Online sellers on Facebook are selling early driving test dates to learner drivers across the UK for a huge profit.

An investigation carried out by Newsquest London found that people are selling test dates on Facebook with prices ranging from £200 up to £400.

245 driving test centres across the UK have an average wait of more than six weeks, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency data.

It was found that almost 37 per cent of those test centres have waiting times of more than five months.

Such individuals on Facebook are understood to be using bots to get around the DVSA booking system.

Reselling driving tests is not illegal however the DVSA said the use of automated bots can “exploit” the booking service.

Tests can only be booked through the DVSA site for £62 for a weekday test, or £75 for a weekend slot.

During our research, we found one advertisement on Facebook which says: “Early practical driving test bookings available.

“Many centres across the UK can be sourced.

“Prices start from £262 and vary depending on centre and how early you would like the test.”

Our reporter decided to go undercover and pose as an interested buyer in the hope of securing a driving test date.

Just minutes after messaging the seller, we were immediately asked which test centre we were looking to book for.

The seller continued to tell us that the prices would vary on depending on the demand of the centre.

They said: “It sometimes could be lower or some times more. It depends on how early the test is as some centres are in high demand."

Just 30 minutes into our conversation, we received another message from the seller who confirmed a driving test was available to book at Barking Test centre in just four days time.

The seller then confirmed the price as £260 and asked to send the details of our driving licence for the test to be booked in.

They added: “It’s a fairly good price for a test in four days time.

“Try to be quick as I can’t hold the date. I need to know asap as there’s no guarantee the test will be available if you come back for it.

We finished the conversation by telling the seller that we would contact them back if we wanted to go ahead with the sale.

The DVSA said it was using artificial intelligence to try to stop automated systems from block-booking tests.

An additional 145,000 tests were made available by the DVSA between October 2023 and March 2024 to try to tackle the issue. 

But 65,534 driving tests were cancelled in the year up to March 2024 due to annual leave, industrial action, bad weather, examiner sickness and coronavirus.

In the previous year 118,232 tests were cancelled.

Tests can be booked by anyone with a provisional licence number, or an approved driving instructor.  

The test time, location and provisional licence number can be changed at any time, making it easy to rebook or re-sell driving test slots.