Borehamwood

Somewhere real to practise

6 circuits from the test centre on Unit 1 Stirling Court, Stirling Way, Borehamwood, each one 23 minutes or more, taking in the junctions a Borehamwood test actually uses. Turn by turn, with the roundabout exits numbered, and a manoeuvre to try on each one.

Swap your Borehamwood test Straight to the routes

Before you drive any of these

Practising in your own car is legal and it is the cheapest way to get better. The rules are short:

Whoever sits beside you must be over 21, qualified to drive that type of car, and have held their full licence for three years.
The car needs L plates front and rear, and insurance that covers you as a learner. Some insurers also want the supervisor to be over 25.
No motorways. A learner can only go on one with an approved instructor in a dual-control car, so none of these routes touch one.

The rules on GOV.UK

These are not the examiner's routes, and nobody else's are either.

DVSA stopped publishing test routes in 2010 and refuses freedom-of-information requests for them. Since December 2017 four tests in five are led by a sat nav the examiner sets up, so even the examiner's route is not a fixed thing you could learn.

What these are: loops on the real roads around the centre, put together so you meet the junctions, speeds and road types the test actually assesses. Drive the roads, not a sequence.

You drive. Somebody else reads.

Nobody can read a numbered list at 30 mph, and a sat nav will not tell you which exit to take early enough to get in the right lane. So these routes are written for the person in the passenger seat: the supervising driver who has to be there anyway.

Two ways to do that: print the route and put it on their lap, or send it to their phone. Either way they call the turns and you drive.

About the Google Maps links

Google plots its own line between the corners we give it, so the written steps are the route and the map is for orientation and for getting the thing onto a phone.

Two things it will not tell you: its travel time assumes a confident driver in clear traffic, so expect ours to be closer; and it will happily route you down something a learner should not be on. Look at it before you set off.

The small map on each route is ours, drawn from the same data. It needs no permission, loads instantly and prints, which is why it is the one you see first.

Route 1 · Stirling Corner → Mill Hill Circus → Apex Corner

Stirling, Mill Hill Circus and Apex

South on the A1 to Mill Hill Circus and back by Apex Corner, so more of this one is dual carriageway than roundabout. The shortest of the six and the one to drive first.

5.9 milesabout 23 minup to 50 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn left into Barnet Lane 160 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At Stirling Corner, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
4
Carry on into A1 0.6 miles 50
5
At Mill Hill Circus, take the 3rd exit onto The Broadway 0.2 miles30
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 30 mph, down from 50.
6
Turn right into Millway 0.5 miles 30
7
Turn left into Watford Way 230 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
8
At Apex Corner, take the 2nd exit onto Watford By-pass 190 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
9
Carry on into Stoneyfields Lane 340 yards 30

The limit here is 30 mph, down from 50. Signed Edgware Way along the way, and it is the same road.
10
Turn left into Stoneyfields Gardens 150 yards 30
11
Turn left into Gibbs Green 260 yards 30
12
Turn left into Selvage Lane 220 yards 30
13
At Apex Corner, take the 2nd exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
14
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
15
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
16
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Add a manoeuvre

One will be chosen for you.

Suggested from the map, not from a visit. Look at the road and the signs before you commit to anything, and do not block a driveway or a junction.

Route 2 · Stirling Corner → Canons Corner

Stirling Corner and Canons Corner

Out to Canons Corner and back through Edgware, where the difficulty is the traffic rather than the speed. A good second drive, because it asks for patience rather than nerve.

