UK Driving Test Waiting Times 2026

Compare DVSA waiting times across 283 test centres. The average wait is 15.1 weeks, ranging from 1.0 weeks (Dorchester) to 27.0 weeks (Cambridge (Brookmount Court)).

283
Test Centres
15.1wk
Average Wait
3
Regions

Find Nearest Centres with Shortest Waits

< 8 weeks 8–16 weeks > 16 weeks Click a marker for details

Top 10 Shortest Wait

# Centre Wait
1 Dorchester
1.0wk
2 Farnborough
1.0wk
3 Wanstead (London)
1.0wk
4 Lanark
1.0wk
5 Livingston
1.0wk
6 Atherton (Manchester)
2.0wk
7 Birmingham (Shirley)
2.0wk
8 Canterbury
2.0wk
9 Carlisle
2.0wk
10 Lichfield
2.0wk

Top 10 Longest Wait

# Centre Wait
1 Cambridge (Brookmount Court)
27.0wk
2 Sunderland
27.0wk
3 Barnsley
23.0wk
4 Birmingham (Garretts Green)
23.0wk
5 Birmingham (South Yardley)
23.0wk
6 Blyth
23.0wk
7 Bolton (Manchester)
23.0wk
8 Borehamwood (London)
23.0wk
9 Boston
23.0wk
10 Bristol (Avonmouth)
23.0wk

