Driving test centre pass rates 2025-26: highest and lowest in Great Britain
DVSA's latest pass rate table lists 317 car test centres in Great Britain. Nationally, 50.0% of car practical tests were passed between April 2025 and March 2026. The spread between centres is wide: among centres that ran at least 1,000 tests, Melton Mowbray passed 69.7% of candidates and Wolverhampton 34.3%.
Don't read these numbers as a list of easy centres. What they do show is where tests are hardest to pass, and where a small sample is doing the talking.
National overview: 2025-26 pass rates
DVSA publishes pass rates by test centre once a year. The latest table, DRT122A, was updated on 25 June 2026 and covers April 2025 to March 2026. Here is the national picture for Great Britain:
- Pass rate, all candidates: 50.0% (1,000,043 passes from 1,998,621 tests)
- Male candidates: 50.8% (563,477 passes from 1,109,270 tests)
- Female candidates: 49.1% (436,563 passes from 889,345 tests)
- Median wait between booking and taking a test: 11.1 weeks in August 2026 (DVSA table DRT121G). Check your own centre with our driving test waiting times tool.
These figures include every attempt, not only first-time candidates. First attempts on their own passed at 50.5% (497,361 passes from 984,415 first attempts, DVSA table DRT122C), about half a point above the all-attempts figure.
The data covers Great Britain only. Northern Ireland tests are not in these tables.
Highest pass rate test centres
DVSA's own notes on the data warn that low numbers "must be treated with caution" and give the example of comparing a centre with under 100 tests against one with over 1,000. So this table only includes centres that ran at least 1,000 car tests in 2025-26 (260 of the 317).
| Test centre | Region | Pass rate | Tests conducted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melton Mowbray | East Midlands | 69.7% | 1,984 |
| Barrow In Furness | North West | 69.6% | 1,699 |
| Dorchester | South West | 69.0% | 4,353 |
| Kendal (Oxenholme Road) | North West | 65.1% | 2,231 |
| Tunbridge Wells | South East | 64.5% | 5,726 |
| Abergavenny | Wales | 64.2% | 5,924 |
| Yeovil | South West | 63.4% | 7,493 |
| Lee On The Solent | South East | 63.2% | 8,502 |
| Ipswich | East of England | 62.3% | 11,466 |
| Bangor | Wales | 62.2% | 4,032 |
None of the ten is in London or the West Midlands.
Drop the 1,000-test threshold and the top of the list changes completely. Twelve centres passed more than 70% of candidates in 2025-26, and every one of them ran fewer than 1,000 tests. Eleven are in Scotland, including Pitlochry (73.3% from 146 tests), Benbecula Island (72.9% from 107) and Girvan (72.0% from 250). The highest of all, Isles of Scilly, ran 8 tests. A handful of extra passes or fails moves rates like these by whole percentage points.
Lowest pass rate test centres
Same threshold: centres with at least 1,000 car tests in 2025-26. In this year's data the ten lowest would be the same without it.
| Test centre | Region | Pass rate | Tests conducted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverhampton | West Midlands | 34.3% | 11,561 |
| Wednesbury | West Midlands | 35.0% | 7,508 |
| Barking (Tanner Street) | London | 36.3% | 5,543 |
| Dunfermline (Vine) | Scotland | 36.4% | 5,529 |
| Featherstone | West Midlands | 36.4% | 13,193 |
| Gateshead | North East | 37.5% | 9,512 |
| Norris Green (Liverpool) | North West | 37.8% | 13,472 |
| Luton | East of England | 39.2% | 7,759 |
| Chingford (London) | London | 39.9% | 13,120 |
| Glasgow (Shieldhall) | Scotland | 39.9% | 7,019 |
Three of the ten are in the West Midlands, which also has the lowest regional pass rate. Barking (Tanner Street) is now marked as closed in DVSA's test centre waiting times table (DRT122F).
An earlier version of this post put Erith and Slough among the lowest in the country. DVSA's 2025-26 figures have Erith at 51.6% (5,809 tests) and Slough at 50.8% (10,509 tests), both above the national rate.
