Rules around booking driving tests in UK change from today to make system ‘fairer’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Woman driving a car

The rules around booking driving tests in the UK are officially set to change from today in a bid to make the system ‘fairer’.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has now introduced new rules for car driving test bookings, putting learners ‘firmly in control’ of their own booking, as it is now against the law for third parties – including unofficial test booking and cancellation finder services, as well as driving instructors – to make bookings for someone else.

It will also be a breach of DVSA’s terms and conditions for the booking service for third parties to change, swap, or cancel a driving test for someone else.

Learners should only ever pay the official DVSA fee – which is £62 on weekdays and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

The Government says the new rules aim to make booking driving tests ‘fairer’ for learner drivers.

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While driving instructors will no longer be able to book tests on behalf of of learners, they will still be able to advise learners on when they are ready to take a test, as well as set their available times to prevent learners from booking tests at times that do not work for them.

Following on from changes to test alterations which were introduced at the end of March, from 9 June 2026, further restrictions will come into force limiting learners to moving their test only to one of the three nearest driving test centres.

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The DVSA has also pledged to continue increasing driving examiner capacity to help provide more tests for learners to book.

“Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test, and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices,” commented Beverley Warmington, who is the DVSA Chief Executive.

“These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others.

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“These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.”

Featured Image – Pxfuel

A beloved Manc gig venue is hosting a special afterparty following Manichester tribute festival

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manichester afterparty tickets Gorilla MCR

A much-loved live music institution in Manchester is set to host a dedicated afterparty for the inaugural ‘Manichester’: the live tribute festival in memory of Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield.

Seeing the grassroots music scene gathering together in moments like this is the kind of stuff that would make the man himself SO proud.

With Manichester 2026 announced this past March and set to take place later this month in honour of the legendary Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist, tickets for the main event sold out very quickly.

This came as no surprise, of course, but now other Manc venues are joining in toasting the life and career of Mani for one very special evening.

Shared by Madchester.com, who are helping organise the Manichester ’26 along with surviving members of the Mounfield family, as well as Mani’s friends and peers such as his brother Greg and Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene, gig space Gorilla are hosting it.

The small-cap live music room, bar and restaurant has hosted many a special night over the past decade or so – hosting multiple War Child charity shows in the past few years, for instance – and even when they’re not hosting a set themselves, they’re always more than happy to join in the celebrations.

With that in mind, there always likely to pay their respects to the late, great and iconic local musician in some way, but now they’re teaming up with Madchester directly.

Positioned as the official ‘aftershow’ following the mini tribute festival, as you can see, there will be just 600 tickets available, with general admission for the main event already gone as mentioned.

At one point, it looked like the kind-spirited and well-meaning idea might be scrapped altogether after some confusion between the organising partners.

Dispute over Manichester now ‘resolved’, say Mounfield family

Thankfully, that all looks to have been put to bed, and all those involved can focus on what’s important: honouring Mani in the best way possible – with a load of live tunes and a good time.

In terms of those who will be playing on the night ahead of the aftershow, the likes of the equally legendary Peter Hook, Rowetta, The Kowloons, Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers, plus many more, have been announced as part of the lineup.

There is also still a ‘AAA’ headliner still yet to be confirmed, so watch this space.

As for the Manichester afterparty at Gorilla, keep an eye out on socials for the ticket link to drop and, hopefully, we’ll see you there for a night to remember.

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Featured Images — Publicity picture (via Madchester.com)/Athyarchieve (via Wikimedia Commons)

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