Pinner driving test centre
221 Tolcarne Drive, Pinner, Greater London, HA5 2DZ
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 Pinner date? How to postpone it without losing the fee.
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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.
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No test booked yet? There is nothing to swap until you have one. Book on GOV.UK, then come back.
Pinner in numbers
Pinner sits almost exactly on the national average, with 49.7% of car tests passed against 50% across Great Britain. Within London it ranks 17th of 30. It is also one of the busiest centres in the country, putting roughly 276 car tests through every week, which means a lot of learners holding a Pinner slot at any one time.
Pass rate
About average- Passed here
- 49.7%14,367 tests, Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- National average
- 50%same period
- On last year
- -0.6points down (50.3% the year before)
Waiting time
Longer than most- Median wait
- 23.1 weeks10.7 weeks longer than the national median of 12.4
- Still free to book
- 3.4%of the next 24 weeks
- Already taken
- 6,431of 6,654 slots in that window
Centres you can swap with from Pinner
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 Pinner. Anywhere else is refused on the call.
| Centre | Distance | Wait, weeks | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenford (Horsenden Lane) | about 6 miles | 18.4 | 41.4% -8.3 |
| Uxbridge | about 6 miles | 16.3 | 52.3% +2.6 |
The four rules, applied here
You both need a change left
Two changes per car test, and a swap spends one of them. How changing a test works.
10 working days' notice
To whichever of the two tests is first. Monday to Saturday count; Sundays and public holidays do not.
Centres near each other
Pinner's own three nearest are Greenford (Horsenden Lane), Yeading, Uxbridge.
Same test type
Weekday with weekday; evening and weekend tests only with each other.
Getting to Pinner, 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
221 Tolcarne Drive
Pinner
Greater London
HA5 2DZ
- No parking is available at this test centre
- Toilets
- Arrangements will be made at this test centre if you have a disability
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.
Driving around Pinner 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.
5 practice routes from the Pinner 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.
The roundabouts around Pinner
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.
| Roundabout | Exits | From the centre | Roads that meet there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Hills Circus | 4 | 0.6 miles | Joel Street (B472), Pinner Road (A404), Potter Street |
| Rayners Lane | 4 | 1.4 miles | Church Avenue, Rayners Lane, Suffolk Road, Whittington Way |
| Windmill Hill | 4 | 1.6 miles | Old Hatch Manor, West Hatch Manor, Windmill Hill |
| Uxbridge Road | 6 | 1.6 miles | Headstone Lane, Milne Field, Rowlands Avenue, St. Thomas' Drive (A404), Uxbridge Road (A404), Uxbridge Road (A410) |
| Coombe Drive | 4 | 1.7 miles | Coombe Drive, Pine Gardens |
| Victoria Road | 5 | 2.0 miles | Chelston Approach, Cornwall Road, Filey Waye, Torrington Road, Victoria Road |
| Harrow View | 3 | 2.2 miles | Eastman Road, Harrow View, Newman Avenue |
| Shaftesbury Circle | 3 | 2.6 miles | Porlock Avenue, Roxeth Green Avenue, Shaftesbury Avenue |
| Eastcote Lane | 3 | 2.7 miles | Eastcote Lane, Rayners Lane, Roxeth Green Avenue |
Swaps at Pinner, 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 Pinner 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.
-
Show me, tell me
You get one of the two questions wrong. What happens?
- A serious fault, which fails the test
- You are asked another until you get one right
- One driving fault, and the test carries on
- Nothing, they are not marked
Show the answer
One driving fault, and the test carries on. Getting one or both wrong is recorded as one driving fault. It does not fail the test on its own.
-
Road signs
What shape are most warning signs?
- A rectangle
- A triangle
- A circle
- An octagon
Show the answer
A triangle. Warning signs are mostly red-bordered triangles, point up.
-
Warning lights
An amber warning light comes on. What does amber generally mean?
- Stop immediately in the road
- Have it checked soon; you can usually drive on carefully
- The car needs fuel
- Something is switched on
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.
Swapping at Pinner: questions
Can I swap a test at Pinner 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 Pinner the list is Greenford (Horsenden Lane), Uxbridge. Anywhere else is refused on the call.
What is the pass rate at Pinner?
49.7% of car tests at Pinner ended in a pass between April 2025 and March 2026, from 14,367 tests. The national average over the same period was 50%, so Pinner is right about average, ranking 208th 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 Pinner?
Of the centres you can legally move a Pinner test to, Uxbridge has the highest pass rate at 52.3%, against 49.7% 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 Pinner?
23.1 weeks. That is the median wait between booking and taking a test for people who sat one at Pinner in September 2026, from DVSA's own monthly figures, so half of them waited longer. The national median that month was 12.4 weeks. 3.4% 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 Pinner?
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 276 car tests a week at Pinner, 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 Pinner 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 Pinner?
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 Pinner 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.