Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency selects existing partner Kainos for four-year contract to deliver new platform for booking driving tests, promising to learn from long waiting times with current system
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced that its new driving test booking system will prevent users from being exploited and manage high demand, as it has awarded Belfast-based IT services provider Kainos a £73m contract to deliver this.
“The pressures placed on the current system – including the increase in demand for driving tests and the use of bots to cheat learners out of being able to easily book a test – have given us the opportunity to build a system that can deal with this new reality,” Jacqui Turland, the DVSA’s registrar, wrote in a GOV.UK blogpost. “The new system will incorporate lessons learnt from the waiting times issues to prevent learners from being exploited in the future and manage the unprecedented high demand for tests.”
Learner drivers have faced waits of many months for practical driving tests when booking through the agency’s website, leading some to use companies that block-book appointments then resell them at a premium. Research by the BBC in May found that eight DVSA centres in the west of England had 24-week waits for tests. The government has announced measures to address this, including recruiting more examiners and introducing tougher terms and conditions for driving instructors booking tests for pupils.
Turland said that the current Testing and Registration System is 20 years old and that planning for its replacement started four years ago. In addition to managing practical test bookings, it will also administer the statutory Approved Driving Instructor and Compulsory Basic Training registers, and record mandatory training for professional lorry and bus drivers.
DVSA will set up a limited beta version restricted to a few users for booking and scheduling car driving tests. “This will allow us to thoroughly test that the service works properly, does what customers need it to do, and has all the necessary processes in place to support it,” wrote Turland. It will then be assessed by the Government Digital Service before it is moved to GOV.UK. Other services, including lorry and motorcycle tests, will follow.
Kainos, which has previously worked with DVSA on its MOT testing and online theory test services, stated that the new platform will be built on Microsoft technologies, including Dynamics and Power Platform, allowing for flexibility in future changes. It will support the DVSA’s adoption of the GOV.UK One Login system and improve accessibility, such as by introducing British Sign Language translation. In May, DVSA and Kainos introduced online sign language translation for candidates booking theory tests.
