expensive places to learn to drive 

Driving lesson costs vary significantly across the UK, with some regions facing far higher prices than others. Using an average of 45 lesson hours, the standard test fee of £62 (rising to £75 for evenings, weekends, and bank holidays), and the cost of a pre-test lesson pack (2.5 times the average hourly rate), we identified the regions where learning to drive is most expensive.

Most to least expensive regions

Learners in the South West face the highest costs, with lessons averaging £41.08 per hour and a total price tag of just over £2,000. The East of England and London follow closely at around £1,940 and £1,910. The South East and East Midlands sit slightly lower, with totals just under £1,880.

Wales and the North East offer the most affordable lessons, with hourly rates under £35 and total costs between £1,666 and £1,700. Scotland and the West Midlands also fall on the lower end of the scale, typically ranging from £1,710 to £1,750. Overall, the data shows a clear divide, with learners in the South paying noticeably more than those in the North and Wales. 

Most expensive areas

London dominates the list of the most expensive areas for driving lessons. Camden sits at the top, with lessons averaging £53.47 per hour and total costs exceeding £2,600. Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Merton, and Hammersmith and Fulham all place within the top ten, with overall learning costs ranging from roughly £2,070 to £2,430.

Outside London, Bath and North East Somerset in the South West and West Berkshire in the South East also show high costs, at just over £2,320 and £2,135. Hertfordshire in the East of England rounds out the top ten at around £2,074. The data highlights a strong concentration of high lesson prices in London, with a handful of affluent areas elsewhere pushing up the national average.

Least expensive areas

The most affordable areas for driving lessons are largely found in Wales and Scotland. Blaenau Gwent is the cheapest, with lessons averaging £32.22 per hour and total costs just under £1,600. Monmouthshire, Caerphilly, Pembrokeshire, and Powys follow closely. In Scotland, areas such as Argyll and Bute, the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, and Na h-Eileanan Siar average around £33 per hour, with total costs between £1,626 and £1,630.

Looking at England alone, Thurrock is the most affordable area, with hourly rates of £33 and total costs around £1,630. Redbridge, Birmingham, Shropshire, and Havering sit slightly higher at £1,670-£1,695. Even within London, pockets such as Redbridge, Havering, Sutton, and Waltham Forest offer more accessible pricing compared with other boroughs.

The Hidden Cost of Delays

Beyond the upfront cost of lessons, long waits at test centres are creating an unexpected financial burden for learners. Driving instructors recommend continuing lessons right up to the test, including a final session the day before, and many learners take additional lessons each month to stay road-ready. When waits stretch into weeks or months, these extra lessons can add hundreds of pounds to an already expensive process.

The table below highlights where in the UK delays are driving up costs the most. It includes the average wait time in weeks, the average price of a lesson, and the estimated cost if a learner takes one, two, three, or four extra lessons per month during the waiting period. Each calculation also includes a final prep lesson immediately before the test.

Areas with the highest extra costs

London dominates when it comes to the financial impact of test delays. Camden again tops the list, with an average wait of 23.3 weeks and extra costs ranging from £364 for one additional lesson per month to nearly £1,300 for four. Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Merton, and Lambeth all feature in the top ten, each adding hundreds of pounds in extra lessons.

Outside London, Bath and North East Somerset, West Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole stand out. With lesson prices between £41.96 and £47.70 and average waits of over five months (24 weeks), learners in these areas can expect to pay significantly more to stay prepared while waiting for a test slot.

Areas with the lowest extra costs

Some areas experience far smaller cost increases from test delays. Pembrokeshire in Wales has the lowest extra burden, with a wait of just 4 weeks and additional costs of £65.86 for one extra lesson per month, rising to £164.64 for four lessons (equivalent to one lesson per week up until the test). East Ayrshire and the Shetland Islands in Scotland show similar patterns, with costs staying under roughly £265 for four weekly lessons.

