A Freedom of Information request has revealed that 62% of test centres across the UK currently have a waiting list of at least 11 weeks, with some test centres facing 24 weeks.
The FOI, requested by HGV training specialists, Driver Hire Training, has investigated how long the current driving test waiting periods are across the UK as lockdown restrictions start to come to an end and the demand for HGV drivers continues.
As the government look to make changes to the current regulations for sitting a lorry test from Autumn 2021, the study revealed the average waiting time across all UK test centres was 9 weeks. The highest waiting times were found in Aberdeen, Lerwick and Machrihanish where there is a current waiting time of 24 weeks for a HGV driving test.
Test centres where waiting times are currently the longest:
| Test Centre | County | Waiting Time (Weeks) |
| Aberdeen South (cove) | Aberdeenshire | 24 |
| Lerwick | Shetland | 24 |
| Machrihanish LGV | Argyll | 24 |
| Wick | Caithness | 12 |
| Aberdeen North | Aberdeenshire | 11 |
| Atherton (Manchester) | Greater Manchester | 11 |
| Beverley LGV | East Yorkshire | 11 |
| Birmingham (Garretts Green) | West Midlands | 11 |
| Bishopbriggs | Lanarkshire | 11 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | Lancashire | 11 |
| Bredbury (Manchester) | Greater Manchester | 11 |
| Burton on Trent | Staffordshire | 11 |
| Camborne | Cornwall | 11 |
| Darlington LGV | County Durham | 11 |
| Dumfries LGV | Dumfries and Galloway | 11 |
| Elgin | Moray | 11 |
| Exeter LGV | Devon | 11 |
| Featherstone | South Staffordshire | 11 |
| Glasgow LGV | Lanarkshire | 11 |
| Gloucester | Gloucestershire | 11 |
| Gosforth | Tyne and Wear | 11 |
| Guildford | Surrey | 11 |
| Kilmarnock LGV | East Ayrshire | 11 |
| Kirkcaldy | Fife | 11 |
| Kirkham LGV | Lancashire | 11 |
| Lancing | West Sussex | 11 |
| Leicester (cannock Street) | Leicestershire | 11 |
| Leighton Buzzard (Standbridge Road) | Bedfordshire | 11 |
| Livingston | West Lothian | 11 |
| Llantrisant | Glamorgan | 11 |
| Newport (Gwent) LGV | Monmouthshire | 11 |
| Perth (Arran Road) | Perth and Kinross | 11 |
| Shrewsbury | Shropshire | 11 |
| Southampton LGV | Hampshire | 11 |
| St Helens (Liverpool) | Merseyside | 11 |
| Steeton | West Yorkshire | 11 |
| Swindon LGV | Wiltshire | 11 |
| Switch Island | Merseyside | 11 |
| Thurrock LGV (London) | Essex | 11 |
| Walton LGV | Suffolk | 11 |
| Watnall | Nottinghamshire | 11 |
| Weedon LGV | Buckinghamshire | 11 |
| Wrexham LGV | Denbighshire | 11 |
On the other hand, it was also revealed that one in five test centres only had a waiting time of 1-4 weeks, showing that waiting times are starting to clear up in some areas.
Although seven test centres had waiting times of one week, Cumbria, Isle of Wight and South Yorkshire were the counties with the shortest waiting times across their test centres, averaging out to just one week.
Test centres where waiting times are currently the shortest:
| Test Centre | County | Waiting Time (Weeks) |
| Carlisle LGV | Cumbria | 1 |
| Chelmsford (Hanbury Road) | Essex | 1 |
| Lincoln | Lincolnshire | 1 |
| Plymouth LGV | Devon | 1 |
| Rookley LGV | Isle of Wight | 1 |
| Sheffield (Handsworth) | South Yorkshire | 1 |
| Taunton | Somerset | 1 |
| Poole | Dorset | 2 |
| Stornoway LGV | Outer Hebrides | 2 |
| Culham LGV | Oxfordshire | 3 |
| Greenham | Berkshire | 3 |
| Gillingham LGV | Kent | 4 |
| Orkney | Orkney Islands | 4 |
| Peterborough LGV | Cambridgeshire | 4 |
John Keelan-Edwards at Driver Hire Training comments on the analysis: “The demand on the supply chain is continuing across the globe, with Britain experiencing everything from chicken shortages to Co2 shortages. Key shopping dates, such as Black Friday and the festive period are coming up, which is always a busy time for the supply chain. We can guarantee this is only going to be adding more pressure to the supply chain as a whole, with the increasing number of people shopping for these events online.
“The pressure on driver supply is down to so many factors including the likes of Brexit, tax regulations, and a significant fall in the number of people who are actually able to take a commercial vehicle driving test due to the prolonged effects of the pandemic.
“Although the government are changing rules to HGV tests to help pass eager drivers through their exams quicker, it’s no surprise to see the waiting list for these exams is still up to 24 weeks in some areas, as coronavirus is still adding pressure to examiners up and down the country. However, it’s also great to start to see those waiting times come down in some places.
“There is however a positive that we’ve been able to take from this situation and the pandemic as a whole. The mass appreciation the public have gained for skilled commercial drivers, and the stronger understanding of just how finely tuned the supply chain is has been fantastic to see! Hopefully as more people come to realise this, the conditions will continue to improve for lorry drivers.”
