A major cost-cutting exercise is being undertaken by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Authority, one which could see an end to the traditional driving test centres.

The news comes after DVSA’s chief executive revealed that the organisation is looking at ways to shake-up their services, and one idea being given serious thought is a ‘meet-and-greet-system’, which would free the DVSA from costly leaseholds at their test centres.

Supermarkets and Leisure Centres have been suggested as locations that the meet-and-greet tests could start, or wherever it is convenient for the driver and examiner to meet up.

“There’s only so far you can take the business model when costs are increasing but incomes are actually decreasing in real terms,” Gareth Llewelyn, the DVSA’s chief executive told a Commons Transport Select Committee last week.

“One of the areas that we have considered is whether we move on a pilot basis to a meet-and-greet system.

“Is it better to meet people in an area where there’s a bigger car park, where it’s more convenient, at a time that is better for them, rather than asking them to try and park somewhere close to a test centre that might not have a car park?”

Whether those savings can actually be passed on to learner drivers remains to be seen, the cost of a driving test has not increased for a decade, and there is currently a backlog of tests to be taken after testing was postponed during the pandemic lockdown in the UK.

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