You book your own practical test on gov.uk with your provisional licence number and your theory certificate number. It costs £62 on a weekday and £75 in the evening, at a weekend or on a bank holiday. Anything more than that is a third party adding a fee.
Booking a practical test is a ten minute job on the official site and the only part that requires thought is which centre and which date. Everything else is typing numbers into boxes.
The reason this page exists is that a substantial industry has grown up around making the ten minute job look complicated, and charging for the difference.
What You Need Before You Start
- Your provisional driving licence number, which is on the front of the photocard
- Your theory test pass certificate number, from the email or letter you got when you passed
- A debit or credit card
- Whether you are taking the test in your own car or your instructor's, and if it is the instructor's, their availability
You cannot book a practical test without a valid theory pass. That is the hard prerequisite, and it is the reason to sit the theory early in your lessons rather than late: the booking queue starts the moment you have that certificate number, and you cannot join it before.
Where To Book
On gov.uk/book-driving-test. That is the DVSA's own service, it charges the DVSA's own fee, and it is the only place a test is actually booked. Everything else is a layer on top of it.
| Test | Fee |
|---|---|
| Practical, weekday | £62 |
| Practical, evening, weekend or bank holiday | £75 |
DVSA fees, gov.uk/driving-test-cost. Correct at 1 September 2026.
The £13 difference between the two is worth a moment's thought rather than being treated as an inconvenience. A weekday morning test is cheaper and the roads are usually more predictable than a Saturday, when local traffic patterns are different from the ones you have been practising in. A full breakdown of every fee involved in learning is in driving test fees explained.
Third Party Booking Sites
Search for "book driving test" and several of the first results will not be gov.uk. They are commercial sites that take your details, book the test on the official service, and charge you more than the DVSA does for it. Some also sell a cancellation-finding service on top.
Two things to know. First, they cannot get you a slot the official site does not have, because they are booking through the same system. Second, you are handing your licence number and personal details to a company you have no reason to trust with them.
The same applies to cancellation-checking services, which is a slightly more nuanced case since they genuinely do refresh the official site more often than a person can. Whether that is worth paying for depends on how much a few weeks is worth to you, and it is discussed properly in driving test cancellations.
Choosing A Centre
Learners in East London are sent to one of three DVSA centres: Wanstead, Goodmayes or Chingford. The Tanner Street centre in Barking closed on 3 January 2026 and candidates who would have gone there now use one of the remaining three.
| Centre | Overall pass rate | Automatic | Nearest station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanstead | 44.4% | 42.1% | Snaresbrook, Central line |
| Goodmayes | 43.7% | 41.5% | Goodmayes, Elizabeth line |
| Chingford | 39.9% | 38.3% | Chingford, London Overground |
Source: DVSA, driving test and theory test data: cars, tables DRT122A and DRT122E, April 2025 to March 2026. The automatic column is the relevant one if you are learning in an automatic.
The spread between best and worst is under five percentage points, which is real but smaller than the difference between knowing the routes and not knowing them. Book the centre you have actually driven around.
If you have never driven a mile of a centre's routes, its published pass rate tells you nothing about your chances there. The trade-offs are set out at greater length in how to choose a test centre.
Waiting Times
Waiting lists across London are long, and they have been for some time. What they are today is not something to take from any article, including this one: the position changes constantly, and the only reliable source is the booking service itself when you sit down to use it.
What that means practically is that the sensible order of operations is inverted from what most people assume. Rather than reaching test standard and then booking, get a date first and work backwards from it, keeping lessons running in the meantime. Booking before you are ready is fine. Letting an available date decide when you are ready is not.
The current picture and how to think about it is covered in driving test waiting times in London.
Booking It: The Steps
- Go to the DVSA booking service on gov.uk and choose a car test.
- Enter your provisional licence number and your theory certificate number.
- Say whether you have any conditions the DVSA should know about, such as a disability or a need for extra time. This is not a disadvantage and it is worth declaring accurately.
- Pick a test centre. You can search by postcode and it will show the centres near you.
