Essex · East of England
Tilbury driving test centre
50.4% of car practical tests taken at Tilbury passed in 2025-26, from 5,083 tests. Pass rates, local road types and how we prepare you for this centre.
Tilbury pass rates
Pass rate 2025-26
50.4%
2,560 passes
National average
50%
+0.4 points here
Tests conducted
5,083
about 424 a month
Best published year
51.1%
2023-24
5,083 car practical tests were taken at Tilbury in 2025-26 and 50.4% of them passed. The national average that year was 50%, so this centre sits in line with the rest of Great Britain. It is up on 2019-20, when 43.5% passed.
Over the published years the rate has moved between 42.8% in 2022-23 and 51.1% in 2023-24, so a single year's figure is a weak guide on its own. That works out at roughly 424 tests a month, which is what waiting times at Tilbury depend on more than the pass rate does.
- Tilbury
- National average
| Year | Tests | Passes | Pass rate | National | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 5,083 | 2,560 | 50.4% | 50% | 50.9% | 49.7% |
| 2024-25 | 4,185 | 2,053 | 49.1% | 48.7% | 50.1% | 47.9% |
| 2023-24 | 4,350 | 2,222 | 51.1% | 47.9% | 52.2% | 49.8% |
| 2022-23 | 3,698 | 1,584 | 42.8% | 48.4% | 44% | 41.7% |
| 2021-22 | 3,717 | 1,665 | 44.8% | 48.9% | 46.9% | 42.9% |
| 2019-20 | 4,382 | 1,908 | 43.5% | 45.9% | 45.8% | 41.6% |
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 Tilbury
Tests from Tilbury run mostly on signal-controlled crossroads, bus gates and back-street rat runs. Those road types sit close together, so several of them can appear in the first ten minutes.
Bus lane timings and cycle lanes both feature; check the signage rather than following the car in front. At least one manoeuvre is usually set on a narrow residential street with traffic passing. Tilbury covers a wide slice of Essex, and instructors who teach it weekly know which approach roads back up.
Tilbury takes candidates from across Essex, so plenty arrive having learned on a different road mix. That usually shows in the first five minutes of the drive.
Book the mock early enough that there is time to fix whatever it finds.
Roads you are likely to meet
Signal-controlled crossroads
Bus gates
Back-street rat runs
- Bus lane timings and cycle lanes both feature; check the signage rather than following the car in front.
- At least one manoeuvre is usually set on a narrow residential street with traffic passing.
- Tilbury covers a wide slice of Essex, and instructors who teach it weekly know which approach roads back up.
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 Tilbury
Observation at junctions
Effective observation is the single most-marked area on any UK test route, Tilbury included — look, decide, then act, and make the look obvious.
How we prepare you for this centre
Time on the real roads
We plan the final sessions around Tilbury itself, so the signal-controlled crossroads you meet on test day are ones you have already driven.
A full mock test
A full-length mock from the Tilbury 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 Tilbury 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
Tilbury test centre FAQs
What are the test routes like at Tilbury?
The DVSA stopped publishing official routes, and examiners vary them. In practice, routes from Tilbury draw on signal-controlled crossroads, bus gates, back-street rat runs, so those are the conditions to rehearse rather than a fixed sequence of streets.
What do learners most often fail on at Tilbury?
observation at junctions — all of which come directly from the road types on the local network.
Can I take an intensive course and test at Tilbury?
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 Tilbury.
How do I book a practical test at Tilbury?
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 Tilbury?
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 Tilbury 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.