UK Driving News This Week: The DVSA Annual Report, a Test Fraud Jailing and Britain's Safest Drivers (20 July 2026)

Annual report week is rarely the most exciting date in the motoring calendar, but this year it mattered. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency published its accounts for 2025/26 and put a number on the thing every learner and instructor already suspected: the test backlog has barely shifted. The industry's response was swift and sceptical. Elsewhere, a serial test impersonator was jailed, an insurer ranked the safest places to drive in Britain, and a survey found a lot of motorists have no idea a scruffy car can cost them points.

The DVSA delivered more tests and the wait barely moved

DVSA published its annual report and accounts for 2025/26 last week, covering the financial year to the end of March. The headline for anyone learning to drive is the practical test wait, which averaged 21.5 weeks across the year against an internal target of seven.

That figure is not for want of effort on volume. The agency provided almost 2.2 million car practical tests, an increase on the previous year and comfortably ahead of its own target of 1.975 million. Roughly 200,000 extra tests bought a reduction in the average wait of about half a week, from 21.9 to 21.5. That arithmetic explains why the backlog has proved so stubborn: demand keeps pace with every extra appointment the agency creates.

The rest of the report reads far more comfortably. Theory candidates waited an average of 3.4 weeks with satisfaction at 96%, and DVSA met its waiting time targets for both vocational and motorcycle practical tests. Car practical testing is the one part of the operation missing by a wide margin, and it happens to be the part that decides when a learner gets their licence.

Instructor satisfaction is the one score going backwards

The Driving Instructors Association published its own analysis of the report on 17 July 2026, and it is not a gentle read. Its sharpest finding concerns trainer satisfaction, which fell to 42% against a 60% target, down from 47% the year before, while candidate satisfaction improved. The report does not explain the divergence, and the DIA argues the answer lies in the parts of the service the public never sees: waits also affect ADI part 2 and part 3 tests and standards checks.

The association also flags the money. DVSA recorded an £86.6m net expenditure deficit, and test fees, frozen for more than 15 years, are now under active review with the Department for Transport and the Treasury. A DIA freedom of information request separately puts annual revenue from ADI and PDI licence and test fees at £10.15m in 2025/26, up from £7.67m in 2021/22, a rise of roughly a third in five years, over a period when fewer than 700 standards checks were delivered.

Examiner numbers carry a question mark too. The report describes a net increase of about 188 driving examiners while also citing an active car examiner workforce of roughly 1,604 full time equivalents and a 7% year-on-year rise. As the DIA points out, 7% of that base is closer to 105, so the two statements do not obviously reconcile.

Serial test impersonator jailed for 14 months

DVSA published the second edition of its enforcement update on 14 July 2026, built around a prosecution that had been years in the making. A serial driving test impersonator received a 14 month prison sentence following a DVSA investigation supported by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The offender was linked to more than 40 suspected impersonation offences at theory test centres across Great Britain, and was arrested after an intelligence-led operation at Nuneaton Driving Test Centre in January 2025. DVSA acknowledges that long practical waits put learners under real pressure, but its position is unchanged: a licence obtained fraudulently puts an untested driver on the road. Instructors are asked to report anything that looks like impersonation, with as much detail as they can give.

Cardiff tops a new ranking of Britain's safest drivers

Marshmallow Car Insurance published its Safe Driver Index on 16 July 2026, ranking 69 UK postcode areas using more than 500,000 data points drawn from accident claims, police-recorded collisions and collision severity. The index adjusts for the number of insured vehicles in each area rather than counting raw collisions.

Cardiff came top with a score of 100, followed by Aberdeen on 96.5 and Motherwell on 94.1. Taunton, Southend, Bristol, Stockport, Hemel Hempstead, Oldham and Oxford completed the top ten. By region, Scotland averaged 95.3 and Wales 80.3, while London propped up the table at 30.5.

Treat it as a picture of local risk rather than a verdict on individual skill. The practical read is that insurers now draw on an ever wider pool of driving data when they price a policy, which is worth a seventeen-year-old understanding before their first quote lands.

One in five drivers do not know a faulty car carries penalty points

Research from Auction4Cars.com, published on 13 July 2026, surveyed 2,000 UK motorists and found 18% did not know they could be penalised for driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition. Depending on severity, that means three penalty points per defect, a fine of up to £2,500, a ban, or some combination of the three. The defects motorists admitted to were mostly mundane and mostly cheap to fix:

• Tyres with low pressure, 34%

• Chipped or cracked windscreen, 32%

• Broken or worn wipers, 19%

• Damaged exhaust, 16%

• Worn brakes, 12%

• Illegal tyre tread, 10%

Cost is part of the story. Five per cent said they had delayed essential repairs until they could afford them and a further four per cent attempted the work themselves. Not every item on that list makes a car unroadworthy, but defective tyres, worn brakes, damaged windscreens and useless wipers can all invite enforcement action.

What this week means for you

If you are learning, the annual report confirms what your instructor has probably been telling you for months. Extra tests are being delivered and the wait is not falling meaningfully, so the appointment you hold is worth protecting. Turn up ready rather than hopeful, because a wasted slot at these waiting times is expensive in a way that has nothing to do with the fee. Structured practice between lessons is the cheapest way to close the gap, which is what Clutch is built for: your private practice drives get scored against the same DVSA competencies an examiner uses, so you know which faults are still costing you before test day rather than after.

For instructors, the 42% satisfaction score is a fair reflection of a year in which part 2 and part 3 waits and standards check delivery all slipped while ADI fee income climbed. Fee rises are now a live prospect rather than a rumour, so factor that into pricing conversations for the coming year. The Auction4Cars findings are also a nudge to keep vehicle checks in the syllabus properly rather than as a show me tell me afterthought. Instructors using Clutch for instructors can see how pupils are progressing between lessons and target sessions accordingly.

Frequently asked questions

Has the driving test wait actually improved?

Marginally. DVSA's 2025/26 annual report puts the average car practical wait at 21.5 weeks, down from 21.9 weeks the year before, against a seven week target. The agency delivered almost 2.2 million tests in the year, ahead of its own target, but demand absorbed most of the extra capacity.

Are driving test fees going up?

Nothing has been announced. DVSA's report confirms that fees, unchanged for more than 15 years, are under review with the Department for Transport and the Treasury, with the aim of making fee income cover costs. Given the £86.6m net expenditure deficit, a rise looks likely, but no figure or date exists yet.

What should I do if I suspect someone is impersonating a candidate?

Report it to DVSA with as much detail as you can give, including names and addresses if known, a description, dates and times, and how you came by the information. You will not get an update on the investigation, but every report is assessed.

Can I be penalised for driving a car with a cracked windscreen or worn tyres?

Yes, if the defect makes the vehicle unsafe. Penalties run to three points per defect and fines of up to £2,500, with a ban possible in serious cases. Walk-around checks should be routine, not something a learner only does when an examiner asks.

Practising between lessons? Get your drives scored against DVSA standards with Clutch and walk into your test knowing exactly where you stand.