Are you considering a change of career? How do you fancy a regular 9 to 5 (ish) job that gets you out of the office but allows you to sit down most of the day, provides you with your own chauffeurs and a 'vibrant' uniform? If this appeals get your cv into the DSA and apply for the position of Driving Examiner right away.
I'm not completely sure that they are actively recruiting at the moment, but, if not, they should be.
It seems to be an annual problem; in the winter the waiting time for driving tests drops right down to two or three weeks, but always increases in the summer. This year, however, the waiting times have been ridiculous. Some of it will have been a backlog from all the cancellations caused by the snow earlier in the year. And, as far as the north of Scotland is concerned, some of it is partly because they need more driving examiners.
Back in May the waiting time in Inverness was as long as SIXTEEN weeks. In one of the local newspapers, there was an article about the situation, where the DSA admitted that they were failing to meet their target of 90% of tests being available within nine weeks (which is still a long time) (http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/12298/Learner_drivers_waiting_months_to_take_their_tests.html). The situation did improve over the next few months, but it seems to be slipping back to a few months, rather than a few weeks.
As a pupil progresses through their training, we discuss when we both agree would be the best time to apply for their test. It is not something we can really consider until they have passed their Theory Test, so I try to encourage my pupils to study and apply for the Theory as early as possible. In the winter we simply wait until both the pupil and me are confident that they will pass, then we apply for their test. As the waiting time gets longer, we then have to try to predict when they will be ready, based mainly on their rate of progress. This is not usually too much of a problem because, if, as the test approaches, we begin to doubt that they will be ready, we can get online and put the test back a few weeks (or, sometimes, the pupil is able to take more lessons per week). But when the waiting times for a test start getting as long as they have been this summer, it makes test planning very difficult.
I have a couple of pupils who have been with me for some time now. They have taken regular lessons but have not been in any desperate rush to take their test; they just want to be good, safe drivers. They both passed their theory tests in late spring/early summer and were at the stage where we could consider when to apply for their driving tests. They both applied in early June for a test in Ullapool and were told that the earliest test dates available were late September. I advised them to book those dates, but, neither were suitable as both pupils will be at university by then. The options are: For me, or the pupil, to regularly check for earlier dates (usually caused by someone else cancelling their own test); to take time away from university to come back for the original date; or to look for an earlier test at a different test centre.
The trouble with hoping that someone else will cancel, thus creating an earlier test date, is that it rarely happens and, even if it does, it is likely that someone else will also be looking for cancellations and get that slot first. The trouble with taking the original date and having my pupil come back from university is that they are unlikely to be able to take many lessons in the weeks before the test and this could affect their confidence. And the trouble with looking for an earlier test at a different centre is that not knowing the area can also affect the pupil’s confidence.
After unsuccessfully looking for cancellations for several weeks, I decided to look for earlier tests at different centres. Inverness and Buckie had waiting times of 10 weeks, Elgin and Grantown-on-Spey 11 weeks, Alness, Lairg and Gairloch 12 weeks, Kingussie 14 weeks and Ullapool 15 weeks! I have had mini-moans about this before, but not being able to get a test anywhere within 100 miles for over ten weeks is just a bit ridiculous.
The pupils I feel most sorry for are the ones who have recently failed a test. Thankfully, I have had quite a good run recently, but there are still some pupils who have proved themselves good enough for me to agree to them taking their test but who, on the day, made a mistake and then have to wait three months before they can try again. Understandably, some of them have cut down on their lessons, or even taken a complete break from them. I would never encourage any of my pupils to do this, because you should never stop learning or trying to improve, but I do understand and sympathise from a financial point of view.
With the two pupils who are going to university, one has decided to come back a few days before her test, and the other has found an earlier test in Inverness (a much busier area than she is used to).
Hopefully, the DSA will recruit a few more examiners and clear this backlog of tests. Just in time for the snow to come and cause another backlog.
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