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Students are more likely to pass their driving test today than before the Covid pandemic, despite the huge delays they face in securing a place on the test, new research shows.
LeaseLoco analyzed the latest data published by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and found that between April 2023 and December 2023 the average pass rate was 48.2 per cent.
This compares to just 45.8 percent between 2018 and 2019, the most recent complete annual data available before the pandemic.
But there are still some driving test centers that students will want to avoid due to their below-average pass rates over the past 12 months…
LeaseLoco analyzed the latest driving test data published by the DVSA and found that between April 2023 and December 2023 the average pass rate was 48.2 per cent. This continues the pass rate threshold of more than 48 percent since the pandemic hit in 2020.
In November 2021, the The DVSA issued an official statement asking students to be better prepared to sit their driving tests. to help clear the huge backlog of requested bookings built up during the national lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
However, approval rates have never been higher than during the pandemic.
Passage rates peaked at 49.8 percent (for the 2020-2021 financial year), although only 436,044 tests were performed due to forced closures, around 75 percent less than the previous year, when 1.6 million of people took the practical test.
Since then, pass rates have remained above 48 percent, and students are now statistically more likely to obtain a license the first time they apply.
Although it is good news that average pass rates across the UK have remained above pre-pandemic levels, LeaseLoco has discovered that rates have actually gone down for the third consecutive year.
During the 2021/2022 fiscal year, approved tests fell to 48.9 percent. They then fell further to 48.4 percent in the 2022/23 fiscal year.
| Year | Male driving test passing rate | Female driving test passing rate | Total approval rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2015 | 50.5% | 43.6% | 46.9% |
| 2015-2016 | 50.6% | 43.8% | 47% |
| 2016-2017 | 50.6% | 43.9% | 47.1% |
| 2017-2018 | fifty% | 43% | 46.3% |
| 2018-2019 | 49.6% | 42.4% | 45.8% |
| 2019-2020 | 49.6% | 42.6% | 45.9% |
| 2020-2021 | 52.5% | 47.1% | 49.8% |
| 2021-2022 | 51% | 46.7% | 48.9% |
| 2022-2023 | 50.2% | 46.4% | 48.4% |
| 2023-2024 (to date) | 49.4% | 46.8% | 48.2% |
| Source: LeaseLoco analysis of DVSA data | |||
This is Money recently revealed that the average student still has to wait more than six weeks to take the exam.
Last year, the DVSA demanded that the period in which students had to wait to rebook after a failed driving test be extended.
Currently, a student can book another test 10 business days after their last attempt. However, the DVSA called for that period to be extended to 28 days so that students “think twice” before taking exams when they know they are not ready to do so in order to improve pass rates.
This stance in 2023 came even though average failure rates in 2022 were lower than in 2019.
The DVSA also hoped the move would help clear the waiting list for practical tests which has built up due to Covid lockdowns and restrictions.
This is Money recently revealed that the average student is still having to wait more than six weeks to take the exam, thanks to a combination of the post-pandemic delay and proctor strikes.
With fees falling, what are the best and worst places to take a driving test in the UK?
Learner drivers may be taking their exams in areas of the country where it is statistically very difficult to pass.
A recent study by Howden Insurance has found the hardest and easiest places to take your driving test in the UK, based on average success rates going back four years.
The car insurer analyzed the pass rate of all UK driving test centers that carried out at least 1,000 tests from January 2020 to December 2023.
Almost 4.5 million (4,490,298) practical tests were completed during that period.
A pattern emerged with the “easiest” places to take the exam: the nine main exam centers are located in Scotland.
Montrose, Angus, which lies between Dundee and Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland, is the easiest place to pass with an average pass rate of almost 75 per cent (74.8).
Of the 1,249 tests carried out between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2023, 934 were passed: almost three quarters of the students passed.
Peebles, in the Scottish Borders, has a pass rate of 74.2 per cent, with 394 prospective drivers assessed as ready to drive out of 531 who took a test.
Hawick is the third easiest test center to pass your driving test in the UK, with a pass rate of 73.3 per cent.
Forfar came fourth with 72.6 per cent and Lerwick was fifth with 70.1 per cent, all with a pass rate of over 70 per cent in the top five.
When it comes to the worst places to take the exam, Howden put Swindon in first place with a pass rate of 21.5 per cent. Butthis applies only to the LGV testing center and not to the main city site.
Like many large goods vehicle testing centres, Swindon LGV has been used as an overflow center to try to clear the huge backlog of tests.
Of the 209 tests carried out there, only 45 were successful.
By comparison, some 22,939 tests were carried out at the main center in Swindon, of which 10,899 were approved (47.5 per cent).
If we look at just conventional driving test centres, Speke in Merseyside has the lowest pass rate, just 32 per cent, making it the worst place for students to sit the test.
This is based on 23,180 tests taken at Speke since 2020, of which 7,410 students passed.
Route-Led: the route provider for the driving test – puts the latest 2022/23 pass rate for the regular Swindon test center at around 47.5 per cent, with the LGV pass rate for LGV drivers at around 70 per cent.
It found the pass rate for car drivers at Swindon’s LGV overflow test center for 2022/23 was around 17.5 per cent.
Swindon is famous for its Magic Roundabout. The ring road junction, which is located near the city center near the football stadium, consists of five mini roundabouts arranged in a giant circle.
Route-Led also told us that their database of test routes for Swindon shows that three test routes do not use the Magic Roundabout and one does, so while Swindon’s infamous Magic Roundabout is a drivers’ nightmare , is not the reason why so many students fail at Swindon.
David Hesketh, co-founder of Route-Led, said: “It would be interesting to know if the examiners carrying out the Swindon LGV car overflow tests are the same as the examiners at the normal Swindon car test center or if they are the same examiners of Swindon.” LGV examiners who normally perform LGV tests.
“In any case, it is clear that there is a huge difference in the probability of passing the exam depending on whether you go to Swindon or Swindon LGV to take it, which seems incredibly unfair.”
At the Speke test center in Merseyside, only 32 per cent of students passed their driving test, according to research by Howden Insurance.
The third worst exam center is Doncaster, South Yorkshire, where 32.5 per cent of pupils passed.
Two test centers in London also made it into the top five hardest places to pass: Erith and Belvedere.
Erith in the Bexley district has a pass rate of 32.8 per cent from 12,332 tests carried out, while Belvedere has a pass rate of 33.5 per cent from 9,481 tests carried out.
Rounding out the top 10 are Wolverhampton in sixth place (35.5 per cent), Featherstone in seventh (37.4 per cent) and Rochdale in eighth place (37.5 per cent). Wednesbury in ninth place (37.7 per cent) and last but not least Bury in tenth with 38 per cent.
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