Driving test waiting times: what changed in September 2026
DVSA publishes the waiting time at every test centre once a month. Most coverage stops at the national figure, which hides the thing that actually affects you: waits move in opposite directions at neighbouring centres. Comparing September 2026 against August 2026 across 311 centres, 162 got longer and 142 got shorter.
The national picture
The Great Britain median wait moved from 11.1 weeks in August 2026 to 11.6 weeks in September 2026, 0.5 weeks longer. That single number is the one most reports quote, and on its own it tells you very little: it is the midpoint of 311 centres moving in both directions at once.
Where the wait grew most
These centres added the most weeks between August 2026 and September 2026. A sharp rise usually means examiner availability changed or a nearby centre stopped absorbing demand, and it is the clearest signal that booking early matters here.
| Test centre | August 2026 | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slough (London)South East | 6 | 22.1 | +16.1 |
| Tolworth (London)London | 10.3 | 23.1 | +12.8 |
| Loughton (London)East of England | 9.4 | 20.9 | +11.5 |
| MallaigScotland | 10.9 | 22 | +11.1 |
| Southend-on-SeaEast of England | 7.5 | 17.6 | +10.1 |
| Hendon (London)London | 11.1 | 21.1 | +10 |
| Newton AbbotSouth West | 6.8 | 16 | +9.2 |
| LochgilpheadScotland | 14.3 | 23.1 | +8.8 |
| Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road)East of England | 16.6 | 25.1 | +8.5 |
| Greenford (Horsenden Lane)London | 10.7 | 18.4 | +7.7 |
Where the wait fell most
These centres shortened by the most weeks. If one of them is within reach, this is the month to look at it: an improvement of this size usually reflects extra test capacity that has not yet been absorbed by demand.
| Test centre | August 2026 | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| BedfordEast of England | 27.1 | 3.3 | -23.8 |
| Enfield (Innova Business Park)London | 20 | 2.4 | -17.6 |
| AirdrieScotland | 20.9 | 7.1 | -13.8 |
| LoughboroughEast Midlands | 23 | 10.5 | -12.5 |
| NorthwichNorth West | 19.1 | 7.3 | -11.8 |
| KingussieScotland | 18.3 | 7.5 | -10.8 |
| BletchleySouth East | 14.6 | 4 | -10.6 |
| PenzanceSouth West | 21 | 10.7 | -10.3 |
| Yeading (London)London | 12.6 | 3 | -9.6 |
| HullYorkshire and The Humber | 14 | 4.4 | -9.6 |
Working hardest and still losing ground
DVSA also publishes how many tests each centre delivered through examiner overtime. The centres below ran the most overtime and still did not shorten their wait. That combination matters because overtime is not permanent capacity: a centre holding its position this way is more fragile than its headline number suggests.
| Test centre | Overtime tests | Wait, September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham (Garretts Green)West Midlands | 604 | 11.4 | +4.4 |
| Bristol (Kingswood)South West | 418 | 5.9 | +0.6 |
| Leicester (Wigston)East Midlands | 394 | 12.7 | +5.6 |
| Sheffield (Handsworth)Yorkshire and The Humber | 368 | 6.1 | +0.1 |
| ChaddertonNorth West | 367 | 16.1 | +4.1 |
| Mitcham (London)London | 344 | 16.1 | +3.8 |
| Herne BaySouth East | 332 | 8.6 | +1.6 |
| FeatherstoneWest Midlands | 321 | 11.9 | 0 |
| SunderlandNorth East | 299 | 9 | +0.1 |
| GillinghamSouth East | 296 | 12 | +2.1 |
The longest and shortest waits right now
Movement is the news, but the level is what you book against. These are the extremes in September 2026.
| Test centre | August 2026 | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArbroathScotland | 25.9 | 29.9 | +4 |
| CallanderScotland | 26.9 | 29.7 | +2.8 |
| crieff-rScotland | 31.4 | 29 | -2.4 |
| ForfarScotland | 24.1 | 28.2 | +4.1 |
| CampbeltownScotland | 26.9 | 25.7 | -1.2 |
| Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road)East of England | 16.6 | 25.1 | +8.5 |
| kelso-rScotland | 22.9 | 24.7 | +1.8 |
| Cambridge (Brookmount Court)East of England | 20.1 | 24.3 | +4.2 |
| peebles-rScotland | 22 | 24.1 | +2.1 |
| brodick-isle-of-arran-rScotland | 19.1 | 23.9 | +4.8 |
| Test centre | August 2026 | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| carlisle-lgv-carsNorth West | 0.3 | 0.6 | +0.3 |
| Enfield (Innova Business Park)London | 20 | 2.4 | -17.6 |
| Enfield (Brancroft Way)London | 2.4 | 2.6 | +0.2 |
| ScarboroughYorkshire and The Humber | 7 | 2.9 | -4.1 |
| HerefordWest Midlands | 5.6 | 2.9 | -2.7 |
| Yeading (London)London | 12.6 | 3 | -9.6 |
| BedfordEast of England | 27.1 | 3.3 | -23.8 |
| isle-of-skye-portree-rScotland | 8.3 | 3.4 | -4.9 |
| BostonEast Midlands | 4.5 | 3.6 | -0.9 |
| ChichesterSouth East | 4.7 | 3.7 | -1 |
How to read these numbers
Which measure this is. DVSA publishes two different waiting-time figures and they are not interchangeable. Everything here is the median actual wait between booking and taking the test. The other figure, the number of weeks until at least 10% of appointments are free to book, answers a different question and is usually a larger number. Mixing them is the most common way this data gets reported wrongly.
What it covers. These are car test centres in Great Britain. Northern Ireland testing is run separately by the DVA and is not in this dataset.
What a median means for you. Half of candidates at that centre waited less than the figure shown, half waited more. It is not the next available date, which moves daily with cancellations. For that, check the wait time finder and the gov.uk booking service.
Centres not shown. A centre appears only if it reported a median in both months. Centres that closed or stopped reporting are excluded rather than carried forward on an old figure.
Source: DVSA driving test waiting times and availability by test centre, table DRT122F, published under the Open Government Licence. View the source data on gov.uk. Updated with each monthly release; this page currently shows September 2026 against August 2026.
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