Driving test being 'dumbed down' fear, as examiners report pressure on pass rate

Managers at the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency have been accused of bullying tactics and lowering test standards, as the hard-pressed organisation struggles to reduce its post-pandemic backlog.

The Department for Transport target for 2024 test wait times is seven weeks, but DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder told the Transport Select Committee of MPs today that the figure is still 26 weeks across the UK.

The Committee heard evidence from the Public and Commercial Services Union that managers are bullying examiners into being lenient on tests, while the DVSA was also accused of using a software tool to highlight more difficult test routes with a view to phasing them out and increasing the pass rate. 

It was also reported that lorry drivers taking the test are being spared from the most difficult manoeuvres, in an effort to boost their chances of passing.

Giving evidence to the committee alongside Ryder were Emma Ward, director general of the Road Transport Group at the Department for Transport, and Lilian Greenwood MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the DfT responsible for roads.

Addressing the backlog – which has been fuelled by the DVSA’s failure to increase examiner numbers since 2021 despite a recruitment drive, and has left test applicants at the mercy of companies using bots to grab limited test slots and sell them on at vastly inflated prices – Ryder said fixing it was a priority.

She told the Committee: “I’d hate for anyone to be under the misapprehension that we don’t desperately care about getting this sorted out. 

“At the DVSA it is our top topic of management attention and we have worked tirelessly over the last four years to try and address this situation. It’s priority one, and I am desperately sorry for people really struggling to get their tests – I empathise and feel for them, there is no complacency here.”

When Catherine Atkinson, MP for Derby North, raised the question of the pressures being exerted on examiners to lower test standards, Ryder told the Committee: “We keep statistics of all the test routes and pass rate. It’s really important that we have fair and consistent standards, and that means looking in detail at the statistics to make sure every test route is round about the same level of difficulty, and that examiner pass rates are consistent, and the way things are marked and passed on routes are ‘normed’ so people are marking them in the same way.”

That view was backed by the minister, who said: “It’s absolutely essential to maintain standards, but what is also clear is that if you’re managing the system you want to make sure that all your examiners – and we’re talking about 1,500 people – are applying those standards consistently.”

The risks of dumbing down the driving test to increase the pass rate are potentially serious. Ben Pepper, Senior Associate in the Personal Injury Claims Team at legal firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, told Auto Express:
“The claims that driving test bosses have pressured examiners to be lenient with learners, in a bid to reduce COVID-induced backlogs, raise serious concerns about road safety. 

“While the backlog may need addressing, such practices could compromise the integrity of the driving test. Priority should be given to creating sustainable solutions that prioritise road safety over administrative backlogs.”

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