The UK’s driving standards agency is spending £73 million on a replacement for its much loathed test booking platform, four years after starting the project.
Software provider Kainos signed a four year contract to deliver the new Driver Services Platform (DSP) using Microsoft technology after a long “governance and approvals process”.
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) Registrar Jacqui Turland said the new services would be developed in “smaller, manageable parts”, starting with a limited beta version of the car driving test booking platform.
She explained once the system is ready, “it will undergo a thorough assessment by the Government Digital Service (GDS)” before moving onto the GOV.UK platform for all users, likely by the end of Kainos contract in August 2029.
Along with handling test booking, DSP will record mandatory training for lorry and bus drivers, manage all practical test bookings, and handle the driving instructor register.
The new platform will be built on Microsoft technology, including its CRM and ERP platform Dynamics and low-code development tools service Power Platform.
Kainos said it will introduce new scheduling tools, improved data insights and capacity visibility for DVSA and its users, alongside accessibility updates such as adding British Sign Language translation.
Kainos has been a DVSA vendor since 2014, working on a new driving theory test system and new MOT testing service. It has also signed £490 million in government contracts since FY 2020/21.
A replacement long in the making
DSP will replace the DVSA’s 20-year-old Testing and Registration System (TARS), which has struggled to scale with “unprecedented high demand for tests” since the Covid-19 pandemic and deal with automated test-booking bots.
The DVSA has been working on a TARS replacement since 2022 and first sought a new supplier in February 2023 after “discovery” and “alpha” phases testing early solutions.
Turland attributed the delay in securing a supplier to DSP’s status as a “Tier 1 project” for the government, which “puts it under a level of scrutiny” similar to new motorways or airport runways.
Kainos’ contract, awarded via the Technology Services 3 framework, was signed in June 2024 but its work only began on September 1 2025.
Notably, in April 2025, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the DVSA to "intensify its efforts" to improve the booking process, crack down on booking bots, and reduce test waiting times from an average of 22 weeks to seven by summer 2026.
The DVSA previously said it has closed thousands of business accounts since 2021 for inactivity or misuses of the booking system.
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