All Centres by Region

Centre Wait Pass Rate
Dorchester 1.0wk 66.7%
Farnborough 1.0wk 58.3%
Wanstead (London) 1.0wk 40.4%
Atherton (Manchester) 2.0wk 44.4%
Birmingham (Shirley) 2.0wk 58.1%
Canterbury 2.0wk 50.3%
Carlisle 2.0wk 54.9%
Lichfield 2.0wk 48.6%
Nottingham (Colwick) 2.0wk 45.5%
Trowbridge 2.0wk 51.1%
Aylesbury 3.0wk 48.7%
Birmingham (Kings Heath) 3.0wk 47.0%
Bletchley 3.0wk 45.7%
Bristol (Kingswood) 3.0wk 52.0%
Hinckley 3.0wk 48.3%
Norwich (Peachman Way) 3.0wk 57.0%
Nottingham (Chilwell) 3.0wk 43.9%
Oxford (Cowley) 3.0wk 48.2%
Sheffield (Middlewood Road) 3.0wk 47.5%
Stafford 3.0wk 46.1%
Oswestry 4.0wk 55.6%
Taunton 4.0wk 56.3%
Aberystwyth (Park Avenue) 5.0wk 53.2%
Birmingham (Kingstanding) 5.0wk 44.6%
Grimsby Coldwater 5.0wk 42.7%
St Albans 5.0wk 48.4%
Goodmayes (London) 6.0wk 43.7%
Poole 6.0wk 48.4%
Preston 6.0wk 53.7%
Banbury 7.0wk 39.9%
Derby (Alvaston) 7.0wk 51.3%
Scarborough 7.0wk 51.7%
Bredbury (Manchester) 8.0wk 54.2%
Heckmondwike 8.0wk 46.7%
Kettering 8.0wk 46.0%
Pinner (London) 8.0wk 50.3%
Southampton (Maybush) 8.0wk 47.1%
Worcester 8.0wk 50.6%
Basildon 9.0wk 45.6%
Burton on Trent 9.0wk 54.1%
Hornchurch (London) 9.0wk 48.3%
Leicester (Wigston) 9.0wk 43.9%
Lincoln 9.0wk 49.8%
Ludlow 9.0wk 59.6%
Morden (London) 9.0wk 48.8%
Weston-super-Mare 9.0wk 56.5%
Bishops Stortford 10.0wk 50.4%
Brentwood (London) 10.0wk 48.5%
Cheltenham 10.0wk 46.7%
Chester 10.0wk 46.2%
Melton Mowbray 10.0wk 63.9%
Salisbury 10.0wk 52.5%
Stevenage 10.0wk 44.9%
Tottenham 10.0wk 47.9%
Warwick (Wedgenock House) 10.0wk 48.4%
Chichester 11.0wk 64.2%
Lowestoft (Mobbs Way) 11.0wk 46.1%
Peterborough 11.0wk 50.2%
Uxbridge (London) 11.0wk 49.6%
Ashford (Kent) 12.0wk 52.0%
Bridlington 12.0wk 56.4%
Burgess Hill 12.0wk 43.2%
Colchester 12.0wk 48.0%
Crawley 12.0wk 40.1%
Ipswich 12.0wk 63.1%
Knaresborough 12.0wk 58.5%
Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road) 12.0wk 51.0%
Reading 12.0wk 49.8%
Yeovil 12.0wk 59.7%
Clacton-on-Sea 13.0wk 47.4%
Hull 13.0wk 45.2%
Isleworth (Fleming Way) 13.0wk 51.8%
Tunbridge Wells 13.0wk 58.9%
Darlington 14.0wk 49.2%
Scunthorpe 14.0wk 44.4%
Watford 14.0wk 46.6%
Guildford 15.0wk 51.8%
Horsforth 15.0wk 51.3%
Northallerton 15.0wk 58.6%
Redhill Aerodrome 15.0wk 49.4%
Slough (London) 15.0wk 45.6%
Bodmin 16.0wk 46.1%
Bradford (Thornbury) 16.0wk 47.1%
Bromley (London) 16.0wk 51.7%
Chingford (London) 16.0wk 36.5%
Gloucester 16.0wk 49.6%
Hendon (London) 16.0wk 49.5%
Launceston 16.0wk 48.3%
Mitcham (London) 16.0wk 48.9%
Redditch 16.0wk 46.7%
Rugby 16.0wk 46.0%
Sidcup (London) 16.0wk 59.0%
Tilbury 16.0wk 49.1%
Tolworth (London) 16.0wk 53.3%
Yeading (London) 16.0wk 46.9%
Basingstoke 17.0wk 56.9%
Chorley 17.0wk 48.3%
Crewe 17.0wk 44.4%
Hartlepool 17.0wk 49.7%
Hexham 17.0wk 56.7%
Leeds 17.0wk 50.2%
Leicester (Cannock Street) 17.0wk 37.7%
Letchworth 17.0wk 58.3%
Nuneaton 17.0wk 52.5%
Swindon 17.0wk 49.3%
Wakefield 17.0wk 46.7%
Alnwick 18.0wk 51.0%
Ashfield 18.0wk 51.2%
Barnstaple 18.0wk 54.7%
Bradford (Heaton) 18.0wk 49.5%
Hereford 18.0wk 59.4%
Kendal (Oxenholme Road) 18.0wk 64.8%
Penzance 18.0wk 49.2%
St Helens (Liverpool) 18.0wk 40.2%
Telford 18.0wk 43.9%
Wellingborough 18.0wk 55.1%
Worthing 18.0wk 58.8%
Barnet (London) 19.0wk 49.9%
Blackpool 19.0wk 49.6%
Eastbourne 19.0wk 52.1%
Greenford (Horsenden Lane) 19.0wk 40.5%
Loughborough 19.0wk 43.7%
Mill Hill (London) 19.0wk 51.1%
Southall (London) 19.0wk 46.2%
Belvedere (London) 20.0wk 38.3%
Blackburn with Darwen 20.0wk 47.8%
