Durham · Yorkshire & the North East
Darlington driving test centre
47.1% of car practical tests taken at Darlington passed in 2025-26, from 12,183 tests. Pass rates, local road types and how we prepare you for this centre.
Darlington pass rates
Pass rate 2025-26
47.1%
5,740 passes
National average
50%
-2.9 points here
Tests conducted
12,183
about 1,015 a month
Best published year
57%
2022-23
12,183 car practical tests were taken at Darlington in 2025-26. 47.1% passed, 2.9 percentage points below the national average of 50%. That is down from 51.5% in 2019-20.
Over the published years the rate has moved between 47.1% in 2025-26 and 57% in 2022-23, so a single year's figure is a weak guide on its own. In 2025-26 the rate was 44.7% for male candidates and 51.3% for female candidates. That works out at roughly 1,015 tests a month, which is what waiting times at Darlington depend on more than the pass rate does.
- Darlington
- National average
| Year | Tests | Passes | Pass rate | National | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 12,183 | 5,740 | 47.1% | 50% | 44.7% | 51.3% |
| 2024-25 | 6,828 | 3,357 | 49.2% | 48.7% | 48.4% | 50.4% |
| 2023-24 | 6,944 | 3,825 | 55.1% | 47.9% | 54% | 57% |
| 2022-23 | 5,456 | 3,111 | 57% | 48.4% | 58.1% | 55.6% |
| 2021-22 | 3,317 | 1,823 | 55% | 48.9% | 57.5% | 52.2% |
| 2019-20 | 3,337 | 1,718 | 51.5% | 45.9% | 54.9% | 47.9% |
Source: DVSA table DRT122A, car practical driving test pass rates by test centre, published on GOV.UK. Figures are financial years running April to March.
Where Darlington test centre is
Arrive ten minutes early and park where you can pull out easily. The waiting room is small at most centres, so your instructor will normally wait in the car park while you take the test.
Driving out of Darlington
Instructors who teach out of Darlington report the same road mix on most routes: shopping-street traffic, national-speed-limit link roads and hilly residential turns. Learners who have only driven quiet estate roads tend to find the pace higher than they expect.
Routes leave the built-up area quickly, so speed adjustment between limits is heavily assessed. Junction observation on the approach roads is the recurring theme. Most candidates here travel in from around Durham, so allow for the journey when you pick a slot.
Darlington takes candidates from across Durham, so plenty arrive having learned on a different road mix. That usually shows in the first five minutes of the drive.
The aim is simple: nothing on the drive should be new on the day.
Roads you are likely to meet
Shopping-street traffic
National-speed-limit link roads
Hilly residential turns
- Routes leave the built-up area quickly, so speed adjustment between limits is heavily assessed.
- Junction observation on the approach roads is the recurring theme.
- Most candidates here travel in from around Durham, so allow for the journey when you pick a slot.
Test routes are no longer published by the DVSA, and examiners vary them. Treat this as a guide to the local road types rather than a route list. Book your test and check availability on GOV.UK.
Where marks are lost at Darlington
Hill starts and control
Roll-back is one of the fastest ways to pick up a serious fault here. Practise moving away uphill with the handbrake until it feels automatic.
Priority on narrow streets
The recurring fault is stopping in the gap rather than before it, then having nowhere to go when something comes the other way.
How we prepare you for this centre
Practice where you will be marked
Your instructor works the roads around Darlington in the sessions before your test — shopping-street traffic included — not generic estate roads.
A marked mock run
Run silently and scored properly — no coaching mid-drive — then debriefed fault by fault.
Manoeuvres to standard
Bay park, parallel park, pull up on the right and forward bay — rehearsed on live roads near the centre rather than an empty car park.
Everything around the drive
Paperwork, show me / tell me questions and the independent drive, run through in advance.
Courses that suit test-centre prep
Darlington test centre FAQs
What are the test routes like at Darlington?
The DVSA stopped publishing official routes, and examiners vary them. In practice, routes from Darlington draw on shopping-street traffic, national-speed-limit link roads, hilly residential turns, so those are the conditions to rehearse rather than a fixed sequence of streets.
What do learners most often fail on at Darlington?
hill starts and control, priority on narrow streets — all of which come directly from the road types on the local network.
Can I take an intensive course and test at Darlington?
Yes. We match you with a DVSA approved instructor who teaches on these roads day to day, and we look for the earliest practical slot at Darlington.
How do I book a practical test at Darlington?
Practical tests are booked through GOV.UK with your provisional licence and theory certificate numbers. We can check cancellations for you once your course dates are set.
How early should I arrive at Darlington?
Ten minutes early is enough. Bring your provisional licence; the eyesight check happens outside before you get in the car, so know which plate you can read.
Should I travel to a different centre instead?
We will not sell you a pass rate. Published DVSA figures reflect who books there as much as the roads, and a centre an hour away that you cannot practise around is a worse bet than the one your instructor drives every week.
Not sure how many hours you need?
Answer four quick questions and we will recommend a course based on your experience, not a sales target.