Featherstone in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield fared worst, with just 33.8% of those tested passing.
Close second was Wolverhampton with just 33.9% being successful, while Wednesbury, West Mids, and Chingford in London came in at joint third, with only 35.8% of applicants being granted a licence there. Belvedere in London rounded out the top five with a rate of 37.4%, according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency data.
All of these were significantly lower than the current national pass rate of 48.5%. Out of 918,633 driving tests conducted across the UK between April and September last year, 445,391 lucky motorists passed. Meanwhile, some areas boasted above-average pass rates, including Ipswich, where 65% of applicants got the green light and Dorchester, where 66% were able to drive away.
Significantly higher pass rates were linked to smaller test centres, such as Inveraray in Scotland, which had an 87% success rate, and the Isles of Scilly, which had 88%.
The figures were released as the Government announced measures to reduce test wait times to seven weeks by the summer of 2026, as many centres struggle with a backlog caused by the pandemic. The average delay across Britain has reached 21.7 weeks, up from 18 weeks when Labour took over last July, the DVSA admitted.
Three in four of the UK’s 319 test centres have now hit the maximum wait time of 24 weeks. The Department for Transport last week confirmed it will provide at least 10,000 extra driving tests a month, double permanent instructor numbers and reintroduce overtime pay and incentives.
It will also look into tackling the use of bots and apps to block-book tests, which has dramatically restricted their availability. A campaign to hire 450 new driving examiners is already under way, while it is now only possible to change your test date up to 10 days before, a move that is hoped to discourage people booking tests before they’re ready.
The DVSA advised learners to visit its Ready to Pass? site to check whether they are at test level.
Pauline Reeves, DVSA director of driver services, said: “Since December we’ve made significant progress on implementing our plan to reduce waiting times. But we know that our customers are not seeing the immediate effects.”
She added that measures such expanding training capacity for newly recruited driving examiners, so more can carrying out tests sooner, would help ease the backlog.
