Learning to drive can be exciting, scary and everything in between but it often unlocks a bit of freedom, no matter what age you start to learn.
Even if you’ve driven for years, you might know someone who is looking to get their driving test booked and it’s not easy at the moment, depending on where you live.
Coronavirus restrictions meant there was a backlog and learner drivers in Britain struggled to book driving tests when they planned to.
If you’re wondering how and if things have changed, here’s a round-up of the best and worst places to book a driving test now, according to CarMats.co.uk.
In the research, CarMats.co.uk used DVSA data on driving test centres. It researched the 100 test centres which had conducted the most tests in the past year (April 2021 – 2022 YTD) then it used the Driving-Test-Cancellations-4All tool to find out the wait times and availability at the centres.
The top 10 worst test centres in terms of their waiting times include Reading, Manchester, Cardiff, Peterborough and several locations in London, all of which have no tests available.
In the list of the top 20 best test centres for waiting times, you’ll find Plymouth, Southampton, Worcester, Leeds and Bristol among others.
Top 50 worst test centres for waiting times
Here is the full list of the top 50 worst test centres for waiting times.
- Goodmayes (London) – No tests available
- Isleworth (Fleming Way) (London) – No tests available
- Slough (London) – No tests available
- Morden (London) – No tests available
- Chingford (London) - No tests available
- Reading – No tests available
- West Didsbury (Manchester) – No tests available
- Mill Hill (London) – No tests available
- Cardiff (Llanishen) – No tests available
- Peterborough – No tests available
- Hither Green (London) – No tests available
- Tolworth (London) – No tests available
- Cambridge (Brookmount Court) – No tests available
- Chadderton – No tests available
- Oxford (Cowley) - No tests available
- Cheetham Hill (Manchester) - No tests available
- Bletchley - No tests available
- Sale (Manchester) - No tests available
- Luton - No tests available
- Barking (Tanner Street) (London) - No tests available
- Preston - No tests available
- Mitcham (London) - No tests available
- Featherstone - No tests available
- Wood Green (London) - No tests available
- Farnborough - No tests available
- Lancing - No tests available
- Sidcup (London) - No tests available
- Ipswich - No tests available
- Hull - No tests available
- Wanstead (London) - No tests available
- Colchester - No tests available
- West Wickham (London) - No tests available
- Gillingham - No tests available
- Crawley - No tests available
- Bromley (London) - No tests available
- Hornchurch (London) - No tests available
- St Albans - No tests available
- Hyde (Manchester) - No tests available
- Coventry - No tests available
- Stoke-on-Trent (Newcastle-Under-Lyme) - No tests available
- Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road) - No tests available
- Huddersfield – 23 weeks
- Sheffield (Middlewood Road) – 23 weeks
- Rochdale (Manchester) – 23 weeks
- Bury St Edmunds – 23 weeks
- Greenford (Horsenden Lane) (London) – 23 weeks
- Ashfield – 23 weeks
- Herne Bay – 23 weeks
- York – 23 weeks
- Banbury – 23 weeks
Top 20 best driving test centres for waiting times
Here is the full list of the top 20 best test centres for waiting times.
- Kirkcaldy – 2 weeks
- Speke (Liverpool) – 10 weeks
- Plymouth – 13 weeks
- Southampton (Maybush) – 14 weeks
- Exeter – 14 weeks
- Upton – 14 weeks
- Derby (Alvaston) – 15 weeks
- Worcester – 15 weeks
- Blackpool – 15 weeks
- Wolverhampton – 17 weeks
- Newton Abbot – 17 weeks
- Rotherham – 17 weeks
- Norris Green (Liverpool) – 18 weeks
- Dudley – 18 weeks
- Portsmouth – 18 weeks
- Doncaster – 18 weeks
- Poole – 19 weeks
- Leeds – 20 weeks
- Bradford (Thornbury) – 20 weeks
- Bristol (Kingswood) – 21 weeks
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