Surrey · London & the South East
Guildford driving test centre
57.1% of car practical tests taken at Guildford passed in 2025-26, from 4,542 tests. Pass rates, local road types and how we prepare you for this centre.
Guildford pass rates
Pass rate 2025-26
57.1%
2,592 passes
National average
50%
+7.1 points here
Tests conducted
4,542
about 379 a month
Best published year
57.1%
2025-26
4,542 car practical tests were taken at Guildford in 2025-26. 57.1% passed, 7.1 percentage points above the national average of 50%. It is up on 2019-20, when 50.2% passed.
Over the published years the rate has moved between 42.8% in 2021-22 and 57.1% in 2025-26, so a single year's figure is a weak guide on its own. In 2025-26 the rate was 58.2% for male candidates and 55.6% for female candidates. That works out at roughly 379 tests a month, which is what waiting times at Guildford depend on more than the pass rate does.
- Guildford
- National average
| Year | Tests | Passes | Pass rate | National | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 4,542 | 2,592 | 57.1% | 50% | 58.2% | 55.6% |
| 2024-25 | 5,032 | 2,609 | 51.8% | 48.7% | 52.6% | 50.8% |
| 2023-24 | 7,990 | 3,893 | 48.7% | 47.9% | 48.9% | 48.5% |
| 2022-23 | 6,519 | 2,909 | 44.6% | 48.4% | 46% | 43.1% |
| 2021-22 | 4,698 | 2,009 | 42.8% | 48.9% | 43.8% | 41.6% |
| 2019-20 | 6,222 | 3,122 | 50.2% | 45.9% | 52.7% | 47.7% |
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 Guildford
Tests from Guildford run mostly on steep hills, a3 slip roads and town centre. Those road types sit close together, so several of them can appear in the first ten minutes.
Hill starts and hill parking are almost guaranteed.
Guildford covers learners in and around Guildford, and it is where most of our Guildford 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.
A marked mock test on these roads is the most useful thing you can do in the week before your slot.
Roads you are likely to meet
Steep hills
A3 slip roads
Town centre
- Hill starts and hill parking are almost guaranteed.
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 Guildford
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.
Merging with faster traffic
Emerging too slowly forces other drivers to react, and that is marked. Use the full length of the slip road and match the flow before you merge.
Busy-centre awareness
Progress matters here too. Sitting at a clear crossing waiting for nobody is marked as undue hesitancy.
How we prepare you for this centre
Time on the real roads
We plan the final sessions around Guildford itself, so the steep hills you meet on test day are ones you have already driven.
A full mock test
A full-length mock from the Guildford area, scored on the DVSA sheet so you see exactly where the marks went.
Manoeuvres in real locations
All four test manoeuvres, practised in the kind of streets examiners around Guildford actually use.
The paperwork and the routine
We walk the whole sequence — arrival, documents, eyesight check, independent drive — so nothing on the day is new.
Courses that suit test-centre prep
Guildford test centre FAQs
What are the test routes like at Guildford?
The DVSA stopped publishing official routes, and examiners vary them. In practice, routes from Guildford draw on steep hills, a3 slip roads, town centre, so those are the conditions to rehearse rather than a fixed sequence of streets.
What do learners most often fail on at Guildford?
hill starts and control, merging with faster traffic, busy-centre awareness — all of which come directly from the road types on the local network.
Can I take an intensive course and test at Guildford?
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 Guildford or a nearby centre serving Guildford.
How do I book a practical test at Guildford?
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 Guildford?
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.