Other low-impact areas include Denbighshire, Westmorland and Furness, Dumfries and Galloway, Shropshire, Ceredigion, the Orkney Islands, and Gwynedd. In these areas, waits range from 6 to 12.7 weeks, and lesson prices mostly sit in the low £30s. Learners in these areas pay far less to stay test-ready compared with those in London or the South West. For example, in Westmorland and Furness, extra costs range from £118.38 to £359.89 for one to four lessons per month.

Even in these lower-cost regions, delays still add to the financial burden, though the impact is far smaller than in the most affected areas.

The Financial Impact of Rebooking

Delays aren’t the only factor increasing costs. Failing a test can be particularly expensive when combined with long waits for a new slot. Using first-time pass rates, we estimated how many additional attempts a learner may need, and calculated the extra cost of rebooking. This includes additional lessons taken during the waiting period, plus one recommended “pre-test” lesson before each attempt.

Areas with the highest cost of having to rebook a failed test amid delays

In Wolverhampton, where the first-time pass rate is just 30.9% and wait times average 24 weeks (5.5 months), learners face the highest expected rebooking costs: from £696 for one extra lesson per month to more than £2,100 for four. Walsall and Leicester follow closely, with potential costs climbing to around £1,900 and £1,800.

London boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest also rank highly, with expected costs of around £1,760 for four weekly lessons. Liverpool, Plymouth, Luton, Bury, and Rochdale show similar trends, where learners may spend £1,560–£1,720 depending on how many lessons they take each month.

Areas with the lowest cost of having to rebook a failed test amid delays

Areas in Scotland and Wales face the lowest financial impact when rebooking after a failed test. The Shetland Islands are the most affordable, with a high pass rate of 70.6%, a relatively short 7-week wait, and low lesson prices keeping total costs between £64 and £136. East Ayrshire, Pembrokeshire, Orkney, Denbighshire, Angus, and Gwynedd follow similar patterns, all staying well under £120 for one extra lesson per month.

Some English areas also feature in this group. Westmorland and Furness offer the lowest rebooking costs in England, with waits of just over two months (8.5 weeks) and total costs from £92 to £216. Others, such as Shropshire and Derbyshire, remain relatively low, though areas including Dorset, Herefordshire, Solihull, and North Yorkshire face longer waits — up to five and a half months (24 weeks) — pushing costs above £500 for learners taking multiple monthly lessons.

Delay toll on income 

For many young learners, taking a driving test also means taking time off work, as slots often fall during typical working hours. Including travel, a test can mean around three hours away from paid work. By using average hourly pay for 18–29-year-olds across the UK, we estimated the potential earnings lost per test attempt, which increases even further for those who fail and must rebook. Higher fees for evening, weekend, and bank holiday test slots add to the overall financial pressure faced by many learners.

Areas with the highest potential income loss due to delayed driving tests

When lost work income is included, delays and rebooked tests create a significant additional cost for young learners. Wolverhampton faces the highest impact, with 18–21-year-olds potentially losing around £780 when taking one extra lesson per month, rising to more than £2,200 for four. Learners aged 22–29 experience similar pressures, with costs ranging from roughly £800 to over £2,230.

Walsall and Leicester in the Midlands, along with Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest in London, also rank among the hardest-hit areas. In these locations, combining one additional monthly lesson with lost income can add £650–£700 to the total cost of learning. Northern and southern areas such as Liverpool, Plymouth, Luton, and Bury show comparable patterns, with four-monthly lessons pushing costs towards or above £1,700 for 18–21-year-olds. Together, these figures highlight how taking time off work for tests, especially when delays require extra lessons, can significantly increase the financial burden on learners across the UK.

Joe Parry, Head of EzLicence UK, comments:

“In many parts of the UK, doing things ‘by the book’ now adds £1,000–£2,000 to the cost of learning to drive. Long test waits mean more lessons to stay test-ready, repeated rebookings, and time off work - all quietly inflating the price of getting a licence.