7.7 milesabout 27 minup to 50 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn left into Barnet Lane 160 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At Stirling Corner, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
4
At Apex Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Watford By-pass 190 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
5
Carry on into Edgware Way 1.3 miles 50

Signed Watford By-pass along the way, and it is the same road.
6
At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Spur Road 0.2 miles40
No signal on the approach. Keep left unless the markings say otherwise, then signal left after the exit before yours. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
7
At Canons Corner, take the 2nd exit onto London Road 90 yards30
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 30 mph, down from 40.
8
Turn left into Court Drive 20 yards 30
9
Turn right into London Road 0.3 miles 30
10
At Canons Corner, take the 2nd exit onto Spur Road 0.2 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, up from 30.
11
At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Watford By-pass 50 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 50 mph, up from 40.
12
Carry on into Edgware Way 1.4 miles 50
13
At Apex Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
14
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
15
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
16
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Route 3 · Brockley Hill Roundabout → Canons Corner

Brockley Hill and Canons Corner

The first of these to put you on a national speed limit dual carriageway, and it drops you into Edgware traffic straight afterwards. Leave it until the first two feel ordinary.

8 milesabout 31 minup to 70 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn right into Barnet Lane 320 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 1.7 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
4
Turn left into High Street 230 yards 30

The limit here is 30 mph, down from 40.
5
Carry on into Elstree Hill South 0.3 miles 30
6
At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Elstree Hill South 200 yards70
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 70 mph, up from 30.
7
At Brockley Hill Roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Watford By-Pass 320 yards70
No signal on the approach. Keep left unless the markings say otherwise, then signal left after the exit before yours.
8
Carry on into Watford By-pass 0.9 miles 70
9
At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Spur Road 0.2 miles40
No signal on the approach. Keep left unless the markings say otherwise, then signal left after the exit before yours. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 70.
10
At Canons Corner, take the 1st exit onto Stone Grove 0.3 miles30
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 30 mph, down from 40.
11
Carry on into Stonegrove 140 yards 30?
12
Turn left into Orchard Drive 320 yards 30
13
Turn right into Kings Drive 110 yards 30
14
Turn left into Oakleigh Gardens 100 yards 30
15
Turn left into Purcells Avenue 330 yards 30
16
Turn left into Edgwarebury Lane 380 yards 30
17
Turn right into Edgware Way 1.0 miles 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
18
At Apex Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
19
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
20
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
21
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Route 4 · Apex Corner → Brockley Hill Roundabout → Canons Corner

Apex, Brockley Hill and Canons Corner

Three large roundabouts one after another, with the A41 running between them. Drive this one twice if exits and lane discipline are where the faults come from.

9.7 milesabout 33 minup to 70 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn left into Barnet Lane 160 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At Stirling Corner, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
4
At Apex Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Watford By-pass 190 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 50 mph, up from 40.
5
Carry on into Edgware Way 1.3 miles 50

Signed Watford By-pass along the way, and it is the same road.
6
At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Watford By-pass 1.0 miles60
No signal on the approach. Keep left unless the markings say otherwise, then signal left after the exit before yours. The limit here is 60 mph, up from 50.
7
Carry on into Watford By-Pass 260 yards 70

The limit here is 70 mph, up from 60.
8
At Brockley Hill Roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Brockley Hill 1.2 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 70.
9
At Canons Corner, take the 2nd exit onto Stone Grove 0.3 miles30
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 30 mph, down from 40.
10
Carry on into Stonegrove 140 yards 30?
11
Turn left into Orchard Drive 320 yards 30
12
Turn right into Kings Drive 110 yards 30
13
Turn left into Oakleigh Gardens 100 yards 30
14
Turn left into Purcells Avenue 330 yards 30
15
Turn left into Edgwarebury Lane 380 yards 30
16
Turn right into Edgware Way 1.0 miles 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
17
At Apex Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
18
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
19
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
20
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Route 5 · Stirling Corner → Brockley Hill Roundabout → Apex Corner

The A41 loop by Brockley Hill

Up the A41 past Brockley Hill and back down to Apex Corner, most of it on fast dual carriageway. Worth driving once the speed itself has stopped being the hard part.

