Can I get a driving test in Watford?

A Freedom of Information request made by the AA to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) revealed that more than 500,000 learners are waiting for driving tests, with an average waiting time of 14 weeks.

In Watford, at the time of writing, no tests are available at any date. The same is true of St Albans, Borehamwood, Greenford, Pinner, or any of the other nearby test centres.

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Minhazur Rahman, owner of Watford Driving Academy, said: “I do a lot of intensive courses now and when people are ready I tell them to go anywhere in the UK.

“Tests are so backlogged it’s unbelievable.

“Right now I have someone going to Norwich. People will often go to Slough - they are going to travel all that way to get a test.

“There are some tests out there, but only if you go much further from London.

Watford Practical Driving Test Centre. Picture: Google Street View

“Literally, in Watford you might be able to get a cancellation in three to four months but in Pinner… forget about it.

“It ends up costing them more too, because you need more lessons.”

Mr Rahman added that panic has made the problem even worse.

The 49-year-old said: “The people who aren’t ready keep asking to do early tests as they are worried they’ll end up waiting so long if they don’t.

“They will even spend £200 to £300 to get cancellations from premium services.

Watford Driving Academy Car. Picture: Minhazur Rahman

“If you are trying to book normally you have to contend with these services, so tests go so quickly.

“Everyone needs to take a deep breath and let the backlog work out, people get too anxious and go too early.”

In a statement quoted by the BBC, a spokesperson for the DVSA said it is recruiting an additional 300 examiners, conducting out-of-hours testing and asking qualified staff that no longer work as driving examiners to conduct tests.

It added: "Following the suspension and further disruption of driver testing over much of the Covid pandemic, we are doing all we can to provide learners with as many practical driving tests as possible and bring average waiting times down to less than 10 weeks by the end of the year."

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