Durham 20.0wk 49.6%
Hastings (Ore) 20.0wk 49.2%
High Wycombe 20.0wk 51.0%
Lee On The Solent 20.0wk 59.6%
Northwich 20.0wk 54.7%
Plymouth 20.0wk 40.8%
Rochdale (Manchester) 20.0wk 41.2%
West Wickham (London) 20.0wk 50.9%
Widnes 20.0wk 40.1%
Bury (Manchester) 21.0wk 40.3%
Chippenham 21.0wk 50.6%
Folkestone 21.0wk 45.4%
Greenham 21.0wk 52.1%
Herne Bay 21.0wk 55.4%
Kings Lynn 21.0wk 46.0%
Louth 21.0wk 54.4%
Nelson 21.0wk 47.9%
Northampton 21.0wk 50.4%
Rotherham 21.0wk 51.3%
Sevenoaks 21.0wk 53.6%
Brecon 22.0wk 58.9%
Heysham 22.0wk 55.0%
Huddersfield 22.0wk 48.4%
Loughton (London) 22.0wk 48.0%
Luton 22.0wk 40.1%
Macclesfield 22.0wk 49.9%
Malton 22.0wk 68.3%
Pontefract 22.0wk 47.8%
Shrewsbury 22.0wk 49.2%
Skegness 22.0wk 57.6%
Southend-on-Sea 22.0wk 48.1%
Speke (Liverpool) 22.0wk 38.6%
Steeton 22.0wk 50.5%
Warrington 22.0wk 55.3%
Whitby 22.0wk 65.2%
Workington 22.0wk 48.3%
York 22.0wk 51.3%
Barnsley 23.0wk 52.2%
Birmingham (Garretts Green) 23.0wk 42.0%
Birmingham (South Yardley) 23.0wk 41.6%
Blyth 23.0wk 47.2%
Bolton (Manchester) 23.0wk 56.7%
Borehamwood (London) 23.0wk 46.8%
Boston 23.0wk 50.7%
Bristol (Avonmouth) 23.0wk 53.7%
Bury St Edmunds 23.0wk 45.7%
Buxton 23.0wk 57.0%
Chadderton 23.0wk 44.9%
Cheetham Hill (Manchester) 23.0wk 43.7%
Chesterfield 23.0wk 54.5%
Coventry 23.0wk 42.3%
Doncaster 23.0wk 42.0%
Dudley 23.0wk 45.7%
Enfield (Brancroft Way) 23.0wk 45.7%
Enfield (Innova Business Park) 23.0wk 54.1%
Erith (London) 23.0wk 49.3%
Exeter 23.0wk 47.9%
Featherstone 23.0wk 34.1%
Gateshead 23.0wk 37.4%
Gillingham 23.0wk 57.2%
Gosforth 23.0wk 47.5%
Grantham (Somerby) 23.0wk 58.1%
Halifax 23.0wk 44.7%
Maidstone 23.0wk 58.0%
Middlesbrough 23.0wk 48.3%
Newport (Isle of Wight) 23.0wk 52.4%
Newton Abbot 23.0wk 51.9%
Newtown 23.0wk 63.7%
Norris Green (Liverpool) 23.0wk 38.7%
Portsmouth 23.0wk 51.8%
Sale (Manchester) 23.0wk 49.1%
Sheffield (Handsworth) 23.0wk 45.3%
Skipton 23.0wk 54.4%
Southport (Liverpool) 23.0wk 59.2%
Upton 23.0wk 50.0%
Wallasey 23.0wk 49.6%
Wednesbury 23.0wk 36.4%
West Didsbury (Manchester) 23.0wk 50.9%
Wolverhampton 23.0wk 33.4%
Worksop 23.0wk 53.3%
Cambridge (Brookmount Court) 27.0wk 50.5%
Sunderland 27.0wk 47.1%

Looking for pass rates instead? View UK pass rates ranking →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average waiting time for a UK driving test?

The average waiting time across 283 DVSA test centres is approximately 15.1 weeks. However, waiting times vary significantly — the shortest is 1.0 weeks at Dorchester and the longest is 27.0 weeks at Cambridge (Brookmount Court).

How can I get an earlier driving test date?

You can check for cancellations by logging into your DVSA booking account and looking for earlier dates. Consider centres with shorter waiting times, even if they're further from home. Third-party cancellation alert services also exist, though DVSA's new booking rules from March 2026 may affect these.

Why are driving test waiting times so long in the UK?

High demand for test slots, particularly at popular urban centres, combined with limited examiner availability creates long waits. Automated booking bots and commercial resellers have also contributed to the shortage. DVSA is implementing new booking rules in 2026 to address these issues.

Data source: DVSA waiting times data. Waiting times are approximate and may vary by day and time of year. Last updated: 2026.

Check gov.uk for the most current availability.