All test centres › Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and the Humber

Whitby driving test centre

Unit F11, St Hilda's Business Centre, Green Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO22 4ET

15 weeks
median wait from booking to test, national 12.4
56.7%
pass rate, +6.7 on the national 50%
11
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 Whitby date? How to postpone it without losing the fee.

Whitby · free

Join the swap list for Whitby

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.

Whitby in numbers

56.7% of car tests at Whitby end in a pass, 6.7 points above the national average of 50%. Within Yorkshire and the Humber it ranks 6th of 25. It is a small centre by national standards, at roughly 11 car tests a week, so swaps here depend on catching the right person rather than on volume. The rate has moved noticeably too: down 8.4 points on the year before (65.1%).

Pass rate

Above average
Passed here
56.7%557 tests, Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
National average
50%same period
On last year
-8.4points down (65.1% 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
15 weeks2.6 weeks longer than the national median of 12.4
Still free to book
7%of the next 24 weeks
Already taken
187of 201 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 Whitby

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 Whitby. Anywhere else is refused on the call.

CentreDistanceWait, weeksPass rate
Scarboroughabout 23 miles2.945.1% -11.6
Maltonabout 29 miles12.664.3% +7.6

Pass rates are DVSA figures for April 2025 to March 2026, compared with Whitby. 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

    Whitby's own three nearest are Scarborough, Malton, Middlesbrough.

  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 Whitby, 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

Unit F11, St Hilda's Business Centre
Green Lane
Whitby
North Yorkshire
YO22 4ET

  • No parking listed at the centre, so plan where to leave the car
  • Toilets
  • Special arrangements will be made at this test centre if you have a disability

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 Whitby 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.

Find Whitby route videos

No curated set for this centre yet, so this search is aimed at Whitby specifically. Local instructors film these roads constantly.

Swaps at Whitby, 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 Whitby 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

      How many "show me, tell me" questions are asked in the car test, and when?

      • One of each, both before you drive
      • Five questions before you drive, like the old test
      • Two "tell me" questions before you drive
      • One "tell me" before you drive and one "show me" while you are driving
      Show the answer

      One "tell me" before you drive and one "show me" while you are driving. The examiner asks one "tell me" question at the start and one "show me" question while you are driving.

    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
      • Have it checked soon; you can usually drive on carefully
      • Stop immediately in the road
      • 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.

    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 Whitby: questions

    Can I swap a test at Whitby 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 Whitby the list is Scarborough, Malton. Anywhere else is refused on the call.

    What is the pass rate at Whitby?

    56.7% of car tests at Whitby ended in a pass between April 2025 and March 2026, from 557 tests. The national average over the same period was 50%, so Whitby is 6.7 points above it, ranking 88th 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 Whitby?

    Of the centres you can legally move a Whitby test to, Malton has the highest pass rate at 64.3%, against 56.7% 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 Whitby?

    15 weeks. That is the median wait between booking and taking a test for people who sat one at Whitby in September 2026, from DVSA's own monthly figures, so half of them waited longer. The national median that month was 12.4 weeks. 7% 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 Whitby?

    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 11 car tests a week at Whitby, so the pool holding a slot is small, and patience counts for more here. 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 Whitby 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 Whitby?

    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 Whitby 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.