Driving tests across the United Kingdom may be disrupted in April 2023, as some driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union plan to take part in strike action. The strike is part of a national industrial action taken by the PCS union in protest of pay, pensions, jobs, and redundancy terms.
While the level of impact the strike may have on services is currently unknown, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has reported that the strike may affect car driving tests, motorcycle tests, lorry, bus, coach, and minibus driving tests, as well as tractor or specialist vehicle driving tests, approved driving instructor (ADI) part 2 (driving ability) or part 3 (instructional ability) tests, ADI standards checks, and moped and motorcycle compulsory basic training (CBT) checks.
However, theory tests will not be affected, and driving tests taken with private test providers will remain unaffected.
The strike action will occur on different dates in different parts of Great Britain. Driving test centres in North-east England and Scotland will be affected on Monday, 17 April and Tuesday, 18 April, North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber affected on Thursday, 20 April, and Friday 21 April, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, and parts of London affected on Monday 24 April and Tuesday 25 April, and London, South-east England, South-west England, and Wales affected on Thursday 27 April and Friday 28 April.
PCS has informed DVSA that the strike action will affect driving examiners employed at some driving test centres, and a list of affected driving test centres can be found on the GOV.UK website. However, tests may also be affected at other driving test centres that are not listed, and DVSA will only know which staff members will participate in strike action once the strike takes place.
To minimise the impact of the strike action, some tests have been rescheduled in advance, and candidates who are affected will receive an email ahead of the strike action. If a test cannot go ahead, it will be rescheduled for the first available date, and candidates will be able to claim out-of-pocket expenses as long as they have shown up for their original test.
The PCS has also announced that some customer service centers may be affected by strike dates on 5 and 6 April and 11 and 12 April. On these dates, the customer service centre will be open from 8 am to 4 pm, and there may be longer waiting times than usual.
To keep up-to-date with the latest information on the driving examiner strike, candidates are advised to check the GOV.UK website and their email inbox regularly.
