How to book your ADI Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 tests in 2026

You book ADI Part 1 on GOV.UK's instructor theory test service for £81, once DVSA has accepted your application to start qualifying. You book your ADI Part 2 test, and later Part 3, on the driving test booking service learners use for car tests, at £111 each (GOV.UK ADI fees). Part 2 opens up when you pass Part 1. Part 3 opens up when you pass Part 2.

The rest of this page is the detail that catches trainees out: what to have ready, how many times you can move a date, what to do when no suitable Part 2 date shows, and the 2-year clock that starts the day you pass Part 1.

Everything below was checked against GOV.UK, DVSA's Despatch blog and Parliament's written answers on 11 October 2026. Northern Ireland runs a separate process through nidirect. This guide covers England, Scotland and Wales.

The three ADI tests at a glance

Fail any of them and you pay the full fee again to retake it. Pass all three first time and the test fees come to £303. On top of that sits £140 if you take a trainee licence and £300 for your first ADI certificate (GOV.UK ADI fees).

For the whole qualifying route, including training costs, start with how to become a driving instructor in the UK.

Booking ADI Part 1 (theory and hazard perception)

You cannot book Part 1 until your application to start the ADI qualifying process has been accepted. That application needs a new DBS check, even if you already have one (GOV.UK step by step).

To book online you need (GOV.UK):

• your UK driving licence number
• your personal reference number from DVSA
• an email address (without one, you book by phone)
• a credit or debit card

The theory test helpline is 0300 200 1122, or theorycustomerservices@dvsa.gov.uk, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.

The multiple-choice questions and the hazard perception clips are booked and taken as a single test, and you have to pass both (GOV.UK Part 1 guide). The pass marks (GOV.UK):

• Multiple choice: 100 questions in 1 hour 30 minutes. You need at least 85 overall and at least 20 out of 25 in each of the 4 categories.
• Hazard perception: 14 clips, pass mark 57 out of 75.

The category rule is the one that bites. Score 88 overall with 19 in one category and you have failed. Our free ADI Part 1 practice questions are a short taster drawn from all four categories, a quick check before you pay £81 for the real thing. The ADI Part 1 theory guide covers what to revise.

On the day, take your UK photocard licence (with a paper licence you also need a valid passport) and arrive 15 minutes early. Turn up late and the test is cancelled and the fee lost (what to take, arriving at the centre).

When you pass, you get a pass certificate letter. Keep it: you need it to book and take Part 2.

If you fail, you rebook through the same service and must pick a date at least 3 working days after your last attempt. You sit the whole test again, both halves.

Booking your ADI Part 2 test (driving ability)

You book Part 2 on the GOV.UK driving test booking service, the same one used for car tests, once you have passed Part 1. It costs £111. Have ready:

• your UK driving licence number
• a debit or credit card

The service runs from 6am to 11:40pm. When you start you are put in a queue and told how long you will wait. If you need help, DVSA's booking support line is 0300 200 1122, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.

Before you pay, check the car. GOV.UK's car rules for Part 2 include:

• an extra interior rear-view mirror for the examiner
• a passenger seatbelt and a passenger head restraint (slip-on types are not allowed)
• no warning lights, no tyre damage and no space-saver spare fitted
• insurance that covers an ADI Part 2 test

Your own car does not need dual controls. A hire car does. Convertibles, left-hand drive cars, panel vans, the 2-door Smart Fortwo and the Toyota iQ cannot be used, and DVSA says to check with it before booking in a coupe. If the car does not meet the rules, the test is cancelled and you pay again.

If you hold an automatic licence you must take Part 2 in an automatic, and once qualified you can only teach in an automatic. A manual licence lets you take the test in either.

On the day you need your UK driving licence and the car. The test takes around an hour and starts with an eyesight check at 27 metres (27.5 metres for an old-style plate). Fail the eyesight check and that counts as one of your 3 attempts (GOV.UK). To pass you need no more than 6 driving faults and no serious or dangerous faults (GOV.UK).

The ADI Part 2 test booking guide puts the fee, the rules and the booking steps on one page, and covers what the examiner looks for.

Booking your ADI Part 3 test (instructional ability)

Part 3 goes through the same booking service, costs £111 and opens once you have passed Part 2 (GOV.UK Part 3 guide). Once you pass Part 2, GOV.UK says you can book Part 3 or apply for a trainee licence, which is meant to help you prepare for it (GOV.UK). A trainee licence lasts 6 months and costs £140 (GOV.UK step by step).

What you take to Part 3 is different (GOV.UK):

• A pupil. A partly trained learner, a fully trained learner or a full licence holder. A partly trained learner should be able to drive for 40 minutes without frequent stops. Your pupil cannot be an ADI or someone preparing for their own Part 3.
• A suitable car. The same mirror, head restraint, tyre and insurance rules as Part 2, insured for an ADI Part 3 test (car rules).
• Your trainee licence, or your UK driving licence or passport if you do not have one.

Forget any of those and the test is cancelled without a refund. Line your pupil up before you book, and have a second one in mind. A date that took you a long time to get is lost if your only pupil falls ill that morning.

The examiner watches you give a lesson of about 45 minutes and marks you on 17 competencies, each scored 0 to 3. You need 31 or more out of 51 to pass, and 7 or less in the risk management category is an automatic fail whatever your total (GOV.UK). Our guide to the ADI Part 3 marking sheet goes through each competency and the grade bands.

