Driving test centres in North-west England, ranked by pass rate
34 DVSA car test centres, with what each one passes and how long it makes you wait. Every figure is DVSA's own.
34
49.2%
12.3 weeks
Every centre in North-west England
Ranked by pass rate for 2025-26, with the year before and the median wait in weeks.
| Centre | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | Tests | Wait, weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow In Furness | 69.6% | 61.9% | 1,699 | 6.4 |
| Kendal (Oxenholme Road) | 65.1% | 64.8% | 2,231 | 8.9 |
| Workington | 61.9% | 48.3% | 2,998 | 7.8 |
| Heysham | 59.2% | 55.0% | 3,692 | 18.3 |
| Buxton | 58.7% | 57.0% | 4,904 | 17.4 |
| Carlisle | 58.7% | 54.9% | 3,518 | 13.8 |
| Northwich | 57.6% | 54.7% | 3,529 | 7.3 |
| Southport (Liverpool) | 56.5% | 59.2% | 7,949 | 18.0 |
| Preston | 56.3% | 53.7% | 9,194 | 14.4 |
| Bredbury (Manchester) | 56.0% | 54.2% | 10,636 | 16.1 |
| Warrington | 55.5% | 55.3% | 7,550 | 17.1 |
| Wallasey | 54.3% | 49.6% | 968 | 12.6 |
| Chorley | 52.8% | 48.3% | 5,415 | 5.4 |
| Steeton | 52.8% | 50.5% | 4,784 | 15.6 |
| Upton | 52.6% | 50.0% | 10,772 | 12.1 |
| Macclesfield | 51.9% | 49.9% | 4,509 | 16.4 |
| Blackpool | 51.8% | 49.6% | 8,948 | 9.1 |
| Bolton (Manchester) | 51.8% | 56.7% | 11,570 | 12.4 |
| Nelson | 51.7% | 47.9% | 5,955 | 18.9 |
| Sale (Manchester) | 51.4% | 49.1% | 10,921 | 18.3 |
| Rochdale (Manchester) | 48.3% | 41.2% | 11,563 | 5.6 |
| West Didsbury (Manchester) | 47.7% | 50.9% | 17,806 | 19.9 |
| Chester | 47.3% | 46.2% | 9,212 | 7.5 |
| Chadderton | 46.8% | 44.9% | 15,988 | 16.1 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 46.6% | 47.8% | 12,205 | 13.1 |
| Bury (Manchester) | 46.3% | 40.3% | 7,024 | 5.7 |
| Carlisle LGV (Cars) | 44.7% | 61.9% | 47 | 0.6 |
| Cheetham Hill (Manchester) | 44.7% | 43.7% | 10,207 | 10.0 |
| Atherton (Manchester) | 44.3% | 44.4% | 13,035 | 10.0 |
| Crewe | 43.8% | 44.4% | 4,994 | 12.1 |
| Widnes | 42.7% | 40.1% | 6,846 | 9.1 |
| St Helens (Liverpool) | 40.9% | 40.2% | 14,174 | 11.4 |
| Speke (Liverpool) | 40.5% | 38.6% | 8,159 | 7.5 |
| Norris Green (Liverpool) | 37.8% | 38.7% | 13,472 | 18.0 |
Which of these are linked
A swap is always between two centres DVSA allows for both learners: your own, one of your three nearest, or one you first booked at. Chained through a neighbour, these are the groups that connect. Each centre page lists its own direct partners.
16 centres, linked
6 centres, linked
4 centres, linked
2 centres, linked
2 centres, linked
2 centres, linked
On their own in North-west England
- Chester reaches Wrexham in Wales instead
- Southport (Liverpool) reaches no other centre, so a swap here is with somebody booked at the same one
Practice routes in North-west England
Real roads around the centre, turn by turn, with the roundabout exits numbered. Not the examiner's route, because nobody has that.
Holding a date in North-west England?
A learner nearby may want it, and hold one you would rather have. Join the list and we email you when a learner who could swap with you joins. Free, and nothing is committed until you both say yes.
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Join the swap list for a centre in North-west England
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No test booked yet? There is nothing to swap until you have one. Book on GOV.UK, then come back.
North-west England: questions
Which North-west England driving test centre has the highest pass rate?
Barrow In Furness, at 69.6% in 2025-26 against a national 50%. The lowest in the region is Norris Green (Liverpool) at 37.8%. A pass rate mostly describes the roads and the traffic around a centre rather than the marking, which is the same everywhere.
How long is the wait for a driving test in North-west England?
The median across 34 North-west England centres is 12.3 weeks, from DVSA's monthly figures for September 2026. That is about the national median. The spread inside a region is usually wider than the gap between regions, so the centre matters more than the region does.
Can I swap a driving test between North-west England centres?
Only where DVSA allows the move. A swap has to leave both learners at their own centre, at one of their three nearest, or at a centre they first booked at, and it has to work in both directions. Being in the same region is not enough on its own: 1 of the 34 centres here reach nowhere else at all. Each centre page lists the ones it can actually reach.
How many driving test centres are there in North-west England?
34. 34 of them have a published pass rate, covering 266,474 car tests in 2025-26.