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One in four driving tests in Britain are now completed in automatic vehicles, based on new data, as drivers opt for more EVs and shy away from manual gearboxes.

Growing Movement Toward Automatic Vehicles

Figures indicate that 470,000 of the approximately 1.8 million road tests taken in Great Britain during the past year were conducted in automatic vehicles.

Insurer a major driving organization commented the shift is being propelled by the Britain's restriction on new gasoline and diesel vehicles set to begin in the year 2030.

Emma Bush, a senior leader of a leading driving instruction provider, said that the requirement to know how to handle a manual transmission car is becoming "irrelevant to many."

Licensing Rules

To obtain a unrestricted motorist certification for Britain, a motorist must pass their test in a car with stick shift.

In the event that the test is taken in an self-shifting car, the driver would obtain a restricted certification, restricting them to driving cars with auto transmission only.

Northern Ireland provides its separate driving licences.

Future Trends

Ms Bush commented that drivers and learners are "becoming confident with the concept of their automotive future being electronically powered."

"Moving forward to the year 2030 and the ban on the internal combustion engine vehicles, a growing percentage of trainees will choose to practice in an EV as that's all they will expect to use."

Political Changes

Following the national vote last year, the current administration promised to bring back the combustion engine prohibition to the next decade, after the ex-PM the prior government postponed it to the mid-2030s.

Financial Perks

The reduced operational expenditures of electric and hybrid vehicles is also appealing to many.

EVs can be considerably pricier than a petrol or diesel car or a hybrid upfront, but the price difference is narrowing.

Additionally, EV owners can expect to reduce expenditures on energy and upkeep costs.

Educator Opinion

An industry professional, the owner of Sue's Driving School in an English city, said that self-shifting vehicles are "the future" as the car industry advances toward eco-friendly cars.

For learner drivers, Ms Howe noted, automatic vehicles can make the assessment easier, as "it requires less coordination."

Novice motorists can "ruin a gearbox and a clutch," Ms Howe added, stating that stress may cause them to shut down the power unit.

She also mentioned the trend was beneficial for road safety as "drivers are more alert" driving an self-shifting car.

"It just makes life so much easier - it's less work for the motorist to do so they can focus better on the road."

Statistical Increase

Motorists' perceptions toward battery-powered cars have rapidly changed in just over a decade.

The quantity of driving tests taken in automatics was approximately 88,000 in the early 2010s, or 6.12% of total exams, according to the figures.

That statistic jumped to over 479,000 in the 2024-2025 period, the latest interval with complete data, or over a quarter.

A leading organization is estimating that nearly 30% of all tests will be conducted in self-shifting cars in the 2025-2026 period.

Gender Variations

The numbers also indicated that a growing percentage of men are choosing to take their assessments in automatics.

In the early 2010s, approximately 23 percent of learners taking exams in self-shifting cars were male drivers. In the previous year, that figure was over 39 percent.

The pass rate for self-shifting vehicles last year was somewhat less than for stick-shift vehicles. Nevertheless, the difference has shrunk since over a decade ago.