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London

Mitcham driving test centre

Redhouse Road, Mitcham, Surrey, CR0 3AQ

16.1 weeks
median wait from booking to test, national 12.4
47%
pass rate, -3 on the national 50%
289
car tests a week, so a steady pool of learners holding a slot

A swap only works when one of you moves forward and the other moves back, so the date somebody cannot use is worth as much as the date somebody wants. DVSA will exchange the two bookings over the phone, free. What they will not do is put the two of you in touch, and that is the part this page is for. Not ready for your Mitcham date? How to postpone it without losing the fee.

Mitcham · free

Join the swap list for Mitcham

Tell us where your test is booked and which way you want to move it. When a learner who could swap with you joins, we email you. Your email is never shown to anyone.

When would you rather have it?

One email to confirm, no password, and one click takes you off the list. How we handle your details.

No test booked yet? There is nothing to swap until you have one. Book on GOV.UK, then come back.

Mitcham in numbers

47% of car tests at Mitcham end in a pass, 3 points below the national average of 50%. Within London it ranks 21st of 30. It is also one of the busiest centres in the country, putting roughly 289 car tests through every week, which means a lot of learners holding a Mitcham slot at any one time.

Pass rate

Below average
Passed here
47%15,046 tests, Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
National average
50%same period
On last year
-1.9points down (48.9% the year before)

Official DVSA figures, dataset DRT122A, April 2025 to March 2026. A low pass rate does not make a test harder to swap. It often means more learners trying to move, which is the thing a swap needs. Every centre ranked by pass rate. Didn't pass? What to do next.

Waiting time

Longer than most
Median wait
16.1 weeks3.7 weeks longer than the national median of 12.4
Still free to book
2.3%of the next 24 weeks
Already taken
4,197of 4,296 slots in that window

DVSA dataset DRT122F, September 2026, published monthly under the Open Government Licence v3.0. A median means half the people who sat a test here that month waited longer than this. A swap does not join that queue: it moves you into a slot somebody has already booked. Every centre's wait, ranked.

Centres you can swap with from Mitcham

GOV.UK allows a swap with a learner booked at the same centre as you, at one of your three nearest, or at a centre you first booked at. Three nearest is measured by driving distance avoiding motorways, and DVSA publishes the list. A swap moves both learners, so the condition has to hold from each side, and the centres below are the ones that work in both directions from Mitcham. Anywhere else is refused on the call.

CentreDistanceWait, weeksPass rate
Mordenabout 6 miles19.151% +4
West Wickhamabout 6 miles6.051.6% +4.6
Bromleyabout 9 miles7.952.9% +5.9

Pass rates are DVSA figures for April 2025 to March 2026, compared with Mitcham. They describe the centre, not you.

The four rules, applied here

  1. You both need a change left

    Two changes per car test, and a swap spends one of them. How changing a test works.

  2. 10 working days' notice

    To whichever of the two tests is first. Monday to Saturday count; Sundays and public holidays do not.

  3. Centres near each other

    Mitcham's own three nearest are West Wickham, Morden, Bromley.

  4. Same test type

    Weekday with weekday; evening and weekend tests only with each other.

The rules in full

Not done one before? A driving test swap, start to finish.

Test day

Getting to Mitcham, and what to take

Straight from DVSA's own list of test centres. Worth reading the week before rather than the morning of.

Where it is

Redhouse Road
Mitcham
Surrey
CR0 3AQ

  • No parking listed at the centre, so plan where to leave the car
  • Toilets

DVSA's note for this centre: Please note all Mod1 tests will continue to be taken from the Driving Test Centre on Redhouse Road.

Theory tests are taken at separate centres, not here. Find a theory test centre on GOV.UK.

What to take

  • Your UK driving licence. No photocard means a valid passport and your paper licence.
  • Your theory test pass certificate if you have it. If it is lost the examiner can look the pass up.
  • A car. Most people use their instructor's.

Turn up without the right things and DVSA cancels the test and keeps the fee. The full list on GOV.UK.

Using your own car? It needs tax, an MOT if it is over three years old, insurance that covers a driving test, L plates front and rear, an extra interior mirror, and no warning lights showing. The own-car rules.

Address, facilities and the centre note come from DVSA's own test centre file, under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Check your booking confirmation for the venue on the day: it is the version that counts.

Know the roads first

Driving around Mitcham before test day

Nobody can give you the examiner's route. DVSA stopped publishing routes in 2010, and four tests in five are led by a sat nav the examiner sets up, so there is no sequence to learn. The roads are a different matter: which roundabout, which multi-lane junction, where the limit changes. Instructors film those, and watching them is the cheapest practice available.

6 practice routes from the Mitcham test centre. Real roads, turn by turn, with the roundabout exits numbered and a manoeuvre to try on each one. Built from OpenStreetMap. Practice loops, not the examiner's route, because nobody has that.

A Mitcham routes playlist kept by a local instructor channel.

The roundabouts around Mitcham

Every named roundabout with three or more exits within three miles of the centre, nearest first, read off OpenStreetMap. DVSA stopped publishing test routes in 2010, so this is not a route and nobody can tell you which of these you will be sent round. It is the ground the test is driven on, and these are the junctions worth having met before the morning rather than on it.

