From listing your slot to a new test date
There are two halves to this and they never touch. We do the matching. DVSA does the booking. Keeping those separate is what makes it legitimate.
The whole journey
Most swaps take a few days from listing to called-in. The slow part is finding someone whose problem is the mirror image of yours. That's the part we're for.
Nothing is committed until the call. Right up to the moment DVSA takes both consents, either of you can walk away and neither of you has spent a change.
You list the slot you're holding
Centre, date, time, test type, and how many changes you have left. Plus what you'd rather have: which centres, which dates, mornings or afternoons.
We filter out the impossible
Before you see a single match, everyone who fails a DVSA rule against your booking is removed. You never waste a message on a swap that would be refused.
You message a match
First names and slots only. Agree that you both want it, and agree a time to call when you're both free.
Booking references are released
Only when you've both accepted, and only to each other. It's the single piece of information the swap call requires.
One of you calls DVSA
Roughly ten minutes. They verify the caller, ring the other learner, verify them, take both consents, and make the swap.
Done. No email, new date
You keep your original booking reference and payment. There's no confirmation email; your next DVSA reminder shows the new details.
What the other learner can see, and when
GOV.UK is explicit that learners should not exchange personal details to arrange a swap. So the platform is built so that there's nothing to exchange.
| Information | Before you match | After you both agree |
|---|---|---|
| First name and initial | Visible | Visible |
| Your test centre, date and time | Visible | Visible |
| What you're looking for | Visible | Visible |
| Whether your licence is verified | Visible | Visible |
| Your booking reference | Hidden | Released to that one person |
| Surname | Never | Never |
| Driving licence number | Never | Never |
| Theory certificate number | Never | Never |
| Phone number, email, address | Never | Never |
| Payment details | Never | Never |
If anyone asks you for something in the "never" list, stop. A swap does not need it, full stop. DVSA phones the other learner themselves on the number registered to their booking, which is exactly why you never need theirs.
Three-way chains
A straight swap needs a coincidence: they have to want your slot exactly as much as you want theirs. Loops are far more common than mirrors.
How a chain resolves
Say you want an October date, and the person holding one wants a December date you don't have. A third learner has December and wants yours. Nobody pairs, but all three fit in a loop.
-
You swap with the middle learner
You get their October slot. They temporarily hold your January one.
-
The middle learner swaps again, with the third
They hand on your old January slot and take the December one they actually wanted.
Two calls, and everyone ends up where they wanted to be.
The catch, stated plainly
The middle learner spends both of their changes. They're in two swaps, and each one costs a change. That leaves them with none, so if their new date later goes wrong they can't move it again.
You and the third learner spend one each, so you're both left with a change in hand.
Because of that, we only build chains where the middle person has both changes available, and we always show them which position they're in before they agree to anything. Nobody should end up in the middle by accident.
Both legs have to be legal on their own. Each call is an ordinary two-party swap in DVSA's eyes, so the centre rule, the type rule and the 10-working-day rule are all checked twice, once for each leg.
The phone call
Swaps are phone-only. Not online, not by email, not webchat, not text, not WhatsApp, not social media. One number, one call, both of you free at the same time.
0300 200 1122
Before you dial
- Your driving licence number
- Your booking reference
- The other learner's booking reference
- Your current test date, time and centre
- The date, time and centre you've agreed to move to
- Your payment card, for identity checks
- Your previous test history, if you've taken one before
How the call actually goes
Say what you're doing straight away
It saves being routed to the wrong place.
“I'd like to swap my driving test with another learner. We've both agreed and we're both available now.”Security checks on you, the caller
Licence number, booking reference and personal details.
Give them the other learner's booking reference
Read it back to confirm. A wrong digit here is the most common reason a swap stalls.
You go on hold while DVSA rings the other learner
They call the number registered to that booking and run the same checks. This is why they need to be free. Not merely awake, but able to answer an unknown number.
Both of you make the legal declaration
You each confirm you consent to the swap. If either declines, nothing changes for either of you.
The swap is made and confirmed to you both
You keep your original booking reference and payment details. No confirmation email comes. The next reminder you get from DVSA will simply have the new date on it.
Ring early in the day. The line is open 8am to 5pm on weekdays and the swap needs a real person on both ends. Late afternoon on a Friday is the worst possible time to try to coordinate two learners and a queue.
See who's out there
Put in the slot you're holding and the dates you'd rather have. Matching is instant, and nothing is shared until you choose to send a request.