Publication of ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics 2023/24 Quarter Three

The ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics 2023/24 Quarter Three’ report, detailing statistics for October to December 2023, is now available.

The report is produced and published by NISRA Statisticians working within the DVA.  It contains summary statistical, performance, and trend information relating to the main business functions of the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA), and other licensing activity.

The publication is available on the DfI website at:

• Driver Vehicle Agency - Activity Statistics

Key Points

The key points in the report are:

During quarter three of 2023/24, DVA delivered 283,792 vehicle tests (full and retest), the second highest quarter three volume on record. During the current financial year to date, DVA has delivered 846,034 vehicle tests to the end of December 2023.

Over 11,900 vehicles failed to attend a booked vehicle test in quarter three, equating to 4.2% of all conducted tests during this period; there were 37,357 missed vehicle tests in this year to date, relative to 35,271 for the same period last year, an increase of over 2,000 (5.9%) vehicles that failed to attend for a booked test.

From October to December 2023, 20,695 theory tests were delivered, with over 66,800 tests completed in this financial year to date.

During this quarter, 3,047 customers failed to attend (FTA) a booked theory test, which equates to 14.7% of all theory tests conducted in this period.

The DVA conducted 16,147 driving tests this quarter and a total of 47,865 tests this financial year to date.

There were 551 candidates who failed to attend a booked driving test this quarter, equivalent to 3.4% of all driving tests conducted in this period, with over 1,780 candidates failing to attend a booked driving test so far this year to date.

At the end of September 2023, there were almost 1.28 million licensed vehicles, the highest on record.

Performance for driver licensing paper applications in quarter three was 7.3 percentage points above the 90% target level, at 97.3%.

Driver licensing online applications performance was also above the target level this quarter, at 99.6% against a target of 95%.

At the end of December 2023, there were over 1.167 million full and eligible driver licence holders (excluding provisional licence holders) with private car/light van entitlement, the highest on record.

In quarter three of 2023/24, the DVA issued 2,636 transport licences related to taxi vehicles (2,108), taxi drivers (461) and taxi operators (67).

DVA were active across the full range of enforcement activities this quarter, having checked 519 vehicles and issued 145 fixed penalty notices totalling £22,350 in fines.

DVA undertook 10 joint operations with the PSNI, 2 cross border operations with the Road Safety Authority, PSNI and An Garda Síochána and 28 spot checks on school buses.

Notes to editors: 

Background to Driver & Vehicle Agency ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics’

1. This is the thirty-seventh edition of the quarterly report ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics’, relating to October to December 2023. 
2. The release covers the main DVA business areas: vehicle testing, theory testing, driver testing, driver licensing, road transport and taxi licensing, enforcement and goods operator licensing from within the DfI. Also included in the quarterly report are monitoring results for the third quarter of 2023/24 for two key DVA driver licensing performance targets.
3. Vehicle licensing statistics for 2023/24 quarter two July to September 2023 are included in the report; however, they are no longer a DVA business area: responsibility for vehicle licensing transferred to DVLA in July 2014 and DfT now publish these statistics on a UK-wide basis. Vehicle statistics for October to December 2023 will be published after they have been made available by DfT.
4. We derive the majority of statistics from administrative data sources held within the DVA, the DfI’s Transport Regulation Unit, and the Department for Transport. 
5. The report is written and issued by NISRA statisticians posted to the DVA. 
6. ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator and Enforcement Statistics’ is published every quarter at pre-announced release dates, which are available from the GOV.UK website.
7. Electronic copies of the ‘DfI Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics 2023-24 Quarter Three’ can be downloaded from our website at: Driver Vehicle Agency - Activity Statistics
8. A detailed User Guidance document is also available on our website.
9. This is a National Statistics report and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.  You can find further information about the Code on the Statistics Authority’s website.
10. For further information, please contact:DVA Statistics,Driver and Vehicle Agency,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:    Driver Vehicle Agency - Activity Statistics
11. 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.
12. Follow the Department on X/(Twitter) @deptinfra, on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure and on LinkedIn at Department for Infrastructure.

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