Changing or cancelling an ADI test

The notice period is the same for all three parts: 3 full working days. Monday to Saturday count as working days. Sundays and public holidays do not.

Part 1

You change or cancel on the instructor theory test service with your driving licence number. Change inside the 3 working days and you pay again. Cancel inside them and you lose the fee.

Part 2 and Part 3

ADI practical tests get more slack than car tests (change, cancel):

• Changing the date and the test centre at the same time counts as one change.
• After the 6th change, you have to cancel and book a new test.
• You need your driving licence number plus your test reference number or theory test pass certificate number.
• You can change or cancel online from 6am to 11:40pm. You can cancel up to the time the test starts, even when it is too late for a refund.

Short-notice refunds

For any of the three tests you can ask for your fee back after a short-notice change or cancellation if you had an illness or injury, a bereavement, a school or college exam, or your licence was stolen. Email DVSA with the subject "Unavoidable short notice cancellation" and attach proof such as a fit note or a crime number. For Part 1 the address is theorycustomerservices@dvsa.gov.uk. For Parts 2 and 3 it is customerservices@dvsa.gov.uk.

When DVSA cancels

If bad weather stops your Part 2 or Part 3, DVSA books the next available date for you and sends the details within 3 working days, or up to 7 days in a long spell of bad weather. You can change that date, but you cannot claim expenses. If DVSA cancels for another reason, such as the examiner being ill, you get a new date and can apply for out-of-pocket expenses when the cancellation was at short notice (Part 2, Part 3).

Current waiting times and how to find earlier slots

DVSA's ADI test statistics cover test volumes and pass rates, not waiting times, so there is no official Part 2 or Part 3 wait to quote. What DVSA has said:

• On 28 August 2026 its chief executive, Beverley Warmington, wrote that she had heard clearly from instructors and trainees that "the long waiting times for a part 2 or 3 test or a standards check are unacceptable" (Despatch).
• On 15 September 2026 Marian Kitson, the director responsible for DVSA's Enforcement Directorate, whose role includes overseeing ADI and PDI standards, said applications have increased by 152% since 2018/19 and that Part 3 pass rates have fallen from 33.8% in 2023/24 to 27.7% in 2025/26, "meaning more people are retaking their tests" (Despatch).

DVSA is recruiting and training more ADI examiners, but the same post warns that "some of what we're doing will take months to show results". Plan for a long Part 2 wait, not a short one. Our ADI Part 2 test availability post goes through the pass-rate figures and what the delay means for your 2 years.

How to get a date sooner:

1. If there is no suitable date, use book to hold. DVSA's advice is to nominate your preferred test date and test centre through its book to hold service. It uses that demand to decide where to send its ADI examiners (Despatch, 15 September 2026). The roads minister added that trainees can apply "even when no appointments are available", and that "where appropriate, priority is given to those nearing the end of their two-year qualification period" (written answer 26270, 9 September 2026).
2. Check for changed and cancelled slots. GOV.UK says there is no waiting list or cancellation list. Earlier appointments appear whenever someone changes or cancels, at any time of the week (GOV.UK). With 6 changes to play with, you can book the best date available now and move it forward later.
3. Widen the test centres you will travel to. ADI examiners work across several test centres and are sent where demand is, according to the same written answer.

Do not pay for a cancellation-finder app or bot. When DVSA sees booking activity that does not look like normal personal use, it suspends online access for that driving licence number for 12 months, and you then have to book, change or cancel practical tests by phone (GOV.UK). Our guide to getting an earlier driving test date covers the same rules from the learner side.

Attempts and the 2-year rule

Your Part 1 pass certificate lasts 2 years. Qualify inside that window or you start the application again (GOV.UK).

DVSA spells out what "qualify" means in practice: "you must pass your Part 2 and book your Part 3 within 2 years" (Despatch, 15 September 2026). The minister confirmed that "provided a part 3 test application is submitted before the expiry date, the test itself may take place afterwards" (WQ 26270). Part 2 gets no such allowance. If you passed Part 1 in March 2026, Part 2 has to be passed, and your Part 3 application in, before March 2028.

The attempt limits:

• Part 1: the GOV.UK guide sets no limit, only the 3 working day gap between attempts.
• Part 2: 3 attempts, and a failed eyesight check counts as one. Fail the third and you have to retake and pass Part 1, which you cannot do until 2 years after you first passed it (GOV.UK).
• Part 3: 3 attempts, each retake booked within 2 years of passing Part 1. Fail the third and you must stop giving paid lessons straight away, and any trainee licence becomes invalid. You then retake Parts 1 and 2, again no sooner than 2 years after your first Part 1 pass (GOV.UK).

One detail for trainee licence holders: if you chose the extra training option (option 2) when you applied, you must do 5 hours of extra training before a Part 3 retake. If your licence runs out before Part 3, our trainee licence recovery plan covers your options.

Pass Part 3 and you have 12 months to apply for your first ADI certificate, or you sit all three tests again (GOV.UK). If you are weighing up whether the whole route is worth it first, read how hard it is to become a driving instructor.

Part 1 comes first, and the category rule fails people who would pass on total score. Try the free ADI Part 1 practice questions before you book: no sign-up, and every answer comes with an explanation.