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<p>The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent
practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge
is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current
plans to lay further legislation to extend it.</p><p> </p><p>It is important that
road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical
point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates
expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice
sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is
likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this
would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.</p><p>
</p><p>Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital
part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty
statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to
extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test
if their certificate expires.</p><p> </p><p>There are no current plans to waive the
charge of a theory test for those whose theory test certificates have expired, given
that they will have already received the service for which they paid.</p><p> </p><p>The
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) pays its contractor, Pearson, per theory
test delivered. If candidates were exempted from having to pay for a retake then the
DVSA and in turn other fee payers would incur these costs. This would be unfair to
fee payers who would not benefit from the arrangement.</p><p> </p><p>In addition,
applications for a re-test would need to be validated and systems amended to remove
the requirement for payment in these cases. The DVSA’s focus should rightly be on
developing solutions to address the backlog of practical driving tests that has arisen
as a result of the pandemic.</p>
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