Record number of driving tests as backlog builds, ‘easiest’ testing sites revealed 

A pass on the C class driving test is required to progress from a learner’s permit to P-plates.

Ronak Shah, the owner of Onroad Driving Education, said it was now common for Sydney driving students to need to book tests at least eight weeks in advance.

A spokesperson for the Department of Customer Service said the backlog was not universal, with the average wait time for a driver test in NSW currently 12 days.

In response to the expected rise in tests, the spokesperson said a new dedicated driving testing centre had been opened at St Marys, offering 450 tests a week. New Service NSW centres had also opened at Edmondson Park and Merrylands over the past year.

However, some busier sites, such as Blacktown, boasted a 10-week wait for a test slot outside of school-zone hours at the end of 2022. Candidates prefer to avoid possibly failing for breaking the temporary speed limit.

“To clear the backlog will take a lot of time,” Shah said, adding that his business has been the busiest it has even been over the past year, particularly in November and December, when higher numbers of school students typically sit their tests.

The increase is not only caused by teenagers who became old enough to learn to drive during lockdown.

Annie Wylie, 28, says she eventually opted to learn to drive to ease the burden on girlfriend Lauren Giordano.

‘Driving wasn’t something I felt I needed’: Why Annie is still on her L-plates
At Prestige Driving School in Sydney’s south, owner Sina Bakhshalian said there were also a number of adults who decided to learn to drive because of the pandemic.

“You saw a lot of people feeling the urgency to get their driver’s licence after lockdown – people thinking: what if it happens again?” Bakhshalian said.

“Maybe they were comfortable with the setup they had, using public transport to get to work, but when they saw that the world could change like that overnight, they realised they wanted a bit more of the independence that comes with driving.”

Falling pregnant with her first child encouraged Shion Torihara to learn to drive by herself.

Transport for NSW data shows the proportion of people trying for their driver’s licence in their 20s and 30s has increased significantly during the past decade.

In 2022 licence attempts by people aged 25 to 39 were a third of all tests taken, compared to less than a quarter of tests in 2002.

Shion Torihara, 36, passed her test at Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west in May last year, after holding a learners permit since 2019.

“We didn’t have a car, so I couldn’t really practice,” she said.

Falling pregnant with her first child in 2021 encouraged her to put in the time to learn to drive by herself. However, lockdown – and then her son’s birth – pushed back her timeline.

She was nervous to learn how to drive, but is glad she now has the skill.

“I’m originally from Tokyo, so we never really had to drive. But in Sydney it’s more time-consuming to catch public transport everywhere,” she said.

Test-takers in Sydney’s outskirts were most likely to pass, Transport for NSW data showed.

From July to December, Wollondilly council area, south of Campbelltown, had the highest pass rate of 71.9 per cent, followed by the Blue Mountains (67.1 per cent) and the Central Coast (64.7 per cent).

Those in North Sydney had the least luck, with only 46.5 per cent passing the test. A slim majority of drivers also failed the C class exam in Cumberland, Fairfield, Lane Cove, Strathfield, Willoughby, Burwood and Parramatta.