Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The national average wait time to be invited to a driving test is now 16.3 weeks Shutterstock/michaeljung

Driving test wait times are below July projection but six weeks above RSA target

The RSA aims to have driving test wait times of 10 weeks.

THE AVERAGE NATIONAL waiting time to receive a driving test invitation has fallen to 16.3 weeks, according to the RSA.

While this is below the RSA’s projection for July it is still six weeks above its target of 10 weeks.

The RSA said this reduction is the result of “continued strong progress in reducing waiting times, as part of its ongoing Driving Test Action Plan”.

This plan includes extended testing hours and accelerated training of new testers.

As of the end of February, there were 144 permanent testers employed by the RSA.

The RSA previously told The Journal that this figure will reach 200 by November.

To further alleviate pressure, the RSA will open new driving test centres in “key areas” to bring the national total to 60 centres.

Waiting times

At the end of May, driving test waiting times stood at 22 weeks.

At the time, Brendan Walsh, Chief Operations Officer of the RSA, said that by July the average wait should be down to 18 weeks.

As of this week, that figure is 16.3 weeks, which the RSA said it has achieved “well ahead of earlier projections”.

The RSA is still over six weeks off its target of 10 weeks, but a spokesperson said it remains “firmly on track” to achieve this goal by September.

The spokesperson added that this will be the result of a “range of targeted measures implemented to increase capacity and improve efficiency”. 

Commenting on this week’s update, Walsh described it as a “significant reduction in waiting times” and an “important milestone”.

“We are determined to continue this momentum through the summer and into autumn,” he added.

Meanwhile, the RSA is encouraging learner drivers to prepare thoroughly, arrive at their test fully ready, and “embrace the responsibility that comes with earning a full licence”. 

Walsh said this will “not only increase the success rate but also contribute to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the national testing system”.

So far this year, the national pass rate stands at 53%.

“While we know learners have waited patiently for a test,” said Walsh, “it is crucial to see the test as a critical step towards becoming a safe, confident, and independent driver.”

Walsh encourages students to practice regularly with their sponsor and to familiarise themselves with test requirements as set out in the RSA checklist.

He noted that some of the most common reasons that people fail their test include inadequate observation on moving off, at junctions, roundabouts, and changing lanes.

Other common reasons for failure include incorrect road positioning, a failure to anticipate the actions of other drivers, incorrect use of mirrors and signals, and inadequate progress at junctions and roundabouts.

    

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
5 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Wyse
    Favourite Fiona Wyse
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:16 PM

    Watched it live in New York, managed to head to head over for the first one, attendance last night was compulsory. The atmosphere was ELECTRIC, lovely banter between us and the Serrano fans. Not the most exciting fight, trilogies tend to be like that, felt like it might go Amanda’s way at times but Katie really pulled it back in the last two rounds. I’m a very proud Bray woman today, we are from the same parish, she is my ultimate hero and all the baked beans the last few months were worth it.

    151
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JoeJoe Kilbride
    Favourite JoeJoe Kilbride
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:36 PM

    @Fiona Wyse: you’ve a night of memories, that’s for sure

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Clash
    Favourite Clash
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 5:20 PM

    @Fiona Wyse:
    Deadly.
    The Garden is great.The Irish always show up.
    Nothing wrong with Bray either.
    C’mon the Wanderers.
    NYC. ✌️

    36
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Wyse
    Favourite Fiona Wyse
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 10:09 PM

    @Clash: When you are there you really understand why they call it the meca of boxing!

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brendan C5
    Favourite brendan C5
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 10:54 PM

    @Clash: id rather a real garden.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joseph
    Favourite Joseph
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 3:12 AM

    @Fiona Wyse: Congratulations!

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute john kenny
    Favourite john kenny
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:04 PM

    Good tactical fight. Katie boxed to her strengths and skill came through. Didnt get involved in a dog fight battle.
    Brilliant trilogy.

    139
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian Corrigan
    Favourite Brian Corrigan
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:30 PM

    She should run for the park ! !
    A lovely lady.

    112
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ben F
    Favourite Ben F
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:07 PM

    @Brian Corrigan: Fairly brain dead though…

    38
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Cryan
    Favourite Ian Cryan
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:45 PM

    @Ben F: i bet you wouldn’t say that yo her face or you end of brain dead

    58
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Clash
    Favourite Clash
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 5:22 PM

    @Ben F:
    Yep you are.

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute p gert
    Favourite p gert
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 8:41 AM

    @Ben F: Numpty!

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan d
    Favourite Alan d
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 2:18 PM

    @Ben F: Best to shut up if you don’t have anything to say

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Cryan
    Favourite Ian Cryan
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:38 PM

    Stayed up until 4am couldn’t stay awake any longer

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:50 PM

    @Ian Cryan: sleep and set the alarm.
    It’s not complicated.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jay Nsilentb
    Favourite Jay Nsilentb
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:55 PM

    @offside again: Just because something isn’t complicated doesn’t mean people actually want to do it. Stop trying to sound patronizing for no reason, you just come across as petty and insecure.

