Change or cancel a UK theory test through the DVSA booking service. You must give at least three full working days' notice or you lose the fee — and the DVSA counts Monday to Saturday as working days, so a Saturday counts against you.
The notice period
You need at least three full working days' notice to move or cancel without paying again. Less than that and you forfeit the fee and rebook at full price.
The bit almost everyone gets wrong
The DVSA counts Monday to Saturday as working days. Sundays and public holidays do not count.
Saturday counting is the trap. Plenty of driving sites say "weekends don't count", which would give you an extra day you do not have — and being one day out is exactly how the fee gets lost.
Work it out by counting backwards from your test date, excluding only Sundays and public holidays. If the count is tight, treat it as too tight.
How to do it
Use the official service, with your booking reference and driving licence number.
Change your theory test appointment — GOV.UK
If you are ill or something serious happens
The notice rule is applied strictly, but the DVSA will consider exceptional circumstances. It is worth contacting them rather than writing the fee off, and worth doing it promptly — the case is much easier to make before the test date than after you have missed it.
If you have already missed it
There is no refund for a missed test and no appeal in the normal course. You book again, at the full fee.
Sources and last verified
Rules and fees change. These are the official pages this answer is based on, with the date we last checked each one — if you are reading this long after, check the source before relying on it.
- Change your theory test appointment — DVSA, checked 4 August 2026
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