Recent figures have shown that almost 15,000 vehicles failed to attend booked MOT tests in Northern Ireland during January and March of this year. The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) delivered 308,658 vehicle tests in this period, comprising 262,415 full tests and 46,243 retests.
However, the Driver, Vehicle, Operator, and Enforcement Statistics 2024/25 Quarter Four report revealed that 14,928 vehicles were no-shows for their booked tests. This figure represents a 27% (3,178) increase compared to the same quarter last year (11,750), and is recorded as the second-highest figure in the time series, just below the 15,501 no-shows between January and March 2023.
The pass rate for full vehicle tests in this quarter stood at 80.5%, a slight decrease from the 81.3% recorded between October and December 2024 and the 82.2% from the same quarter last year.
Newtownards test centre was the busiest, conducting 128,365 full tests in the 2024/25 financial year, while Omagh conducted the fewest (34,153). Pass rates for private cars by test centre ranged from 77.2% in Armagh to 85.4% in Belfast (Balmoral).
The DVA also conducted 16,048 driving tests, a 6.9% increase from the previous year, with 83.4% for private cars. Driving test applications saw a slight rise of 0.1%. Notably, 539 candidates failed to attend a booked driving test, a small decrease from the previous year.
Theory tests totalled 22,344, a slight fall from the prior year, with approximately one in seven (3,159) no-shows. By March 2025, there were 1,187,429 full and eligible licence holders for private cars/light vans, the highest on record.
In terms of enforcement, 483 vehicles were checked, resulting in 189 fixed penalty notices totalling £26,700 in fines. The DVA also completed 12 joint operations with the PSNI and five cross-border operations with An Garda Siochana, alongside 18 spot checks on school buses.
Source: Belfast Live