Guides

Moving your test

Cancelling a driving test: what you get back

The fee for a car test is money you would rather keep. Whether you do depends on one date, and on whether you really need to cancel at all.

Ten full working days and the fee comes back

Cancel with at least ten full working days' notice and the fee is refunded automatically. Monday to Saturday count; Sundays and public holidays do not. The day you cancel does not count either. Cancel through GOV.UK with your licence number and booking reference. Your confirmation email gives the exact last date.

Inside ten days, it normally does not

You can cancel right up to the moment the test starts, but the fee is lost. DVSA makes exceptions for a short list: illness or injury, a bereavement, a school or college exam on the day, or a stolen licence. For those you email DVSA with evidence and they tell you if the fee is coming back. A change of mind, a holiday or a car that is off the road are not on the list.

If DVSA cancels on you

Examiner illness, bad weather, a problem at the centre: the fee is safe, you get a new date, and you can claim reasonable out-of-pocket costs for the day, such as hiring your instructor's car. What to do when DVSA cancels.

Before you cancel, change it

A cancelled test is gone, and the next one is at the back of the queue at your centre. A changed test keeps your place. If you have one of your two changes left and ten working days to go, moving the date costs nothing and you still hold a test. Cancelling only makes sense when you have no changes left, or you have stopped learning altogether.

The option that keeps the fee and the test

If the reason you are cancelling is that the date is wrong, somebody at your centre wants exactly that date. A swap gives you theirs: DVSA moves both bookings over the phone, the fee stays where it is, and it uses one change each. It needs ten working days before the earlier of the two tests, so the time to look is now. How to move a test later, or sign up with your centre and we email you when a learner who could swap with you joins.

Questions people ask

Do I get a refund if I cancel my driving test?

Yes, automatically, with at least ten full working days' notice. Monday to Saturday count as working days; Sundays and public holidays do not. Cancel through GOV.UK.

What if I cancel with less than ten working days to go?

The fee is normally lost. DVSA will consider a refund for illness, injury, bereavement, a school or college exam, or a stolen licence, if you email them with evidence. Nothing else qualifies.

Can I cancel on the day?

You can cancel right up to the start of the test, but inside ten working days the fee is gone unless one of the listed exceptions applies.

Should I cancel or change my test?

If you still want a test, change it rather than cancel: a changed test keeps your place, a cancelled one puts you at the back of the queue. If you want a later date and have no changes left, cancelling and rebooking is the last resort.

Can I get the fee back without cancelling?

Keep the test and move it instead. A change with ten working days' notice costs nothing, and a swap with another learner moves you to a date somebody already holds, with the fee untouched.