Gloucestershire · South West
Gloucester driving test centre
47.8% of car practical tests taken at Gloucester passed in 2025-26, from 7,420 tests. Pass rates, local road types and how we prepare you for this centre.
Gloucester pass rates
Pass rate 2025-26
47.8%
3,545 passes
National average
50%
-2.2 points here
Tests conducted
7,420
about 618 a month
Best published year
52.6%
2021-22
7,420 car practical tests were taken at Gloucester in 2025-26. 47.8% passed, 2.2 percentage points below the national average of 50%. It is up on 2019-20, when 45.7% passed.
Over the published years the rate has moved between 45.7% in 2019-20 and 52.6% in 2021-22, so a single year's figure is a weak guide on its own. That works out at roughly 618 tests a month, which is what waiting times at Gloucester depend on more than the pass rate does.
- Gloucester
- National average
| Year | Tests | Passes | Pass rate | National | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 7,420 | 3,545 | 47.8% | 50% | 47.6% | 47.9% |
| 2024-25 | 6,511 | 3,231 | 49.6% | 48.7% | 50% | 49.2% |
| 2023-24 | 6,059 | 2,965 | 48.9% | 47.9% | 48.3% | 49.6% |
| 2022-23 | 6,963 | 3,656 | 52.5% | 48.4% | 52.1% | 52.9% |
| 2021-22 | 4,994 | 2,625 | 52.6% | 48.9% | 53.4% | 51.7% |
| 2019-20 | 6,547 | 2,992 | 45.7% | 45.9% | 47.9% | 43.7% |
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.
Driving out of Gloucester
Tests from Gloucester run mostly on ring road, rural lanes and town streets. Those road types sit close together, so several of them can appear in the first ten minutes.
Rural sections with limited visibility often appear on the independent drive.
Gloucester covers learners in and around Gloucester, and it is where most of our Gloucester course students sit the test. If you are choosing between centres, practise the road types listed above rather than picking on pass-rate figures alone.
Most learners who retake at Gloucester say the driving was fine and the pressure was not.
Roads you are likely to meet
Ring road
Rural lanes
Town streets
- Rural sections with limited visibility often appear on the independent drive.
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 Gloucester
Committing to a lane in good time
Entering a box junction without a clear exit is a fault regardless of how the lights change afterwards.
Judgement on unlit lanes
Passing places, mud on the road, horses and tractors are all part of the marking here — and so is progress once the road opens up.
How we prepare you for this centre
Local route practice
The last hours of your course are spent on ring road and rural lanes near the centre, because that is what the examiner will put you on.
One rehearsal, examiner-style
Marked the way an examiner marks it, on a Gloucester route, with a written debrief of every fault.
All four manoeuvres
Every manoeuvre practised with traffic present, because that is the version that appears on the day.
Test-day rehearsal
Licence and theory certificate checked, show me / tell me covered, and the sat-nav section practised before the day.
Courses that suit test-centre prep
Gloucester test centre FAQs
What are the test routes like at Gloucester?
The DVSA stopped publishing official routes, and examiners vary them. In practice, routes from Gloucester draw on ring road, rural lanes, town streets, so those are the conditions to rehearse rather than a fixed sequence of streets.
What do learners most often fail on at Gloucester?
committing to a lane in good time, judgement on unlit lanes — all of which come directly from the road types on the local network.
Can I take an intensive course and test at Gloucester?
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 Gloucester or a nearby centre serving Gloucester.
How do I book a practical test at Gloucester?
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.
What happens when I get to Gloucester?
Arrive with your provisional licence and a car that is legal, insured for the test and has no warning lights showing. We handle that side if you use one of our instructors' cars.
Is Gloucester an easy test centre?
Pass rates are published by the DVSA, but they say more about the mix of candidates than the difficulty of the routes. Practising the road types above will move your odds more than switching centres.
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.