Find the right test centre for you
Choosing where to take your driving test? We've crunched 18 years of official DVSA pass rate data so you don't have to.
Not all test centres are created equal
If you're learning to drive, you've probably heard that some test centres are "easier" than others. There's truth to that, but it's more nuanced than it sounds.
Across the UK's 234 active DVSA test centres, pass rates range from around 35% in busy city centres to over 75% in rural Scotland. That's a huge gap. Some of it comes down to the roads: a test in central London involves heavy traffic, complex junctions, and aggressive drivers, while a test in the Highlands might be mostly quiet single-track roads. But a lot of it is about who's taking the test. Centres near universities, for example, often see younger, less experienced candidates, which drags down the average.
The national average currently sits at 50.8%, based on 1,478,816 tests in the most recent year. That means roughly half of all candidates don't pass on any given attempt. If that sounds high, it is, and it's why understanding your local centre's data matters.
Highest Pass Rates
- 1 Arbroath 78.9%
- 2 Benbecula Island 78.8%
- 3 Forfar 68.5%
- 4 Dorchester 66.7%
- 5 Malton 66.7%
Lowest Pass Rates
- 230 Wolverhampton 33.4%
- 231 Featherstone 34.1%
- 232 Wednesbury 36.4%
- 233 Chingford (London) 36.5%
- 234 Gateshead 37.4%
What can you actually learn from this data?
Quite a lot, if you know where to look. Every centre on this site has 18 years of historical data going back to 2007. That's long enough to spot real trends rather than random fluctuation. Here's what's worth paying attention to:
Pass rate trends tell you more than a single number. A centre showing 45% this year might sound average, but if it was 52% two years ago, something has changed. Maybe new road layouts, maybe a different candidate mix. Either way, it's worth knowing before you book.
Your age group matters. We break down pass rates by age from 17 to 25 at every centre. At some centres, 17-year-olds actually pass at higher rates than 20-year-olds. At others, it's the opposite. If you're 17 and nervous, finding a centre where your age group does well might give you a genuine confidence boost.
Automatic tests are a different story. More people are taking automatic tests than ever, and the pass rates are often quite different from manual. We show both separately so you can compare like-for-like.
Some months are genuinely better. The monthly breakdown on each centre page shows when pass rates peak and dip. It's not a guarantee, but if July consistently runs 8 percentage points higher than December at your centre, that's worth knowing when you're picking a test date.
A word of caution
It's tempting to look at this data and book your test at whichever centre tops the leaderboard. We'd advise against that. The single biggest factor in whether you pass is how well you've prepared, and that means practising on the roads you'll actually be tested on.
A centre 50 miles away with a 70% pass rate is almost certainly a worse choice than your local centre with a 45% rate, if you've spent 40 hours driving the roads around it. Use the data to understand your options, spot patterns, and time your test well, but don't let it replace the thing that actually matters, which is being ready.
Browse by county
Common questions
What's the average UK driving test pass rate?
Around 50.8% nationally, based on 1,478,816 tests across 234 centres. But averages hide a lot. Individual centres range from roughly 35% to over 75%, so the number that matters is the one for your specific centre.
Which test centre has the highest pass rate?
Small rural centres in Scotland and the islands tend to top the tables, but their low test volumes mean the statistics are less reliable. Among centres conducting a meaningful number of tests, you can find the rankings on our pass rate leaderboard. Keep in mind that a high pass rate often reflects quieter roads rather than an easier test.
Should I travel to a centre with a higher pass rate?
Probably not. Familiarity with the roads around your test centre is one of the strongest predictors of success. If you've spent your lessons driving around your local centre, that knowledge is worth more than a few extra percentage points at an unfamiliar location. That said, if you have two centres nearby with meaningfully different rates, it's worth comparing them, which is exactly what our comparison pages are for.
Where does this data come from?
Everything on this site comes from official DVSA statistical publications, available on GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence. We don't estimate, extrapolate, or make anything up. When the DVSA publishes new quarterly data, we update the site to match.
How is this different from other driving test websites?
Most sites show you a single pass rate number and some generic tips. We go deeper: 18 years of historical trends, pass rates broken down by age (17 to 25), separate automatic and manual test data, monthly patterns, gender comparisons, and side-by-side centre comparisons. Much of this data isn't available anywhere else in a readable format.
About the data
DrivingData UK is an independent site, not affiliated with the DVSA or any driving school. We exist because the official data is buried in spreadsheets on GOV.UK, and we thought learner drivers deserved something better. All statistics are sourced from DVSA datasets DRT122A (pass rates by centre), DRT122D (age breakdowns), DRT122E (automatic tests), and INS0103 (instructor statistics). There are currently 43,333 approved driving instructors registered across the UK. Read more about our methodology.