Publication of ‘DVA Monthly Tests Conducted Statistics – December 2024
Date published:
The ‘DVA Monthly Tests Conducted Statistics – December 2024’ report, is now available.

The publication is produced by DVA Statistics Branch of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), and contains summary volumes on vehicle, driver, and theory tests conducted by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) up to the end of December 2024.
The publication is available on the DfI website at: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/driver-and-vehicle-agency-monthly-tests-conducted-statistics-december-2024
Key Points
The key points in the report are:
Please note that DVA services were impacted by industrial strike action on 22nd September 2023 and 18th January 2024, so testing volumes for these months are lower than would have been the case had these been routine working days.
Temporary Exemption Certificates (TECs) – Private cars only. From 1 June 2024, private cars that were first registered between 1 June 2019 and 31 May 2020 or between 1 June 2017 and 31 May 2018, and have a valid Northern Ireland MOT will be given a Temporary Exemption Certificate (TEC). This means they will not need a vehicle test (MOT) for 12 months from the date their current certificate expires. These certificates were introduced to reduce the number of private car applications, but tests conducted were to remain the same or the agency would test more as required.
Vehicle Testing
In December 2024, the DVA conducted 83,849 vehicle tests of which 70,561 (84.2%) were full tests and 13,288 (15.8%) were retests.
The December 2024 figure is an increase of 6,097 (7.8%) vehicle tests compared with the total number conducted in December 2023 and represents the highest number of vehicle tests conducted in a December period since the series began.
For this financial year to date 2024/25 (April to December), DVA delivered 854,941 vehicle tests, 732,530 (85.7%) full tests and 122,411 (14.3%) retests respectively
The DVA received 62,956 applications for a full vehicle test during December 2024, relative to 73,036 for the same month in 2023.
Driving Practical Testing
The DVA conducted 4,577 practical driver tests in December 2024, 9.8% (408) higher relative to the same month in 2023 (4,169).
From April to December 2024/25, DVA delivered 52,652 driver tests, compared to 47,865 for the same period in 2023/24, an increase of 10.0% (4,787) so far this year.
In December 2024 DVA received 4,205 applications for a driving test, just 3 fewer than for the same month in 2023 (4,208).
Driver Theory Testing
In December 2024, the DVA delivered 6,568 driver theory tests, 10.2% (607) above the equivalent figure for the same month in 2023 (5,961).
Year to date, April to December 2024/25, the DVA conducted 67,492 theory tests, compared with and slightly above the 67,086 conducted in the same period the previous year 2023/24.
The DVA received 6,352 applications for a driver theory test during December 2024, 265 more than for the same month in 2023 (6,087).
Notes to editors:
- This is the 51st edition of the publication ‘DVA Monthly Tests Conducted Statistics’, to December 2024.
- The release presents statistics on vehicle, driver, and theory tests conducted during December 2024, together with trend series over the previous 10 financial years.
- We source vehicle and driver data from administrative data sources within the DVA, whilst DVSA supply theory-testing data. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) took over the contract for theory testing from Pearson on 4 September 2021.
- ‘DVA Monthly Tests Conducted Statistics’ is published every month at pre-announced release dates, which are available from the GOV.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements
- Electronic copies of ‘DVA Monthly Tests Conducted Statistics – December 2024’ can be downloaded from our website at: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/driver-and-vehicle-agency-monthly-tests-conducted-statistics-december-2024
- A detailed User Guidance document is also available on our website.
- This report supplements the existing quarterly National Statistics publication ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics’. The latest edition of this for quarter two 2024-25 is available on our website at: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/driver-vehicle-agency-activity-statistics
- This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. You can find further information about the Code of Practice at: https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/
- For further information, please contact: DVA Statistics, Driver and Vehicle Agency, Department for Infrastructure, Hydebank House, 4 Hospital Road, Ballydollaghan, Belfast, BT8 8JP
Tel (public enquiries): 02890 547911 (Text relay prefix 18001)
E-mail: DVA.Statistics@nisra.gov.uk
Website: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/driver-and-vehicle-agency-monthly-tests-conducted-statistics - The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
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