The Mirror’s probe comes after the practical test backlog topped 600,000 for the first time earlier this year – with the average wait time now a staggering 22 weeks
A doctor linked to a top British university can be unmasked as the boss of a controversial bot-booking driving test website.
The country’s practical test backlog topped 600,000 for the first time earlier this year – with the average wait time now a staggering 22 weeks. Our probe reveals a Chinese expert who earned a PhD at the University of Manchester is behind a firm charging customers £49 to get a bot to book their driving test. Dr Jiarun Cao’s aptly-named DriveBot has boasted: “Skip the 6-month DVSA queue. DriveBot’s 24/7 cancellation checker secures early tests at multiple centres—fully refundable if we can’t.” The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has warned how bots – automated software programs – can be used by organisations to “swiftly find and secure available slots more quickly than individual customers”.
Earlier this year the Department for Transport unveiled fresh measures “to combat test-buying bots”. And a two-month consultation ends next week which the government billed as a way “to improve the booking system and block bots from accessing tests”. Bot-booking a driving test is not illegal but DVSA says it doesn’t “approve or endorse the use of any services that search for available test slots using its practical driving test bookings systems” The expert’s name is notably absent from DriveBot’s website. But we managed to trace his involvement via Companies House where he incorporated Drivebot Ltd in August last year. The 30-year-old, who owns a £500,000 apartment at a plush east London block, is listed among alumni at Manchester University’s National Centre for Text Mining.
His PhD at the university – part of the elite Russell Group – was funded by Cancer Research UK, with Dr Cao thanking the charity in his 194-page thesis. Since earning his doctorate last year, he appears to have used his talents to capitalise on the practical driving test backlog. Wait times started to increase in 2020, the DVSA explained, “due to an increase in demand and low learner driver confidence in driving test availability, resulting in a change in their booking behaviour”. It added: “This change in behaviour has persisted.”
DriveBot offers customers two options, one involving learners forking out £19 to receive a notification to book tests. Its website explains: “As soon as the bot detects any cancellation appointments, you will get notifications via Telegram immediately.” Or for £49 users can choose the “Auto-booking” option, with the website crowing: “No need to worry about appointment booking, the bot will do everything for you. The fastest way to get a slot.” For those without an appointment, the website explains: “We need to pay your DVSA drive test fee (£62) on your behalf to reserve the appointment when it’s available.” Customers are instructed: “Choose a search window of at least 1 month—the wider the range, the better your chances of catching a cancellation. You can use the auto-booking feature as many times as you like, and once we’ve secured you a slot, you can always use the bot again to swap it for a different date if needed.”
In April, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced changes aimed at reducing test wait times to seven weeks by summer next year. They included “doubling the number of permanent trainers to skill up new driving examiners quickly”. And also an “accelerated consultation to investigate the potential abuse of the driving test booking system and prevent bots from accessing tests”.
The average wait time for a car practical driving test in Great Britain at the end of June was 22.3 weeks, the DVSA said. The body explained the figure represents the number of weeks before 10% of tests are available to book. Meanwhile, 603,352 practical driving tests were booked by the end of April, analysis of DVSA figures revealed earlier this year. Peter Harvey, chairman of the driving instructors’ National Associations Strategic Partnership, said: “We all know the waiting lists are very long, the best way to approach booking the test is to consult with your trainer before applying for the practical test… paying an extra cost on top of the DVSA fee often is a waste of money.”
Drivebot said: “DriveBot is not a service that stockpiles appointments and then resells them at a premium. Its sole purpose is to alert learners when a vacancy meets the learner’s pre-set date-and-centre window and, if they wish, to auto-fill their own DVSA account information. The £49 service fee is refunded in full if no appointment is secured. We never remove tests from public circulation, so we do not create the scarcity that fuels urgent need, nor do we lengthen waiting times; we simply spare a small group of candidates the tedium of constant browser refreshes.” It added: “Dr Cao completed his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2024 and is now an alumnus only… earlier this year he stepped away from DriveBot’s daily operations.” The firm said Dr Cao’s London property “was purchased with personal savings without linked mortgage long before DriveBot existed”.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the University of Manchester or Cancer Research UK. The University of Manchester said it “has no relationship with Dr Cao since his graduation”, adding: “His current activity relating to bot technology has no connection with any software he developed as part of his studies.” DVSA said: “DVSA does not run, approve or endorse the use of any services that search for available test slots using its practical driving test bookings systems. GOV.UK is the only official way to book your practical driving test. Using GOV.UK will keep your data safe, help you stay informed and save money.”