Learner drivers are being charged £200 to buy a driving test - more than twice the original fee - by people who have bulk bought slots to sell on for profit. The lockdown saw driving tests cancelled, meaning there is now a backlog of up to six months to book a test in some places.
One woman told the BBC she paid £210 for a test through her instructor. The standard fee is £62 for a weekday test and £75 at evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
The woman said: "My driving instructor would call me and say, 'quick, there's a cancellation, do you want it?' The day we booked my test it all happened within a three or four-minute phone call."
After paying she received a reference number allowing her to change the test booking with her own details. Another driver said her instructor had paid £235 for her test.
The BBC found companies using automated software to look for cancelled slots to resell, and multiple posts on Facebook offering test times for sale. One person said they make hundreds of pounds a week reselling tests.
Learners only have access to part of the DVSA site where they can book one test at a time, but driving schools have more access allowing bookings for multiple slots. The BBC said it registered as a fake driving school and got access to the 'extra' section.
They say it took five minutes to register as a driving school with no verification or paperwork. The driving school section of the site will send you an alert when slots become available, and slots can be swapped with another learner after they are booked.
Charles Moffat, chairman of the Approved Driving Instructors' National Joint Council, told the BBC: "We abhor such practice and will always report such conduct to the DVSA."
The DVSA said: "We urge applicants not to use any third-party cancellation checking services and to always go through the official DVSA website.
"We've already put in place measures to monitor and prevent bots from accessing our systems, while also strengthening our firewall to tackle the issue."
It said new tests were released on Mondays at 6am 24 weeks in advance.