- Pick a date and time from what is available. Check it against your instructor's diary before you confirm if you are using their car.
- Pay, and keep the booking reference. You will need it to change or cancel.
Whose Car You Take
Most candidates use their instructor's car, and if you do, the booking has a dependency you need to sort before you confirm anything.
The instructor has to be free at that time, the car has to be reserved for you rather than for somebody else's test, and you should agree in advance what the arrangement is for the hour or two around the test itself. Booking a slot and then discovering the car is not available is a common and entirely avoidable way to lose a date.
Using your own car is allowed and comes with a list. It must be taxed, have a valid MOT if it needs one, be insured for you to take a test in it, be roadworthy with no warning lights showing, be fitted with L plates front and rear, and have an extra interior mirror for the examiner.
It also needs working seatbelts, a passenger head restraint, and no smoke in the cabin. If any of that is missing the test is cancelled on the spot and you lose the fee, which is the harshest version of this process going wrong.
One further point specific to automatics. If you take the test in an automatic you get an automatic licence, and that is decided by the car you sit the test in rather than by anything you tick when booking.
Changing Or Cancelling
You can move or cancel a test through the same service using your booking reference and licence number. Give at least three clear working days' notice and you keep the fee or get a refund. Less than that and you lose it, which is the DVSA's rule rather than a penalty anyone applies with discretion.
Three clear working days means what it says: weekends and bank holidays do not count, so a Monday test needs to be moved by the previous Tuesday. Work it out on a calendar rather than in your head.
Moving a test rather than cancelling it is almost always the better option if you are having doubts, because a move keeps your fee and a cancellation inside the notice period does not.
The awkward part is that moving a booking in London usually means moving it a long way, since the slot you release is gone immediately and the next one available may be months out. That asymmetry is worth sitting with before you decide you are not ready: the cost of going ahead is £62, and the cost of postponing may be considerably more time than you expect.
If you are genuinely not ready, postpone anyway. Sitting a test you know you will not pass is the most expensive form of practice there is, and it buys you nothing that a mock test would not have told you for less.
Before You Confirm The Date
Two checks worth making while the booking page is still open.
- Your theory certificate expiry. It is valid for two years and is never extended. If the date you are booking falls after it, the test cannot go ahead and you will have to resit the theory first.
- Whose car you are using. If it is your instructor's, they need to be free and the car needs to be booked out for you. If it is your own, it has to be insured for the test, roadworthy, taxed, MOT'd, and fitted with L plates and an extra interior mirror for the examiner.
If you are not sure whether the date you are looking at is realistic, that is a question worth asking someone who has been in the car with you. The rest of the process, from provisional licence through theory to test day, is laid out in order in the guide to learning to drive in East London.
Before you commit to a date, it is worth asking an instructor whether the slot you are looking at is realistic for where you are now.
Book a lessonQuestions about booking
Where do I book my practical driving test?
On gov.uk, through the DVSA booking service. That is the only place a test is actually booked. Other sites you find in search results are resellers that book through the same system and charge you extra for it.
How much does the practical driving test cost?
It is £62 on a weekday and £75 in the evening, at a weekend or on a bank holiday. If you are being asked for more than that, you are on a third party site and the difference is their fee.
Can my instructor book my test for me?
Only if you give them your provisional licence and theory certificate numbers, because those are what the booking requires. Most people book it themselves in ten minutes, and it is worth doing so you hold the booking reference.
What do I need to book a practical test?
Your provisional driving licence number, your theory test pass certificate number, and a debit or credit card. You cannot book without a valid theory pass.
How much notice do I need to change or cancel a test?
At least three clear working days, not counting weekends or bank holidays, or you lose the fee. A Monday test needs to be changed by the previous Tuesday.
If you are not sure which centre to book or whether you are close enough to pick a date, ask. It is a five minute conversation and it saves picking wrong.
Book a lessonMore in The practical test
Published 1 September 2026. Prices and DVSA figures are checked when this page is revised. If anything here has changed, ring us and we will confirm it.