Listed in the official practical test centre dataset when last checked. Opening hours may change. Check the official office page before travelling.
You cannot access this test centre if you use a wheelchair.
Cardiff follows the standard DVSA format for car driving tests. Practise observing traffic, managing speed, choosing a safe road position and driving independently on a range of roads.
The published address is Cardiff (Llanishen), Cardiff Business Park, Cardiff, CF14 5GF. Before you travel, check the map, your booking confirmation and any instructions on where to report. Check whether parking is available for candidates.
Local access, parking, and reception arrangements can change. Follow current signs and official appointment instructions when you arrive.
Treat these as preparation themes, not published test routes. Change the direction, timing, and traffic conditions with your instructor so you practise reading the road.
Make moving off, stopping, steering, speed changes, and safe clearance feel routine enough that your attention stays on the road around you.
Vary the junctions and roundabouts you practise. Look early, judge gaps without pressure, and choose the correct lane before the decision becomes rushed.
Follow traffic signs or directions from a sat nav. If you miss a turn, keep driving safely and avoid sudden changes in direction.
Practise on suitable local roads, including residential streets, urban and rural roads, and roads with higher speed limits. Build the skills to adapt to unfamiliar routes.
Read a number plate from 20 metres away, or from 20.5 metres if the plate uses the older format. Before you drive, answer a ‘tell me’ question about vehicle safety.
GOV.UK says the driving portion lasts around 35 minutes. You drive in varied road and traffic conditions while the examiner assesses observation, control, and safe decisions.
Follow a sat nav, traffic signs, or both for 20 to 35 minutes. A wrong turn is not a fault if you continue safely.
Complete one reversing exercise and answer a “show me” question while driving. You might also be asked for an emergency stop.
DVSA does not publish routes used in driving tests. If you take a wrong turn during independent driving, the examiner will help you get back on route. The turn itself does not count as a fault. Practise on a variety of local roads to build confidence in unfamiliar conditions.
Bring your physical UK driving licence and your theory test pass certificate if you have it.
Use a suitable car. Most learners use their instructor’s car. If you bring your own, check that it meets the DVSA rules.
Recheck the appointment time, published address, route to the centre, and any instructions in your confirmation.
Allow extra time for travel and follow any arrival instructions in your booking confirmation.
Official guidance: what happens during the car test, what to take to a car test, book or manage a practical test and driving test faults and results. Always recheck the official requirements before the appointment.
In 2025/26, 7,634 of 16,401 car driving tests at Cardiff (Llanishen) resulted in a pass. The pass rate was 46.5%. The national average was 50.0%. Cardiff (Llanishen) ranked 252nd out of 317 car test centres in Great Britain. The rate is 4.8 percentage points lower than the 51.3% recorded in 2024/25.
Among the 5 nearest driving test centres with published figures, Weston-super-Mare has the highest pass rate at 61.0% and Newport (Gwent) the lowest at 48.9%. Cardiff (Llanishen)'s own 46.5% is lower than all 5 of them.
Source: DVSA table DRT122A, financial years 2025/26 and 2024/25. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
DVSA reports a median wait of 11.1 weeks for a car driving test at Cardiff (Llanishen), 1.3 weeks shorter than a year earlier. 1,487 of 5,273 appointment slots in the current booking window are still open. Figures are for July 2026.
08/25 to 07/26 · Median wait in weeks
Monthly median waits ranged from 5.6 to 11.9 weeks. Each point shows the monthly median published by DVSA. Current appointment availability can vary.
The longest wait for a driving test at Cardiff (Llanishen) in this period was 11.9 weeks in August 2025, and the shortest was 5.6 weeks in February 2026. DVSA measures this as the median wait across appointments booked at the test centre, so it moves as examiner capacity and demand change.
Source: DVSA table DRT122F, published 12 August 2026.
Booking here means accepting the longer queue and the lower pass rate at the same time. Llantrisant, 7.5 miles away, recorded a 54% pass rate against 46.5% at Cardiff (Llanishen), a gap of 7.5 percentage points, and its median wait of 8.6 weeks runs 2.5 weeks shorter than Llanishen's 11.1. Barry (57%, 10 weeks, 9.3 miles) and Newport (Gwent) (48.9%, 6.2 weeks, 10 miles) point the same way, so the usual rate-versus-wait trade-off never really arises: every nearby centre with published data does better on both measures, and on these two measures the only trade is travel distance.
The centre's own record sharpens that choice rather than softening it. Its pass rate fell from 51.3% in 2024/25 to 46.5% in 2025/26, a drop of 4.8 percentage points that leaves it 3.5 points below the national figure of 50% and ranked 252 of 317 centres. The sample behind that figure is large (16,401 tests and 7,634 passes over the year), so the rate reflects a substantial body of results rather than a small-sample swing.
Waiting time offers no offset. As of July 2026 the median wait stood at 11.1 weeks, 1.3 weeks shorter than a year earlier, with availability at 28.2% in the DVSA booking data: the queue is easing, but slowly. If you are set on testing at this centre, that argues for booking well ahead. If you can travel, the comparison is straightforward: each neighbouring centre with published figures pairs a shorter wait with a higher recorded pass rate, so the decision turns on distance rather than on any balancing of rate against wait.
Analysis by the Drivings editorial team, drafted with AI assistance and checked against the DVSA figures on this page on 14 August 2026. Every figure is tested against the published datasets before release.
Cardiff (Llanishen) does not run that test. The nearest theory test centre is Cardiff, 4.1 miles away.
The closest is Llantrisant, 7.5 miles from Cardiff (Llanishen). The furthest is 15.7 miles away. 4 of the 6 are within 10 miles.
Distances are measured directly between locations. Driving distances can vary.