Automatic driving tests to become the norm
The AA Driving School is predicting that automatic driving tests will become the norm, with a third of all driving tests taken in an automatic car in 2026/27.
This comes after data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency revealed a consistent rise in the number of automatic tests carried out.
It found that just 6.1% of driving tests were conducted in automatic cars in 2012/13 but that figure had risen to 23.4% in 2023/24, which equates to 479,556 automatic car driving tests.
Meanwhile, searches for automatic driving lessons have risen from 26% in 2022 to 34% in the first half of 2025/26.
If this rate of growth continues, the AA Driving School expects automatic driving tests to reach 32% for the 2026/27 year, before accelerating again due to the continued adoption of electric vehicles to reach a tipping point where manual tests are no longer the norm.
Automatic driving tests
Emma Bush, managing director, AA Driving School, said: “We have been tracking the growing trend for taking the test in an automatic for some time now. With more people becoming confident with the idea of their driving future being electric, the idea of needing to drive a manual vehicle will feel irrelevant to many.
“As we head closer to 2030 and the ban on the sale of new combustion cars, more and more learners will want to learn in an electric vehicle as that’s all they will plan to drive.”
