Change your driving test appointment
When you change your appointment, you can:
- find an earlier driving test (sometimes called a ‘cancellation appointment’)
- move your driving test to a later date
- change which test centre you take your test at
You must change your car driving test yourself. Your driving instructor is not allowed to change it for you.
How many times you can change your test
You can change your driving test appointment:
- 2 times if you’re changing a car driving test
- 6 times if you’re changing any other type of test
You can change more than one thing at the same time.
Example
If you change your test from Northampton on 4 June to Kettering on 12 May, this counts as changing your test one time.
If you need to make more changes after that, you’ll have to cancel your driving test and book a new one.
Finding a new test appointment
New driving test appointments are added 24 weeks in advance. They’re released every Monday at 6am.
‘Cancellation appointments’ are added whenever another learner changes or cancels their test. This can be at any time during the week, so you’ll need to check for them regularly.
There’s no waiting list or cancellation list for driving test appointments.
Find out more about when driving test appointments are released.
When you’ll have to pay again
You’ll have to pay for a new test if you do not give enough notice before changing it.
To change your test for free, you’ll need to give:
- 10 full working days’ notice for car driving tests
- 3 full working days’ notice for all other tests
Monday to Saturday count as working days but Sundays and public holidays do not.
If you need to change your test but cannot find another appointment that works, cancel your driving test. To get a refund, you’ll need to give the same amount of notice before cancelling.
To find the latest date you can change or cancel your test by:
- check the confirmation email you got when you booked your driving test
- sign in to the driving test booking service
You’ll need to pay the difference in your driving test cost if you change to a more expensive appointment (weekends, evenings and bank holidays). If you change to a cheaper appointment (weekdays), you’ll be refunded the difference in cost.
You can apply for a ‘short notice’ refund if you’ve had to change your driving test due to something unavoidable, like a school exam or injury.
Change your appointment online
This service is available from 6am to 11:40pm.
There’s a different service to change your driving test in Northern Ireland.
Before you start
To change your test, you’ll need your:
- UK driving licence number
- driving test reference number or theory test pass certificate number (from the letter you got when you passed your theory test)
If you’ve lost your letter, you can find your theory test pass certificate number.
Apply for a refund if you had to change your test at short notice
If you’ve had to change your test at short notice, you can apply for a refund if you have:
- an illness or injury that means you cannot take your test
- suffered a bereavement
- to take an exam at a school or college
- had your driving licence stolen
Email the Driver and Vehicles Standard Agency (DVSA) with the subject title ‘Unavoidable short notice cancellation’.
Attach proof of the reason you’ve had to change your appointment. This can be:
- a letter from your school or college confirming you have an exam at the same time as your appointment
- a crime number and contact name of the police officer if you’ve had your driving licence stolen
- a fit note or medical certificate from a healthcare professional such as your GP
If you were sick for 7 days or fewer, you might have to pay for a private medical certificate.
As well as attaching the proof, you’ll need to include at least 2 of these in your email:
- driving licence number
- theory test pass certificate number
- driving test booking reference
DVSA customer services
customerservices@dvsa.gov.uk
DVSA will tell you when you’ve been refunded the fee.
Get help changing your driving test appointment
You must change your driving test appointment online. Find out what to do if you’re having problems accessing the online service.
You can also contact DVSA to get help.
You’ll need to give DVSA at least 2 of the following:
- driving licence number
- theory test pass certificate number
- driving test booking reference