    136
    See 6 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Cryan
    Favourite Ian Cryan
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:01 PM

    @offside again: muppet

    90
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:14 PM

    @Ian Cryan: I thought boxing was for tough lads. Maybe not.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:15 PM

    @Jay Nsilentb: yawn

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Beirne
    Favourite Joe Beirne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:39 PM

    @offside again: Also thought it wasn’t your thing yet here you are

    55
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:43 PM

    @Joe Beirne: ah Joe, I’m only here for the banter. This place is not as funny as it used to be.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jay Nsilentb
    Favourite Jay Nsilentb
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:18 PM

    @offside again: Go to bed if you’re feeling sleepy. Just make sure to set your alarm, tough lad ; )

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John McEvoy
    Favourite John McEvoy
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:25 PM

    I thought it was on tonight

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Wilson
    Favourite Johnny Wilson
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:43 PM

    Boxing isn’t a sport, it’s brutality that attracts criminality and should be banned

    74
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fergus O'Connor
    Favourite Fergus O'Connor
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:49 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: Your spiteful arrogance is astounding

    123
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Beirne
    Favourite Joe Beirne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:37 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: Tell me what else you would ban, actually don’t, nobody cares what you think.

    74
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Wilson
    Favourite Johnny Wilson
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:51 PM

    @Joe Beirne: your type

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Beirne
    Favourite Joe Beirne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:35 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: What’s my type?

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gor bern
    Favourite Gor bern
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 10:58 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: you sound like a soppy windbag

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan d
    Favourite Alan d
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 2:20 PM

    @Johnny Wilson: Yawn

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Yvonne McGowan
    Favourite Yvonne McGowan
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:28 PM

    3rd time to win, we can only hope it’s the last we see of KT, she has enough in the bank by now,

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JoeJoe Kilbride
    Favourite JoeJoe Kilbride
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:13 PM

    @Yvonne McGowan: how exactly does her boxing impact on your life? Don’t want to see her? Don’t watch.

    97
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:25 PM

    No, didn’t even know it was on. Boxing is not my thing.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Beirne
    Favourite Joe Beirne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:36 PM

    @offside again: Well that explains why you wouldn’t know it on.

    111
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute don rennie
    Favourite don rennie
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:05 PM

    None of the options in the survey were appropriate for me. A simple NO option would have been better.

    38
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute paulinlavally@gmail.com
    Favourite paulinlavally@gmail.com
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:14 PM

    I don’t like boxing -imo it should not be classified as a sport.

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liz O'Neill
    Favourite Liz O'Neill
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:05 PM

    Perhaps it’s just me,but the spectacle of two grown women knocking the 5h1t out of each other isn’t my idea of entertainment.

    46
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Beirne
    Favourite Joe Beirne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:37 PM

    @Liz O’Neill: And that is your prerogative, listening to someone playing a violin isn’t mine but I don’t go on violin articles criticising

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry Betts
    Favourite Larry Betts
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 4:04 PM

    @Joe Beirne: She doesn’t approve of the brutality,there’s no need for you to resort to violins.

    27
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jay Nsilentb
    Favourite Jay Nsilentb
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 4:10 PM

    @Larry Betts: Smallest violin in the world is playing for her now ; )

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Soap
    Favourite Joe Soap
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 4:35 PM

    Didn’t see a mention of Katie on sky news . How did they know she was Irish

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JoeJoe Kilbride
    Favourite JoeJoe Kilbride
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 6:27 PM
    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Starling
    Favourite Richard Starling
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:48 PM

    I wouldn’t watch her in a fit!

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute p gert
    Favourite p gert
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 8:42 AM

    @Richard Starling: Try radio if you have an aversion to it.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John arse
    Favourite John arse
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:25 PM

    Katie probably has enough in the coffers for the church roof now or is she going to continue fighting the same girl for another few years maybe???

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian Murphy
    Favourite Brian Murphy
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:32 PM

    Fell fast asleep just as it was starting……

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ciaran o dowd
    Favourite ciaran o dowd
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 1:33 PM

    Was planning to, struggling to stay awake then the walk-ins started and I fell asleep.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute RIP
    Favourite RIP
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:24 PM

    Used to love boxing but have lost interest. There was a time when you would know who all the world champions were. Don’t like Women boxing, but we’ll done Katie

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ailbhe MacThomais
    Favourite Ailbhe MacThomais
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 2:16 PM

    Maybe now to retire and set up a female boxing only club

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute daz Carroll
    Favourite daz Carroll
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 7:02 PM

    SerrNo got robbed again today

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny frankson
    Favourite Johnny frankson
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 6:56 PM

    Not being an utter k nack er, that would be a no.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Moore
    Favourite John Moore
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 4:10 PM

    I did stay up and watch it but to be honest it was boring and just seemed like a draw.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ann Reddin
    Favourite Ann Reddin
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 6:50 PM

    Where’s the “don’t have Netflix” option?

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brendan C5
    Favourite brendan C5
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 10:53 PM

    I didn’t even know she was fighting until I saw this, that’s how much interest I have in it.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Byrne
    Favourite Peter Byrne
    Report
    Jul 12th 2025, 3:19 PM

    Maybe he best of 7

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Garreth Byrne
    Favourite Garreth Byrne
    Report
    Jul 13th 2025, 6:52 PM

    Now Katie can retire as undisputed world champ. At 39 she can start a new career and forget worrying about the next fight.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel