Driving instructors and learners in north-east England and Cumbria say too many driving tests are being cancelled just days, and sometimes hours, before they are due to take place, leaving young people stranded between lessons and a licence they need to work. One Northumberland instructor, Katie Smith, says several of her clients have been affected and is calling on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to recruit more examiners and cut the waiting list.
Smith said the cancellations hit hardest in rural towns such as Allendale and Alston, where public transport is limited and many learners need a car to get to work, college or farms. “These are often young people in very rural areas who can barely afford driving lessons and desperately need a licence to work, it just has a massive impact,” she said. “I've got kids who do pot washing to pay for lessons, then their tests are postponed and they have to find more money because they can't just not drive for a month or two.”
The problem is concentrated in north-east England and Cumbria, where learners often depend on a test date to unlock jobs that are not practical without a car. Smith’s clients are usually from rural communities with limited bus services, so a cancellation can mean another stretch of lessons, more money and a longer wait to get on the road. The issue has become more pressing today because some learners are being told only after they have already committed time and money to the appointment.
That is what happened to 17-year-old sheep farmer Ridley Craig from Bishop Auckland, who had a test booked for 6 May. He was told the day before that it had been cancelled while he was taking a three-hour lesson to prepare for it. Craig said the delay was more than an inconvenience because he moves between two family farms and also works for another farmer doing sheep work. “We have two family farms and I work for someone else doing his sheep work, so I have to move between different places for work,” he said. “I was pretty upset and disappointed to be honest because I was excited to get passed and get on the road.”
Craig said the last-minute notice made the system feel broken, especially because friends of his had their tests cancelled after they had already arrived at the driving test centre. “A couple of my friends had their tests cancelled when they actually got to the driving test centre, it's not good enough,” he said. His experience reflects the wider frustration among learners who say a missed appointment can derail months of planning.
Linzi Bowden from Workington said she faced a similar setback when her test, due on 18 December 2025, was cancelled two days before it was due to take place. Bowden had waited five months for a place after taking lessons for more than a year, making the cancellation feel even more costly. For learners in places where driving is not a convenience but a basic necessity, the delay can mean missing work opportunities, adding more lesson fees and starting the wait all over again.
The DVSA said occasions when it had to cancel tests were rare, and that it always rebooked the learner’s test for the next available appointment. Even so, Smith says that reassurance does little for learners who are already under financial pressure and facing long waits. Her call for more examiners reflects the central complaint from instructors and learners alike: in rural areas, the difference between a test taking place and a test being pulled at the last moment can decide whether someone gets to work or stays stuck waiting.
