You can blame the EU for that. A lot of new test centres had to be built to incorporate the Mod 1 testing area. The Government couldn't afford to build these in every town/city that already had test centres so they shut a lot down and built a centre that covers an area. This cost was passed on to the public as the test fees went up. Also waiting times for all tests, cars and bikes went up as they now had to accommodate more towns/city's There are 3 Mod 1 test centres to choose from if you live in Grimsby. Lincoln, Scunthorpe or Hull. If you don't know the area you're screwed, so would need a few lessons around which ever place you chose adding cost to the whole thing. I'm sure you can times this by a lot more places/areas like this. The stupid thing is, you can take your Mod 2 in Grimsby as they have a test centre. It's a rented building on an industrial site!