UK driving test waiting times: July 2026 update

Executive summary

• The average typical actual wait was 12.8 weeks. This is an unweighted average of 313 centre-level medians for people who took a test in July 2026.
• 108 centres recorded a median actual wait below 10 weeks. That is 35% of centres with a published median.
• Booking availability fell by 0.7 weeks on average. Across comparable centres, the unweighted average moved from 20.9 weeks in June 2026 to 20.2 weeks in July 2026.
• The biggest changes were local rather than uniform. Perth (Arran Road) rose by 12.0 weeks, while Stornoway fell by 17.1 weeks.

Typical actual wait and booking availability measure different things

At 275 of 312 centres (88%), booking availability was higher than the median time people had actually waited. Across those centres, the average difference between the two figures was 7.3 weeks.

Typical actual wait is the median time between booking and taking a test for people who completed one during the month. Booking availability shows how far ahead DVSA had to look before at least 10% of weekly appointments remained available. It is not the time every learner will wait.

What this means: a centre showing 24 weeks of booking availability does not necessarily mean that a typical learner waited 24 weeks. Cancellations and newly released appointments can produce a much shorter actual wait.

Where typical actual waits were shortest and longest

The rankings below use the July 2026 median actual wait. The booking-availability figure is shown beside it so the two official measures can be compared without treating them as interchangeable.

Booking availability fell at more centres than it rose

The direction of change was favourable across much of the dataset. A lower figure was recorded at 108 centres, compared with 79 centres where the measure rose. However, 121 centres did not move, so the improvement was not universal.

What this means: the overall measure eased, but learners should still check their practical nearby options because centre-level changes varied widely.

The largest booking-availability movements were highly local

Perth (Arran Road) and Stornoway sat at opposite ends of the monthly comparison. The ranked bars use the same scale and show the eight largest increases and decreases. Exact June 2026 and July 2026 values are included beneath each centre.

What this means: a national average is useful context, but it cannot replace checking the centre that is realistic for your lessons and travel.

Find how booking availability changed

Search all 308 comparable centres. Filter by region or direction, then sort the results to find the largest local movements. These are changes in the 10% booking-availability measure, not changes in median actual waiting time or live appointments.

East Midlands recorded the largest regional fall

East Midlands had the biggest drop in its unweighted regional booking-availability average, at 1.7 weeks. 1 regions moved in the other direction. Regional averages give context but can hide large centre-level differences.

How learners can use the report

1. Start with centres you can reach and practise around. Use the linked centre pages to compare published figures without choosing an impractical journey solely for one statistic.
2. Check the official service when you are ready to book. These statistics cannot show whether an appointment is available now.
3. Recheck after the next DVSA release. A large one-month movement may not persist, so treat the report as a snapshot rather than a forecast.

What the next release should tell us

The next useful question is whether the broad fall continues and whether the sharpest local changes persist. This dataset records the published measure but does not explain what caused an individual centre to rise or fall.