Number of learner drivers attempting to cheat soars by almost 50%
According to the research, attempts to cheat in driving tests in the UK increased by 47 percent in one year, increasing road safety concerns.
Figures obtained by the Press Association news agency from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) show 2,844 cases were recorded in the year to September 2025.
This figure increased from 1,940 in the previous 12 months to 1,274 in 2018/19. The RAC Foundation, the motoring research charity, said driving test cheats ‘put other road users at risk’.
The DVSA attributed the increase in recorded cases to a combination of more fraud and better detection.
Technology-assisted cheating during theory tests, such as the use of a headset that connects to a hidden phone via Bluetooth, accounted for the largest incidence rate, with 1,113 incidents in 2024/25.
Figures obtained in response to a Freedom of Information request show that people attempting to take a theory or practical exam by impersonating a registered candidate were recorded in 1,084 and 647 cases respectively.
The rise in cheating cases comes at a time when there is a huge backlog in practical driving tests.
Students faced an average wait time of 22 weeks for a test in September, compared to about five weeks before the start of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020, when testing was largely suspended.
The DVSA said there was no evidence linking cheating to waiting times.
Students arriving at testing centers are required to show their face to check that it matches their photo ID.
Measures to detect theory test cheating may include asking candidates to roll up their sleeves and show that their pockets are empty, and having a staff member pat them down and wave a handheld metal detector around them.
DVSA said it also used intelligence to identify vehicles and individuals involved in previous cheating attempts.
Ninety-six people were prosecuted for attempting to cheat or impersonate candidates in driving tests in 2024/25, the DVSA said.
A prosecution case may involve more than one incident.
Impersonators and students who use them can be sent to prison, banned from driving, ordered to do unpaid work and forced to pay court costs.
Qounain Khan, 23, of Edmund Road, Birmingham, was jailed for eight months at Cardiff Crown Court in June 2025 after pleading guilty to 12 counts of impersonating students at theory test centres.
The court heard impersonators could be paid up to £2,000 for passing the test.
Sorina-Ana Turcitu, now 42, of Sydney Avenue, north London, admitted trying to take a practical driving test on behalf of someone else and was sentenced at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court in September 2025 to a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months.
Ali Rasul, now 22, of Alpha Street, Exeter, was jailed for two years at Exeter Crown Court in November 2025 after he was caught repeatedly trying to cheat on a theory test using a hidden headset or emulator over an eight-month period.
Marian Kitson, DVSA’s director of enforcement services, said the agency had improved its “fraud detection capabilities”.
He continued: “It is vital that all drivers demonstrate that they have the correct skills, knowledge and attitude to drive safely.
“Our anti-fraud team carries out robust investigations into suspected fraud, working with the police to bring fraudsters to justice and keep the UK’s roads safe.”
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The longer people have to wait to take the exam, the greater the pressure to pass, but this is no excuse for cheating.
“Those who seek to make money through impersonation and deception are putting other road users at risk.
“This data shows that the DVSA must be careful to detect fraud and penalties must be severe.”
AA Driving School chief executive Emma Bush described the increase in cheating attempts as “staggering”.
He added: “As the number of arrests increases at an alarming rate, it is even more worrying that some people are successfully cheating and ending up on our roads.”
The number of cheating incidents in the driving test recorded in the 12 months until the end of September every year since 2019 is as follows:
2024/25: 2,844
2023/24: 1,940
2022/23: 2,344
2021/22: 1,960
2020/21: 820
2019/20: 876
2018/19: 1.274
