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Driver Training Industry Roundabout, 24 August 2020

This week we see more than 240,000 people queue to book their driving test online after demand causes the DVSA website to crash, driving lessons reopen in Scotland and the changes come to the Standards Check, Part Two and Part Three assessments during coronavirus.

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240,000 People Queue to Book Their Driving Test Online

The DVSA website that allows driving tests to be booked online crashed after receiving 7 million applications in 12 hours on Saturday. The website was recently relaunched today to queues over 240,000 people.

Learners could see themselves waiting more than 20 weeks to sit their test as the backlog starts to be tackled after the Coronavirus lockdown.

For instructors, this could mean;

  • learners may hold off on starting lessons
  • learners may stop lessons for a time if they decide not to have weekly lessons until closer to their test, forcing instructors to juggle more pupils at once
  • we may see learners booking their test before lessons begin, forcing instructors to work around unrealistic goals.

Driving Lessons Resume Across Scotland

August 24th saw lessons reopen across Scotland—even in places like Aberdeen who were in a city-wide lockdown.

This is great news for the industry and we've already seen a dramatic increase in the amount of students picking their instructor through GoRoadie.

Changes to the Standards Check, Part Two and Part Three Assessments

These changes have been made to keep people safe during COVID-19 and include:

  • briefings will be conducted outside of the vehicle
  • The amount of time for "wheels are turning" has been reduced to 40 minutes, but you will still be required to demonstrate all competencies
  • A mutually agreeable meeting point that's within 5 minutes of the examiners test centre will be chosen ahead of the assessment date, reducing reliance on test centres

You can read the full details of all recent changes here (PDF).