Overview
- Late June 2026 analysis by Confused.com, using FOI data, calculates the average learner now pays at least £924 before holding a full licence, made up of roughly £777 for 18.5 hours of lessons, £124 for two practical tests and £23 for a theory test.
- Practical driving test waits averaged 12.3 weeks across Great Britain between 2023 and 2025, with large centre-by-centre variation that creates a postcode lottery and delays repeated attempts.
- FOI data show more than 2.3 million practical tests were taken by 17–24 year‑olds from January 2023 to March 2025 and almost half of those attempts resulted in failure, producing frequent retakes and extra cost and time.
- Beyond testing, first‑year costs for common starter cars add thousands more, with estimated totals from about £3,430 for a Fiat 500 Pop to over £7,700 for an Audi A1 Sport and insurance the largest single driver of those sums.
- The scale of testing is large and growing: learners spent over £400 million on practical tests from 2023–2025 with annual test income rising from £128m to £137m, and the combined financial and timing burdens have led almost one in five prospective learners to consider quitting.