Britain’s young people are being locked out of work by an entrenched driving test backlog, a leading think tank has revealed.

Learners in England must now look around 21 weeks ahead to find an available driving test, more than four times the five-week wait in 2020, according to analysis of new Department for Transport data by the Centre for Social Justice.

Many learners are struggling to book a test at all. In September 2025, around 70 per cent of test centres had reached the maximum 24-week wait, meaning it was impossible to book a test. In 2026, average test availability across English centres remains just 7.7 per cent of all test slots.

The proportion of 17-to-20-year-olds holding a full car driving licence in England has fallen from 48 per cent in 1994 to just 29 per cent in 2024.

The CSJ is calling on the Government to expand the existing Delegated Examiner Scheme so accredited employers can conduct Category B car driving tests for staff who need a licence for work, alongside the creation of regional testing hubs involving employers and further education colleges.

The call by the CSJ came after pupils collected their GCSE results earlier this week and started making decisions about work, apprenticeships and further education.

More than one in six vacancies (17.4 per cent) require applicants to be able to drive, rising to 34 per cent in care and social work and 68 per cent of plumbing vacancies.

The CSJ’s new report, Rewiring education: a path from school to work, shows that nearly one in five unemployed people report have turned down a job or decided not to apply because of transport difficulties.

Meanwhile, Alan Milburn’s Young People and Work Review has shone a spotlight on the more than one million young people now outside education, employment or training, with more than a quarter of a million additional young people becoming NEET in just five years.

The former Labour cabinet minister’s report estimates that each young person who becomes NEET could lose up to £300,000 in earnings over their lifetime, even if they later return to work.

The CSJ study calls on the Government to use the private sector and further education system to expand driving-test capacity so young people are not forced to write off jobs simply because they cannot get a test.

Its recommendations include:
Letting accredited employers conduct Category B car driving tests for their own staff by expanding the existing delegated examiner scheme beyond HGV licences, following the example of emergency services and the military.
Creating regional driving-test hubs where large employers can sell spare testing capacity to FE colleges, apprentices and smaller local businesses.
Allowing colleges and employers to use vocational and apprenticeship funding to cover test costs and help more young people gain the licences they need for work.

As school leavers start thinking about their next step, we must remove the barriers that hold them back from work and education.

In many parts of the economy, from care to the skilled trades, a driving licence can be essential to getting the job, particularly given the lack of decent bus service provision in many parts of the country. That makes tackling the driving-test backlog an integral part of restoring hope for Britain’s NEETs.

The Government should examine the sensible proposals put forward by the Centre for Social Justice to expand testing capacity, including whether properly accredited employers and colleges can play a greater role. Bringing waiting times down would remove a key barrier facing young people trying to make the transition into work.

Peter Swallow MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Schools and Labour MP for Bracknell, said:

“The driving-test backlog has become a serious barrier to work for many of our young people, particularly in sectors where being able to drive is essential.

“The Government is looking for practical solutions to help tackle the NEETs crisis. It should give serious consideration to the CSJ’s proposals for involving employers and colleges in expanding test capacity and bringing the backlog down.

“This would open up a wider range of job opportunities to school leavers and enable them to reap the rewards of the new technical education options the Government is introducing.”

Daniel Lilley, Head of Youth at the Centre for Social Justice, said:

“There are many reasons for the enduring NEETs crisis, many of which feel intractable. But we should not overlook the roadblocks we can remove to help young people find work – the availability of driving tests being one of them.

“The driving test system has been completely overwhelmed since the pandemic, and will continue to shut young people out of job opportunities unless we find new solutions.

“By harnessing the capacity of employers and further education colleges we can get Britain’s NEETs on the road and into work.”