Official data · 2007–2026
Half of practical driving tests now result in a pass
The rate rose from 44.2% in 2007/08 to 50% in 2025/26: an increase of 5.8 percentage points.
Reviewed by Drivings Editorial on 3 August 2026 · refreshed at each DVSA statistics release.
Pass rates vary by test centre
The published data includes a 2025/26 annual pass rate for 317 practical test centres across Great Britain. Select any point to inspect its total tests, passes and pass rate.
Each point represents a test centre, not an average for the surrounding area. Centre rates also reflect differences in candidates, test volumes and local conditions; they do not measure test difficulty alone. Northern Ireland is outside this dataset.
Click a map point to inspect that centre. Use the centre menu for dense urban areas, island centres or keyboard navigation.
- Under 45%
- 45% to 49.9%
- 50% to 54.9%
- 55% or higher
B33 0SD
Birmingham (Garretts Green)
2025/26 pass rate
44.4%
Compared with Great Britain: 5.6pp below the 50% national rate
- Tests conducted
- 22,480
- Tests passed
- 9,980
Postcode: B33 0SD
Rate source: DVSA table DRT122A
Rates are annual centre totals for 2025/26. Marker positions use the government’s active driving-test-centres location dataset; a centre absent from that current list is positioned from its published postcode. Find a driving test centre on GOV.UK
Car practical test pass rate by financial year
Official results for tests taken in Great Britain.
Pass rate (%)
| Financial year | Pass rate |
|---|---|
| 2007/08 | 44.2% |
| 2008/09 | 45.3% |
| 2009/10 | 45.9% |
| 2010/11 | 46.3% |
| 2011/12 | 46.9% |
| 2012/13 | 47.1% |
| 2013/14 | 47.1% |
| 2014/15 | 46.9% |
| 2015/16 | 47% |
| 2016/17 | 47.1% |
| 2017/18 | 46.3% |
| 2018/19 | 45.8% |
| 2019/20 | 45.9% |
| 2020/21 | 49.8% |
| 2021/22 | 48.9% |
| 2022/23 | 48.4% |
| 2023/24 | 47.9% |
| 2024/25 | 48.7% |
| 2025/26 | 50% |
Financial years run from April to March. Test volumes were exceptionally low during the COVID-affected 2020/21 year, so that pass rate is not directly comparable with a normal year.
Updated 25 June 2026
What the chart shows
+5.8pp
A gradual long-term increase
The latest rate is 13% higher than the first year in the series. Most annual changes were small rather than sudden.
2020/21
The pandemic year is an outlier
Only 437,352 tests were conducted in 2020/21 while restrictions disrupted testing, far below a normal year.
1,998,621
Testing reached a series high
The published data records 1,000,043 passes in 2025/26, the first time the annual total exceeded one million in this series.
How to read this data
The published series covers Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), not Northern Ireland. Calling it a UK rate is common shorthand, but it is not technically precise.
The rate is calculated per test, not per unique learner. A learner who retakes the practical test is counted again, so this is not a first-attempt pass rate.
The 2020/21 annual figure combines a much smaller and unusual group of tests conducted around COVID-19 restrictions. It should not be treated as evidence that the test became easier.
Data: DVSA table DRT121A · Open Government Licence v3.0 · Machine-readable JSON · Check your three permitted move centres