When learners can buy a test illicitly for £250 - £500 but potentially save far more than that by avoiding months of delays, it’s no surprise some are being pushed towards risky black market test bookings.

It’s right that the DVSA are clamping down on the second-hand test market, but without meaningful progress on reducing the test backlog, the underlying problem remains. While the backlog began during COVID, it’s now being prolonged by a shortage of examiners. With examiners earning around £28,000 compared to instructors closer to £40,000, the incentive gap is clear.

Addressing examiner pay and capacity is the next challenge for the DVSA — but constrained by public-sector pay structures, this is not an issue that will be resolved quickly. Until then, it’s learners who are left paying the price.”

EzLicence tips for managing delays and costs

• Find the right balance: Book your test early enough to secure a slot, but not so early that you’re unprepared. Most learners need consistent practice in the final weeks, so check in with your instructor regularly — they can give you a realistic sense of when you’re genuinely test-ready.
   
• Monitor cancellations carefully: Earlier test slots often appear at short notice, especially in the mornings or late evenings. Keep an eye on the official booking system and act quickly if something opens up. Avoid third-party “priority booking” services, which can charge high fees without guaranteeing a slot.
   
• Plan lessons strategically: Long waits can make it harder to stay confident behind the wheel. If your test is months away, space out lessons so you maintain skills without overspending — and consider adding focused sessions closer to the test date.
   
• Consider test timing: Standard weekday tests cost £62, while evening, weekend, and bank holiday slots rise to £75. If your schedule allows, aim for mid-week appointments, which are cheaper and may have more availability.
   
• Factor in lost work income: A driving test typically takes around three hours, including travel and paperwork. If you’re booking during work or study hours, add this lost time to your budget so you’re not caught off guard.
   
• Keep a small contingency fund: Unexpected costs — such as rebooking after a failed attempt or needing extra lessons if delays stretch out — can add up quickly. Setting aside a small buffer can help you manage these without added stress.

About the Data

This analysis calculates the true cost of learning to drive and the extra expenses caused by long test waiting times, using a combination of industry data, government sources, and DVSA records.

Lesson and Test Cost Assumptions

• Total learning cost is based on each region’s average hourly lesson price
• Costs assume 45 hours of lessons (UK market average – ReadyToPass, UK Government).
• A £62 practical driving test fee is applied (weekday rate).
• Local test-day lesson pack prices are also included - 2.5 x the average lesson price of the region.
• Lesson prices are derived from 15,000+ UK lessons taken from May 2025.

Additional Data Sources

• 2025 gross hourly pay from provisional ONS and NISRA data, October 2025.
• DVSA practical test centre wait times from an FOI request dated 21 April 2025.
• DVSA pass rates and first-attempt pass rates for the 2024/25 period.

Administrative boundaries (counties and regions) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were used for the purposes of this analysis. To avoid confusion with ceremonial counties, the term areas is used in reference to administrative counties. Due to unavailable lesson cost and wait-time data, Northern Ireland is not included in this study.

To ensure consistent and reliable reporting, minimum data thresholds were applied. Counties with incomplete lesson price or pass-rate data were assigned their regional average, and therefore excluded from any top/bottom rankings.

County and region-level wait times combine test-centre data across the UK. Where no wait times were published for a county, the average wait for its wider region was used so every area has a realistic estimate based on local testing conditions.

Analysing at county level reflects how learners choose between multiple nearby instructors and test centres. This provides a more accurate picture of the real availability, wait times, and costs facing learners in each area.

Estimating the Extra Cost of Test Delays
To calculate the financial impact of failing and rebooking a driving test, each area’s first-time pass rate was used to estimate the average number of attempts a learner is likely to make.
For each additional attempt, we added:

• the £62 test fee; and
• the extra lessons required during the waiting period, modelled across scenarios of 0.25 to 1 extra lessons per week, plus a final pre-test “warm-up” lesson.

This approach captures the real, recurring costs learners face when long wait times or failed tests extend the learning timeline.