Learner drivers across Great Britain now face a much tighter system for booking and managing practical car tests. Since 12 May 2026, only the person taking the test can make or manage their own booking.

Driving instructors, schools and unofficial cancellation-finder services can no longer do it on a learner’s behalf. The changes are designed to reduce the resale of appointments, restrict automated booking activity and make scarce test times more accessible to genuine learners.

Only Learners Can Book

Under the current rules, learners must book their own category B car driving test and remain responsible for any later changes.

Third-party businesses cannot book, cancel, move or manage appointments for customers. Instructors can still advise pupils on when they are ready and share their availability, but the learner must complete the actual booking.

Unofficial services are also prohibited from searching the booking system for appointments on behalf of learners. The aim is to prevent businesses from using automated tools or bulk-booking techniques to secure popular test times and resell access at higher prices.

Tests Can Only Be Changed Twice

The May rules form part of a wider overhaul introduced earlier in 2026.

Since 31 March, car driving test appointments can be changed only twice, compared with the previous allowance of up to six changes. After using both changes, a learner generally needs to cancel the appointment and make a new booking if another alteration is required.

The restriction is intended to discourage repeated movement of appointments through the system and make availability easier to manage.

Location Changes Are Restricted

A further rule took effect on 9 June 2026.

Learners can no longer book a test in one part of the country and freely transfer it to a high-demand centre elsewhere. When changing location, they are generally limited to the three nearest test centres available under the system, although they may also keep their current centre or return to the centre originally booked.

This makes the choice of test centre more important from the beginning.

How Much Should a Test Cost?

The official practical car test fee remains £62 on weekdays and £75 for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. The theory test costs £23.

These standard fees matter because one of the main concerns behind the new rules was that some learners were paying much more through unofficial booking businesses.

Using an intermediary does not provide an official cheaper or priority route into the testing system.

More Tests Are Being Delivered

The booking restrictions are only one part of wider efforts to reduce long waiting times.

Between April 2025 and March 2026, almost 2 million practical car tests were carried out, an increase of 8.6% compared with the previous year. More than one million tests were passed during the same period.

Examiner capacity has also increased through additional recruitment and the temporary deployment of driving examiners from the uniformed services, helping expand the number of available tests.

Demand nevertheless remains high, and concerns about automated booking and appointment resale have not disappeared completely. Additional measures have already been introduced to limit bulk-booking behaviour and automated access.

What Learners Should Do Now

The simplest approach is to keep control of the entire booking process yourself.

Choose the test centre you genuinely plan to use, book directly, avoid sharing sensitive licence or payment information with unofficial services, and remember that only two appointment changes are available.

If another learner wants to exchange an existing appointment, an official procedure remains available with safeguards for personal information.