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The DVSA has issued a fresh statement as officials oversee the introduction of new driving rules from Tuesday. May 12. The changes affect learner drivers as part of a series of major changes to how car tests are overseen.

Under the new updates, learner drivers will only be able to book and manage driving tests themselves, taking power away from driving instructors. Beverley Warmington, DVSA's Chief Executive, explained that the new rules were coming into effect as part of a crackdown on exploitation by third-party services.

It means that unofficial test booking and cancellation finder services or bots will be unable to book tests, clogging exam dates. It will also be a breach of DVSA terms and conditions for third parties to change, swap or cancel a driving test on behalf of someone else.

In a new statement, Beverley said: "Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices.

"These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others. These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.

"We're determined to reduce waiting times further, building on the more than 158,000 additional tests delivered between June 2025 and March 2026 - supported by driving examiner numbers at their highest level since 2018 and the recent deployment of military driving examiners who are already carrying out tests."

The new updates are the second tweak officials have made to driving tests in a matter of weeks, with previous changes coming into effect back in March.

Earlier this spring, the DVSA oversaw a reduction in the number of permitted test booking changes, with learners able to tweak their tests just twice instead of up to six times.

Further changes are on the way, with learners only able to move a test to one of their three nearest test centres from 9 June. The DVSA explained that the new rules are being introduced following a nationwide consultation on improving the booking rules.