Regional breakdown
Regional pass rates below add up the monthly tests and passes for each region in DVSA's table DRT121G for April 2025 to March 2026. Highest and lowest centres use the DRT122A figures, only count centres with at least 1,000 tests, and follow DVSA's own allocation of centres to regions in table DRT122F.
| Region | Pass rate | Tests conducted | Highest centre | Lowest centre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East | 53.2% | 243,284 | Tunbridge Wells (64.5%) | Banbury (41.3%) |
| Wales | 52.4% | 96,367 | Abergavenny (64.2%) | Cardigan (41.0%) |
| South West | 51.7% | 153,125 | Dorchester (69.0%) | Camborne (40.6%) |
| East of England | 51.6% | 198,431 | Ipswich (62.3%) | Luton (39.2%) |
| East Midlands | 50.9% | 154,123 | Melton Mowbray (69.7%) | Leicester (Cannock Street) (40.2%) |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 50.5% | 186,490 | Northallerton (60.4%) | Grimsby Coldwater (42.8%) |
| Scotland | 49.4% | 140,930 | Lanark (58.1%) | Dunfermline (Vine) (36.4%) |
| North West | 49.0% | 256,786 | Barrow In Furness (69.6%) | Norris Green (Liverpool) (37.8%) |
| London | 48.8% | 269,385 | Sidcup (London) (58.7%) | Barking (Tanner Street) (36.3%) |
| North East | 48.4% | 77,123 | Alnwick (55.5%) | Gateshead (37.5%) |
| West Midlands | 46.2% | 231,032 | Hereford (58.8%) | Wolverhampton (34.3%) |
| Great Britain | 50.0% | 1,998,621 | Melton Mowbray (69.7%) | Wolverhampton (34.3%) |
The gap between regions is smaller than the gap inside them. About seven points separate the South East from the West Midlands. Inside the West Midlands alone, Hereford and Wolverhampton are more than 24 points apart.
What the pass rate numbers mean
Before you plan a long drive to sit your test in Melton Mowbray, it helps to know what these numbers can and cannot tell you.
A high pass rate is not proof of an easy test
The table records how many people passed at a centre, not why. Several things can push a centre's figure up or down, and the data does not separate them:
- Sample size. A centre with 150 tests can swing by several points on a few results. DVSA says conclusions from low numbers are not statistically reliable for comparing centres.
- How ready candidates are. A centre where more people book before they are ready will record more fails.
- The roads themselves. Test routes differ in traffic, junctions and road types.
What the table cannot tell you about examiners
DRT122A records outcomes by centre. It does not show whether examiners at one centre mark harder than those at another, so it cannot be used to prove or disprove that idea.
Travelling to a different centre rarely helps
If you learn to drive in Birmingham, you are prepared for Birmingham's roads. Sitting your test in Shrewsbury means driving in an area you have not practised in, without the familiarity that comes from repetition. We would not recommend it.
The exception: if you live roughly equidistant between two centres and practise in both areas, picking the one whose roads you know better is reasonable.
What improves your chances of passing
Rather than choosing a test centre by its pass rate, focus on the things you control.
Hours of practice
There is no minimum number of lessons or practice hours. DVSA's Ready to Pass guidance says research shows learners who combine professional lessons with private practice tend to do better in their test. It says you are ready when you are consistently reaching level 5 in all 27 driving skills.
Local roads
Practise in the area around your test centre. DVSA does not publish test routes, but your instructor will know the local junctions and roundabouts that catch people out. That is worth far more than travelling to a "high pass rate" centre you have never driven in.
Mock tests
Being able to pass mock driving tests is one of the signs DVSA's Ready to Pass checklist uses to say you are ready. Take full mock tests under realistic conditions, with your instructor acting as examiner. It is practice for the independent driving part of the test, where you follow a sat nav or traffic signs for 20 to 35 minutes, and for handling nerves on the day.
Instructor quality
Of the things within your control, this is the one we would put first. A good instructor teaches you to drive safely on your own, not only to pass a test. The last item on DVSA's readiness checklist is that your driving instructor agrees you are ready, so an instructor who is honest about that matters.
How to check your test centre's pass rate
DVSA publishes test centre pass rates once a year. The next update is due in June 2027. To find your centre:
- Visit DVSA's driving test and theory test data page on GOV.UK
- Download table DRT122A, "Car driving test pass rates by gender and month: test centres"
- Open the tab for the year you want (2025-26 is the latest) and find your centre. Centres are listed alphabetically, with their monthly figures and an annual total underneath.
Or use our test centre pass rates tool. Your instructor will also know which local roads and junctions tend to cause problems for candidates, which the table cannot tell you.
To find a driving instructor who teaches near your test centre, search for instructors near you on Orbit.