The Theory Test for learners learning to drive a car costs £31.00, and the Practical Test £62.00 (or £75.00 for a weekend or evening slot, where available). The current prices are always shown on the Direct.gov website.
You can book online directly through the DSA’s website, or by telephoning them on 0300 200 1122 .
It stands to reason that these prices are the lowest possible, since anyone booking through the DSA will have to pay exactly the current price in order to book a test!
So beware any online service which says it will do this for you. At the very least you will have to pay more – unnecessarily. In the worst case, you may not get anything at all except lost money and a compromised credit card. If they are charging less than the DSA prices then you have only got yourself to blame if things go belly up.
There is a warning being circulated at the moment about two online service urls – www.booktheorytestonline.co.uk and www.bookpracticaltestonline.co.uk. It is suggested that you do not use these, even if you are still daft enough to want to get someone else to do it for you.
EDIT 5/4/2010: Can I just emphasise that you do not need to use a booking service to book either your theory or practical tests. It is the easiest thing in the world to do via the DSA’s own website or by telephone.
I have noticed a number of booking services in the Google ads which appear on the right hand side of this blog (I cannot prevent individual company ads from appearing). I don’t know if they are legitimate or not, but one thing is certain: if you pay more than the DSA’s price to book your test – and all you want to do IS book your test – then you are definitely being ripped off.
It is insane not to just book directly with the DSA. I wish someone could explain to me what the attraction is for using one of these services – assuming people do it knowingly. What are you trying to avoid?
But if it is just these sites misleading people into booking using a 3rd party premium service, then it IS a scam. So be warned!