Driving instructors have been banned from booking tests for their students as learners face lengthy 22 week waits for appointments.
Driving tests can now only be booked and managed by learners amid concerns over enormous backlogs and reports some were being charged double for earlier tests by unofficial brokers.
Average wait times have skyrocketed since the Covid pandemic, where learners were waiting an average of just five weeks for their practical tests.
It is hoped the new rules will make it harder for people to profit by using automated programmes, known as bots.
Many people currently use these to quickly book available slots and resell them at a higher price.
A BBC investigation in December found some driving test touts were offering instructors up to £250 a month for the use of their booking website login details.
Tests have a standard fee of £62, but a National Audit Office (NAO) report published in December found learners were paying up to £500 to book a slot on the black market.
It is now illegal to book a driving test for someone other than yourself as the Government looks to slash the huge backlogs.
Driving instructors have been banned from booking tests for their students as learners face lengthy 22 week waits for tests
Average waiting time to book a test increased from 20.8 weeks in January to 22.4 weeks by April 6, Freedom of Information data shows.
Some desperate drivers have been forced to book tests hundreds of miles away to secure appointments.
The waiting time was just five weeks in February 2020.
From June 12, it will only be possible to move a slot to one of the three test centres nearest the initial booking.
This is aimed at preventing people from booking a test regardless of location, with no intention of using the slot.
They then try to switch tests to a more convenient location if a place becomes available at a later date.
This makes it hard for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to plan how much capacity is required at certain test centres.
The number of changes allowed for a single booking was cut from six to two from March 31 in another measure aimed at making the system fairer.
Beverley Warmington, DVSA's chief executive, said: 'Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices.
'These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others.
'These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.'
Roads minister Simon Lightwood said: 'This Government inherited a huge backlog of learners facing record waiting times but we've taken action and are seeing results – delivering almost two million tests in a year, with over 158,000 extra tests since June 2025.'
Some desperate drivers have been forced to book tests hundreds of miles away to secure appointments
Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: 'Learner drivers continue to face unacceptable delays in accessing driving tests.
'The data clearly shows more needs to be done to really get a handle on the situation and start to push waiting times back.'
She said Tuesday's changes are 'unlikely to be the silver bullet which turns the tide on long waiting times', but acknowledged they 'mark a shift towards overhauling the booking system for the better'.
She added: 'It is only part of the solution though.
'To really improve waiting times over a prolonged period, there needs to be unrelenting focus from the DVSA on retaining and recruiting driving test examiners.'
The DVSA said it had 1,604 full-time equivalent driving examiners last month, which is the most since March 2018.