RoundaboutExitsFrom the centreRoads that meet there
Lombard Roundabout40.7 milesCanterbury Road, Mitcham Road (A236), Purley Way (A23), Thornton Road (A23)
Thornton Heath Pond Roundabout30.9 milesLondon Road (A23), London Road (A235), Raymead Avenue, Thornton Road (A23), Thornton Row, Willett Road
Greyhound Terrace31.6 milesGreyhound Terrace (B272), Leonard Road, Streatham Vale (B272)
Morden Hall Road42.3 milesBayham Road, Central Road (A239), Morden Hall Road (A297), Morden Road (A239), St. Helier Avenue (A297)
Rosehill Roundabout62.4 milesB2230 (B2230), B278 (B278), Bishopsford Road (A217), Green Lane (B278), Reigate Avenue (A217), St. Helier Avenue, St. Helier Avenue (A297), Wrythe Lane (B278)
Aultone Way42.4 milesAultone Way, Greenhill, Roseacre Close, Woodend

6 named roundabouts within three miles of Mitcham. Each name opens that junction on Google Maps.

Swaps at Mitcham, month by month

Most people know the month they need rather than the date. Each of these says how much of that month can still be swapped into under the ten working day rule, and which centres a Mitcham booking can move to. DVSA releases slots in a rolling 24-week window, so these are the months anybody can be holding a test in.

    Three quick questions

    One each on the car safety questions, road signs and warning lights: the parts of the test you can learn off the page. Have a guess, then open the answer.

    1. Show me, tell me

      Tell me: how would you check that the headlights and tail lights are working, without leaving the car?

      • Press the brake pedal and look for reflections
      • Check the main beam warning light
      • Operate the switch, with the ignition on if needed, and explain you would walk round the car to check
      • Look at the fuse box
      Show the answer

      Operate the switch, with the ignition on if needed, and explain you would walk round the car to check. Because it is a "tell me" question you explain, not do: operate the switch (ignition on if necessary) and walk round the vehicle.

    2. Road signs

      A direction sign with a brown background points to what?

      • A motorway
      • A tourist attraction
      • A primary route
      • A diversion
      Show the answer

      A tourist attraction. Brown signs direct you to tourist attractions and facilities.

    3. Warning lights

      An amber warning light comes on. What does amber generally mean?

      • The car needs fuel
      • Stop immediately in the road
      • Something is switched on
      • Have it checked soon; you can usually drive on carefully
      Show the answer

      Have it checked soon; you can usually drive on carefully. Amber is a fault worth checking soon, such as engine management, ABS or tyre pressure. Read the handbook for your car.

    More in the quizzes: show me, tell me, road signs and warning lights, and the driving skills course: 18 lessons with pictures, from moving off to independent driving. Free, no sign-up.

    Swapping at Mitcham: questions

    Can I swap a test at Mitcham for one at another centre?

    Only if it is the same centre, one of your three nearest, or a centre you first booked at. A swap moves both learners, so it has to work from each side. From Mitcham the list is Morden, West Wickham, Bromley. Anywhere else is refused on the call.

    What is the pass rate at Mitcham?

    47% of car tests at Mitcham ended in a pass between April 2025 and March 2026, from 15,046 tests. The national average over the same period was 50%, so Mitcham is 3 points below it, ranking 243rd of 314 centres in Great Britain. These are DVSA's own published figures and they describe the centre, not you.

    Which nearby centre has a better pass rate than Mitcham?

    Of the centres you can legally move a Mitcham test to, Bromley has the highest pass rate at 52.9%, against 47% here. That is a difference in the centre, not a promise about your test, and a swap has to suit the other learner too.

    How long is the wait for a driving test at Mitcham?

    16.1 weeks. That is the median wait between booking and taking a test for people who sat one at Mitcham in September 2026, from DVSA's own monthly figures, so half of them waited longer. The national median that month was 12.4 weeks. 2.3% of the slots in DVSA's 24-week booking window here were still free to book. A swap sidesteps that queue entirely, because you are moving into a date another learner has already booked.

    How long does it take to find a swap at Mitcham?

    That depends on how many learners hold a slot here and whether any of them want the opposite of what you want. DVSA runs about 289 car tests a week at Mitcham, so the pool holding a slot is large. Join the list at the top of this page and we email you when a learner who could swap with you joins. A three-way chain often resolves faster than waiting for a perfect pair.

    Does swapping at Mitcham cost anything?

    No. You exchange slots rather than rebooking, so you keep your original booking reference and payment. Matching here is free, and DVSA does the swap on the phone at no charge.

    How much notice do I need?

    At least 10 full working days before whichever of the two tests comes first. Monday to Saturday count as working days; Sundays and public holidays do not, so the real deadline falls earlier than the calendar suggests.

    Can my instructor arrange it for me?

    No. Since 12 May 2026 only the candidate can book or manage their own test, and that applies to instructors too. Yours can sit next to you while you make the call.

    Is this the same as a cancellation app for Mitcham?

    No. A cancellation app scans the booking service for unclaimed appointments, and since 12 May 2026 learners are not allowed to use services that do that. A swap works the other way round: the date you want is already booked by another learner, the two of you agree to exchange, and you make the call yourself.

    Your Mitcham date is somebody's dream date

    Somewhere there is a learner holding the slot you want, who would rather have yours. Join the list and we email you when a learner who could swap with you joins. Free, no card, nothing to pay when it works.

    A swap needs both people on the list, so sending this to a classmate or an instructors' group chat improves your own odds as well.