10.4 milesabout 32 minup to 70 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn left into Barnet Lane 160 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At Stirling Corner, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
4
At Apex Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Watford By-pass 190 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
5
Carry on into Edgware Way 1.3 miles 50

Signed Watford By-pass along the way, and it is the same road.
6
At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Watford By-pass 1.0 miles60
No signal on the approach. Keep left unless the markings say otherwise, then signal left after the exit before yours. The limit here is 60 mph, up from 50.
7
Carry on into Watford By-Pass 260 yards 70

The limit here is 70 mph, up from 60.
8
At Brockley Hill Roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Watford By-Pass 320 yards70
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
9
Carry on into Watford By-pass 0.9 miles 70
10
Turn left to stay on Watford By-pass 170 yards 60

The limit here is 60 mph, down from 70.
11
Carry on into Edgware Way 1.4 miles 50

The limit here is 50 mph, down from 60.
12
At Apex Corner, take the 2nd exit onto A1 350 yards50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
13
Carry on into Watford Way 0.3 miles 50
14
At Mill Hill Circus, take the 4th exit onto Watford Way 0.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
15
At Apex Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
16
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
17
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
18
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Add a manoeuvre

One will be chosen for you.

Suggested from the map, not from a visit. Look at the road and the signs before you commit to anything, and do not block a driveway or a junction.

Route 6 · Stirling Corner → Holders Hill Circus → Mill Hill Circus

The long way south

Out to Holders Hill Circus and home by Mill Hill Circus, which makes it longer than a real test. Worth driving once in the fortnight before the date, because tiredness is what turns a good drive into a careless fault.

10.8 milesabout 41 minup to 50 mph

Open in Maps

1
Start on the test centre access road 40 yards 30
2
Turn left into Barnet Lane 160 yards 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
3
At Stirling Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Barnet Road 0.2 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
4
Turn right into an unnamed road 40 yards 40
5
Turn right to stay on an unnamed road 10 yards 40
6
Turn right to stay on an unnamed road 30 yards 40

This is where the route turns back on itself, so you carry on the other way from here.
7
Turn left into Barnet Road 0.2 miles 40
8
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
9
Carry on into A1 0.6 miles 50

The limit here is 50 mph, up from 40.
10
At Mill Hill Circus, take the 2nd exit onto Watford Way 1.2 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
11
Turn left into Great North Way 0.9 miles 50
12
Turn left into Holders Hill Road 0.8 miles 30

The limit here is 30 mph, down from 50.
13
At Holders Hill Circus, take the 1st exit onto Devonshire Road 0.6 miles30
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
14
Carry on into Pursley Road 0.5 miles 30
15
Turn right into Page Street 60 yards 30
16
Turn left into Bunn's Lane 0.6 miles 30
17
Turn right to stay on Bunn's Lane 0.3 miles 30
18
Turn right into The Broadway 0.3 miles 30
19
At Mill Hill Circus, take the 1st exit onto Watford Way 0.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 50 mph, up from 30.
20
At Apex Corner, take the 3rd exit onto Barnet Way 1.5 miles50
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
21
At Stirling Corner, take the 1st exit onto Barnet Lane 0.3 miles40
Approach in the left lane and signal left. The limit here is 40 mph, down from 50.
22
At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto Barnet Lane 300 yards40
Approach in the left lane and signal left.
23
Turn left into the test centre access road 50 yards 40

Add a manoeuvre

One will be chosen for you.

Suggested from the map, not from a visit. Look at the road and the signs before you commit to anything, and do not block a driveway or a junction.

Before you drive it

Watch somebody else drive Borehamwood first

Instructors film these roads constantly. Watch for the roads: which roundabout, which multi-lane approach, where the limit drops. Not for a sequence to memorise, because the sequence is the one thing that changes.

Find more Borehamwood route videos

Opens a YouTube search for this centre. A video only goes on this page once somebody here has watched the whole thing.

Where the roads come from

Every road, speed limit, roundabout and car park named on this page comes from OpenStreetMap, used under the Open Database Licence. A speed shown with a question mark is our inference from the road type rather than a signed limit in the data. Trust the signs, not us.

Distances and times are calculated, not driven. The turns between the junctions are worked out by OSRM, an open source router running on that same map data. The times assume town-centre averages, so treat them as a rough guide.

Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it, or fix it in OpenStreetMap and it corrects itself everywhere.