CONCERNS have been raised about the “ridiculously long periods of time” people are having to wait to take their driving tests in Rhyl.

One driving instructor based in the town, who asked not to be named, said pupils are often waiting “nearly half a year” to take their practical tests after booking them.

He added that many are opting to take their tests in places such as Wirral or Chester, rather than at Rhyl’s Victoria Road test centre.

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As of September 2024, the average waiting time at Rhyl driving test centre was 15.8 weeks.

The average waiting times for the surrounding areas were 13.2 weeks for Bangor, 12.2 weeks for Wrexham, 17.4 weeks for Newton, six weeks for Bala, and 9.4 weeks for Pwllheli.

In Wales as a whole, the average waiting time for a test was 13.5 weeks.

The North Wales Approved Driving Instructors Association (NWADIA) said it shares these concerns, and plans to raise them at a meeting with representatives of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) later this month.

“All year, students wishing to take their driving test at Rhyl have been either waiting ridiculously long periods of time to take the practical test, or given up and gone to other driving test centres across the border in England,” the driving instructor said.

“Yes, pupils do get practical tests, but often after waiting nearly half a year.

“We’ve got people from different professions who need to get their driving licences, going to Wirral or Chester just to get a test. You can’t get one (in Rhyl) for, say, six weeks’ time, or two months’ time.

“The government want net zero, yet pupils are travelling two hours to take a driving test, which seems very counter-productive to those targets.

“The system is creaking. All we’re asking for is re-allocation of some examiners. Pupils won’t make a fuss, so it’s down to the instructors to do so.”

As of last week, the driving instructor said, there were no tests available at the Rhyl centre for the rest of this year or in 2025.

He has asked that resources be diverted from Chester and Upton for a few months in a bid to “alleviate the dire situation”.

He added: “The DVSA are running a campaign yet again to recruit driving examiners, however at £28,000 a year, they are struggling to recruit.

“The situation has been diabolical for the last two years now, with no improvements in waiting times at Rhyl at all.

“One instructor took a pupil to a test, and as they pulled into the test centre, an email came through telling them their test had been put back to January 2025.”

The latest government figures show that, in the 12 months up to March 2024, a total of 4,343 driving tests were taken at the Rhyl centre (50.4 per cent pass rate), and 336 were cancelled.

For the previous 12-month period, 3,423 tests were taken in Rhyl (55 per cent pass rate) and 719 were cancelled, meanwhile.

A joint statement from Arthur Carpenter, Christine Seldon and Ted Needham, chair, treasure and secretary of the NWADIA respectively, said: “We are concerned about the waiting list for driving tests, and have a meeting with the DVSA on October 23 to discuss this issue, which affects both local and national test centres.”

In response, the DVSA’s chief executive, Loveday Ryder, said: “In the past financial year alone, we’ve provided almost two million tests, and I was delighted to meet the transport secretary in September to discuss how we can continue to increase the number of tests by recruiting more examiners while tackling bots and those exploiting learners.

“DVSA want to see more learners passing first time, so we’re working with the driver training industry to educate and advise learners on what they can do to prepare and improve their likelihood of passing.

“Learners can check out our Ready to Pass campaign and use our checklist to make sure they’ve had enough lessons so they can drive safely and are ready to pass first time.”