DVSA's clapped-out booking system gets bot slapped as new boss rides in

The UK DVSA’s 18-year-old driving test booking system is being overrun by paid bots and resellers, contributing to severe backlogs (often 24 weeks) and obscuring true demand, according to the National Audit Office. Bot traffic soared to 50 million requests per day in Sept 2025, and new defenses are reportedly bypassed within a day, compounded by staffing shortages and the absence of a dedicated anti-bot team. DVSA is tightening booking policies (e.g., limiting swaps and moving to candidate-only booking in 2026) while appointing a new chief executive to drive reforms, but the NAO stresses scaling examiner capacity as the primary solution.