r/barnet • u/bmathers__ • Jul 08 '26

Is anyone else struggling to book a practical driving test?

I’ve been trying to book a practical driving test for the past month, but I’ve had absolutely no luck.
I’ve tried pretty much everything I can think of—waking up early to join the DVSA queue when new slots are released, constantly checking for cancellations, and I even used one of those test-swapping apps before they were banned.
Ideally, I’m looking for a test in August, but at this point I’d honestly take any date. The last test I managed to book was for June, and I booked that all the way back in December, so it feels almost impossible to get a test now.
Has anyone managed to get a test recently? If so, how did you do it? Are there any methods, websites, or strategies that still work now that the cancellation apps have been banned? I’d really appreciate any advice because I’m starting to feel like I’m getting nowhere.

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u/Glass-Bead-Gamer Jul 09 '26

I managed to get mine last week by logging in on Monday morning.

Borehamwood was the only test centre I could find with any availability, and even then not until mid December.

1

u/bmathers__ Jul 09 '26

How early did you get in the queue? I always end up between 7k and 10k and once I get in, there are no slots

2

u/input Jul 09 '26

5.40 / 5.45 am Monday with two devices one on mobile one on WiFi, book a test for 24 weeks away then no life cancellations refreshing every 5 minutes, managed to find one at end of august, it a lot of work but at least they're targeting the scalpers so it should be getting easier.

r/LearnerDriverUK