First time fail rates revealed

IT COULD be down to nerves or even over confidence. But a new report has shown that fewer wouldbe motorists in Rochdale pass their first driving test than in most other parts of the country.

Figures show that out of the 2,761 learner drivers who took the test between 2022 and 2023 only 955 passed, a rate of just 34.6 per cent.

That makes Rochdale the seventh worst area in the country for first time test failures.

A look at the top 10 driving test centre results shows eight of them are from a single country. All of the top seven sites are in Scotland and even England’s top centre is just over the border in Alnwick, Northumberland coming in eighth overall.

A new study shows that Peebles has the highest first-time pass rate of any driving test centre in the UK. Insurance broker One Sure Insurance analysed public driving test data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) between April 2022 and April 2023, to determine which test centres have the highest rate of drivers passing their practical test first time.

Test centres with fewer than 100 recorded driving test attempts, or insufficient data were excluded from the final results. It found Peebles notched up a rate of 78.1% of drivers passing first time at this test centre.

An impressive 157 out of 201 drivers passed their test first time throughout this period, with 80.4% of male drivers and 76% of female drivers passing on the first attempt. Six drivers passed first time with zero faults, the equivalent to 3% of the total attempts during the period.

Hawick came second with 76.8% of drivers passing their test here first time. A total of 195 out of 254 people recorded firsttime passes, with 79.7% of male drivers and 74.3% of female drivers passing their test on the first attempt at this centre.

Kelso, ranked close behind in third place with

75.8% of drivers passing their test here first time. 165 tests were taken here between April 2022 to April 2023, of which 125 were first-time passes. In contrast to Peebles and Hawick, female drivers were more likely to pass first time at a rate of 78.8%, compared to 70.5% of male drivers.

Arbroath and Montrose both also had drivers passing first time on more than 70% of occasions. of 233 attempts.

Alnwick ranked in eighth place with 69.2% of drivers passing their test first time here, making it the centre with the highest first-time pass rate in England.

A total of 386 out of 558 drivers passed first time at its test centre. Chichester was the only other English centre to make the top 10, coming in tenth with a first-time pass rate of

64.5%.

In contrast nine out of the bottom 10 places to pass first time were in England. Would-be drivers at Speke in Liverpool only passed on 27.3% of first attempts - so just over one in four compared with three out of four in Peebles.

Erith and Belvedere in London were second and third least likely to get that first-time pass with each having less than a one in three chance. Meanwhile, Shieldhall in Glasgow and Wolverhampton came in fourth and fifth with 33.4% and 33.8% respectively.

When looking nationally at more than 800,000 driving tests conducted between 2022 and 2023, male drivers were slightly more likely to pass first time than female drivers, at a rate of 51.6% for men, compared to 46.9% for women.

Chris Lear, Managing Director at One Sure Insurance, commented: “These findings offer great insight into the areas where learner drivers are most likely to pass their driving test for the first time, with many rural Scottish towns dominating the top spots.

“There are a number of factors that can influence a test centre’s pass rates.

“Less densely populated high streets, fewer cars on the roads and less complicated junctions, can often make it less stressful for learner drivers taking their test in rural towns, compared to those being assessed in more built-up urban areas.

“Learners taking tests at these centres may also benefit from having spent more time practising on quieter roads outside of their regular driving lessons, which can help build up their confidence when it comes time to take their practical test.”