Tyne and Wear · Yorkshire & the North East
Sunderland driving test centre
51.1% of car practical tests taken at Sunderland passed in 2025-26, from 10,436 tests. Pass rates, local road types and how we prepare you for this centre.
Sunderland pass rates
Pass rate 2025-26
51.1%
5,338 passes
National average
50%
+1.1 points here
Tests conducted
10,436
about 870 a month
Best published year
51.1%
2025-26
10,436 car practical tests were taken at Sunderland in 2025-26. 51.1% passed, 1.1 percentage points above the national average of 50%. It is up on 2019-20, when 44.1% passed.
Over the published years the rate has moved between 44.1% in 2019-20 and 51.1% in 2025-26, so a single year's figure is a weak guide on its own. That works out at roughly 870 tests a month, which is what waiting times at Sunderland depend on more than the pass rate does.
- Sunderland
- National average
| Year | Tests | Passes | Pass rate | National | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 10,436 | 5,338 | 51.1% | 50% | 51.2% | 51.1% |
| 2024-25 | 9,084 | 4,282 | 47.1% | 48.7% | 47.8% | 46.4% |
| 2023-24 | 10,814 | 4,953 | 45.8% | 47.9% | 46% | 45.6% |
| 2022-23 | 9,608 | 4,483 | 46.7% | 48.4% | 49.3% | 44.3% |
| 2021-22 | 4,929 | 2,232 | 45.3% | 48.9% | 47.5% | 43.2% |
| 2019-20 | 6,314 | 2,785 | 44.1% | 45.9% | 47.8% | 40.9% |
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 Sunderland 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 Sunderland
Expect arterial roads, coastal roads and residential on a test out of Sunderland. The demands are ordinary, but they are specific to this area.
Wide roads, but busy junctions.
Sunderland covers learners in and around Sunderland, and it is where most of our Sunderland 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.
The aim is simple: nothing on the drive should be new on the day.
Roads you are likely to meet
Arterial roads
Coastal roads
Residential
- Wide roads, but busy junctions.
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 Sunderland
Parked cars and passing gaps
Leave a door's width past parked cars, and give way early enough that the oncoming driver can see you have decided.
How we prepare you for this centre
Time on the real roads
We plan the final sessions around Sunderland itself, so the arterial roads you meet on test day are ones you have already driven.
A full mock test
A full-length mock from the Sunderland 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 Sunderland 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
Sunderland test centre FAQs
What are the test routes like at Sunderland?
The DVSA stopped publishing official routes, and examiners vary them. In practice, routes from Sunderland draw on arterial roads, coastal roads, residential, so those are the conditions to rehearse rather than a fixed sequence of streets.
What do learners most often fail on at Sunderland?
parked cars and passing gaps — all of which come directly from the road types on the local network.
Can I take an intensive course and test at Sunderland?
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 Sunderland or a nearby centre serving Sunderland.
How do I book a practical test at Sunderland?
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 do I need to bring to Sunderland?
Aim to be there ten minutes before your slot with your provisional licence. Your instructor will normally use the half hour beforehand for a warm-up drive on nearby roads rather than sitting in the car park.
Does Sunderland have a good pass rate?
Travelling for a higher published pass rate usually backfires: you arrive tired, on roads you have never driven. Preparing properly for Sunderland is the better use of the same hours.
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.