Had my car Nct today but only got a ticket for four months due to the back log of testing

Fully agree with listermint, people supporting a broken system and saying if you don't know how to play the system then your at fault is crazy. If a system doesn't work, it doesn't work. Fix the system instead of saying Ah, but you didn't get up in the middle of the night to book it, or offer to drive across the country to the one spot that was available.

It's Nonsense, people have to abuse the system to get any hope of getting a place.

I will add, I have managed to, in the main, get a date that works for me the last few years, leaving me with a valid NCT, or at least only a few weeks out. But that does not mean I accept the system works as it was intended, it clearly doesn't.

Not true. You mostly can't book a date even in advance.

Not at all. Been driving with it out since February.

If it's so easy to get a test by calling then why don't they put these on the website when you book?

Why do you need to jump through an extra hoop because NCT can't meet their targets?

Remember they got a reprieve from COVID. It took the pressure off those test centres which had dodgy lifts. They had to push tests out for months, or offer "partial tests".

Absolute joke.

Every single person can't use it. They only accept people with a test due in a few weeks, or expired. So roughly only 1/12 of the demand. Also the priority has twice as many slots as the main system.

It's not gaming the system. Its what they advise you to do on their own website.

"..Seems that some people live by the “computer says no” maxim & meekly accept whatever appointment the site gives them..."

Exactly people are stuck in mental catch 22 loop, trying to do it the old way which they know doesn't work. Move on.

They are open for longer hours and they created the priority list exactly for people like the OP. They just refused to use it.

I’ve never called; I’ve only used the booking system. Unlike you, I would not drive a car without making any reasonable effort to get a cert. I don’t need a criminal record.

I used the priority booking system on the website early October when I was being offered next May, 2 weeks later I got a text confirming November 18. Might have even got one sooner if I hadn't ticked weekend only. No need to ring, just use the website.

If I widen my search to the nearest three (up to a two hour round trip away) I can get an appointment at the end of April. There are still none available within the 90 days before my NCT due date. I'm flexible with test dates but there are simply none available online within the 90 day test window.

The online booking system is totally broken. People shouldn't have to login every morning and night for days and days until, by pure chance, a test appointment belriefly appears and they manage to book it before someone else does.

The only practical solution is for everyone to forget about online booking and being able to pick a date and time from what's available (hint - there are none available) and everyone wait until 90 days before your NCT is due and ask to be put on their 'priority' list.

What is needed is secondary legislation to automatically extend the validity of a current NCT certificate provided a test has been booked, until such time as NCTS can meet their service level agreements and people can book and get a car tested in reasonable time. A nod and a wink is not a good enough solution for a fundamentally broken system.

No need to use the website just ring...

You can get lucky. They also have extended hours now which helps. Theres no need to drive to another county.

You shouldn't have to do a thing.

The system when it was originally built and envisaged would have capacity to deal with volume it would alert the user of booking and tike slot well in advance of expiry.

None of that his happening.

It's broken.

We shouldn't accept poor service like this especially in a world where we are told privatised services operate better and more efficiently.

No one should have to make any such call. That's the point. But you meekly accept it as normal now as if your winning by getting your booking and everyone else is a fool.

Bizarre stuff and you'll pay the full whack for it too. Lol

I think they stopped that because there were too many missed appointments. Which wasted capacity in the system.

Send out a reminder a month before the due date, maybe. Let people book it themselves.

Well obviously...