Driving offences by learner drivers soar 44% in three years
Fri, 17 Jul 2026
Thousands of learner drivers are picking up penalty points before they've even passed their driving test.
New DVLA figures show that more than 50,000 driving endorsements were issued to provisional licence holders in 2025. That's a 44% increase since 2022, leaving many new drivers at risk of losing their licence soon after passing.
The numbers come from learner driver insurance provider, Tempcover, following a Freedom of Information request it made to the DVLA.
Learners learning the hard way
The results were surprising, with Tempcover discovering that 192,560 endorsements had been handed out between 2022 and 2025, meaning thousands of learners had some kind of formal conviction added to their license, often involving penalty points, before passing their driving test.
Top of the list was breaching the conditions of a provisional licence – an LC20 offence. This includes things like driving without L-plates or without a qualified supervisor.
Penalties for this are significant, attracting up to six points, but despite the risk, 52,748 endorsements were given.
In second was driving without third-party insurance, with 50,013 learners caught, despite risking up to eight penalty points. And rounding out the top three was speeding, with 44,452 endorsements recorded, despite meaning up to six penalty points.
Over the period that the data request covered, the top three offences accounted for more than three-quarters (76.4%) of all endorsements.
Licence to chill
Penalty points incurred on a provisional licence automatically carry over to a full licence when you pass your test. The Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 states a new driver automatically loses their licence of they tot up a total of six or more penalty points within two years of passing their test.
If a driver gets their full licence and already has six or more points on their record, any further points gained in the following two years means their licence will be automatically cancelled and they'd need to apply for a new provisional licence and retake both their theory and practical driving tests.
"These figures show that for a significant number of learners, the consequences of getting behind the wheel without the right knowledge or cover in place can follow them long after they've passed their test," says Claire Wills-McKissick, learner driver insurance expert at Tempcover.
"The points system is deliberately strict because newly qualified drivers are statistically a higher-risk group. By learning the rules, gaining experience, and developing safer driving habits from day one, learners give themselves the best chance of staying safe on the road long after their L-plates are gone."
