Worst places in the UK for driving test wait times as 41 towns have NO tests available

The best and worst places to try to get a driving test in the UK has now been revealed.

Learning to drive as soon as they can is on plenty of young people's radar from the age of 17 and is seen as the first ticket to freedom and independence.

Some people just never got round to it, though, and find themselves needing to learn a little later in life.

Be it due to a baby on the way, or moving somewhere a little more remote, lots of people will continue wanting to learn to drive every year.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) chief Loveday Ryder said in a letter published in October: "Unfortunately, demand for tests continues to be very high. The current national average waiting time for a car test is around 15 weeks. 79 test centres have a waiting time of the maximum 24 weeks."

Despite this, waiting times remain high and CarMats.co.uk researched the worst places to try to book a test with the DVSA, with either no tests available at all or huge waiting times.

Worst places in the UK to wait for a driving test

People are having to wait an incredibly long time to do their tests (Getty Images)

Goodmayes in Ilford, east London, takes the top spot for the worst place to wait for a driving test.

To fight the backlog, the DVSA returned to a policy of seven tests a day for each examiner, offered out-of-hours weekend and driving tests, and ensured other DVSA employees who don't normally carry out tests take part.

Car Mats compiled the 50 worst places in the UK to try and book a test. The first 41 areas had no tests available at all, while the rest had to wait a whopping 23 weeks.

17 of the locations are in London, which may well be down to a high population in a small area.

They were as follows:

1. Goodmayes (London)
2. Isleworth (Fleming Way) (London)
3. Slough (London)
4. Morden (London)
5. Chingford (London)
6. Reading
7. West Didsbury (Manchester)
8. Mill Hill (London)
9. Cardiff Llanishen
10. Peterborough
11. Hither Green (London)
12. Tolworth (London)
13. Cambridge (Brookmount Court)
14. Chadderton
15. Oxford (Cowley)
16. Cheetham Hill (Manchester)
17. Bletchley
18. Sale (Manchester)
19. Luton
20. Barking (Tanner Street) (London)
21. Preston
22. Mitcham (London)
23. Featherstone
24. Wood Green (London)
25. Farnborough
26. Lancing
27. Sidcup (London)
28. Ipswich
29. Hull
30. Wanstead (London)
31. Colchester
32. West Wickham (London)
33. Gillingham
34. Crawley
35. Bromley (London)
36. Hornchurch (London)
37. St Albans
38. Hyde (Manchester)
39. Coventry
40. Stoke-on-Trent (Newcastle-Under-Lyme)
41. Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road)
42. Huddersfield
43. Sheffield (Middlewood Road)
44. Rochdale (Manchester)
45. Bury St Edmunds
46. Greenford (Horsenden Lane - London)
47. Ashfield
48. Herne Bay
49. York
50. Banbury

The demand for tests is high due in part to the pandemic restrictions in place over recent months and a low pass rate for first-time learners.

The best places in the UK to book a driving test.

Kirkcaldy is the best place to book a test, according to the study (Getty Images/Westend61)

Kirkcaldy in Scotland takes the proud crown of the lowest waiting times for a driving test in the country, with a wait of just two weeks.

1. Kirkcaldy - two weeks
2. Speke (Liverpool) - 10 weeks
3. Plymouth - 13 weeks
4. Southampton (Maybush) - 14 weeks
5. Exeter - 14 weeks
6. Upton - 14 weeks
7. Derby (Alvaston) - 15 weeks
8. Worcester - 15 weeks
9. Blackpool - 15 weeks
10. Wolverhampton - 17 weeks
11. Newton Abbot - 17 weeks
12. Rotherham - 17 weeks
13. Norris Green (Liverpool) - 18 weeks
14. Dudley - 18 weeks
15. Portsmouth - 18 weeks
16. Doncaster - 18 weeks
17. Poole - 19 weeks
18. Leeds - 20 weeks
19. Bradford (Thornbury) - 20 weeks
20. Bristol (Kingswood) - 21 weeks

Have you struggled to book your driving test? Let us know in the comments below