Aberdeen North Driving Test Centre
The Aberdeen North driving test centre is located in Aberdeen City, Scotland (AB23 8FE). Below are the official pass-rate statistics, multi-year trend, demographic breakdown, and how this centre compares against the UK average and its neighbours, all drawn from the DVSA quarterly statistical release.
Pass vs fail at a glance
17.2K passed, 16.8K failed, 33.9K total
How Aberdeen North compares
Aberdeen North has a slightly tougher pass rate than the UK average. Routes here may be more demanding than rural centres.
Where Aberdeen North ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Most common faults at this centre
The fault categories most frequently recorded against learners on test. Knowing them lets you target practice on the things examiners are most likely to penalise.
- 1Junctions - observation10
- 2Mirrors - change direction9
- 3Move off - safely8
- 4Junctions - turning right7
- 5Response to signs - traffic lights6
Per-centre fault breakdowns are derived from the DVSA national fault distribution applied to centre-level test outcomes.
Pass rate by demographic
Estimated wait time and demand
Wait times at Aberdeen North have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Aberdeen North typically wait around 8 weeks from booking to test day.
Wait time is estimated from regional demand patterns reported in the National Audit Office investigation into car driving test waiting times (Dec 2024) and the DVSA Despatch blog updates, combined with this centre's test volume. Real availability fluctuates with examiner staffing and cancellations, always check the official DVSA booking service for live slots.
Centre details
Address
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Aberdeen North
- car
- lorry and bus
- ADI part 2
- ADI part 3
Accessibility & facilities
Parking and toilet details aren't included in DVSA's published feed. For the current on-site facilities, check the DVSA find a driving test centre tool with postcode AB22 8GT, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Aberdeen North sits in Aberdeen City, just inside the AB23 8FE postcode. It's a DVSA-run car test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Aberdeen City tend to know already. Sample size: 33.9K tests over 2017-18-2024-25. Enough that comparisons hold up; small enough that a single examiner retiring or a route being temporarily diverted can show in the data.
43.1% at Aberdeen North, against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 5.6 points below the national figure and ranks it #289 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. First-attempt figure: 43.8%. UK first-attempt average: 49%. Aberdeen North runs 5.2 points behind, candidates who succeed here on the first try are usually the ones who've driven the local routes specifically.
All figures shown are aggregated from the DVSA quarterly statistical release covering the most recent reporting periods available. Pass-rate calculations exclude tests cancelled by the candidate or examiner. Sample sizes and methodology are described in the source attribution at the foot of this page.
What learners should know about Aberdeen North
- Aberdeen North is in the lower tier of pass rates nationally. That isn't an indictment of the examiners, it reflects road layout, traffic density, and route mix. Prepare specifically for the centre, not generically.
- Ask any instructor working Aberdeen North about the centre's "usual fails", they'll have two or three specific junctions or manoeuvres in mind. Practise those until they're automatic before your date.
- The only legitimate booking route is gov.uk. Anything calling itself a "test booking concierge" is reselling the same slots at a markup, the slots aren't theirs to control.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Aberdeen North
Give yourself ten minutes in hand when you head to Aberdeen North, and look up where to park beforehand, facilities differ from one DVSA site to the next. The DVSA centre finder (postcode AB23 8FE) shows the exact location. Modelled waits here sit around 8 weeks at low demand, which tends to mean less competition for a date that suits you. You must have your provisional photocard licence on you, plus a car with L plates and a working interior mirror for the examiner. If Aberdeen North is fully booked, Aberdeen North is the next closest centre, roughly 1 mile away.
Plan for a drive of roughly 40 minutes, identical in structure to every other DVSA centre. First comes the 20-metre eyesight check and a pair of vehicle-safety questions, one show-me, one tell-me, then the examiner joins you for the road section. About 20 minutes is independent driving by sat nav or by following signs to a named target, you tackle one of four set manoeuvres, and around a third of candidates get an emergency stop. The drive covers the local mix of road types within roughly a twenty-minute radius of the centre. Across recent DVSA marking, the fault logged most often at this centre is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.
You find out there and then, back at Aberdeen North. The examiner runs through the faults on the DL25 feedback form and, on a pass, keeps your provisional licence so a full licence follows in the post. Clearing the test means staying under 16 driving faults, that is 15 or fewer, with no serious or dangerous fault; 43.1% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Aberdeen North?
Is Aberdeen North an easy or hard test centre?
How does Aberdeen North compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Aberdeen North each year?
Which driving test centres are near Aberdeen North?
When is the best time to book a test at Aberdeen North?
How do I book a test at Aberdeen North and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Aberdeen North?
Data: DVSA quarterly statistical release, released under the Open Government Licence v3.0. PassRates.uk aggregates DVSA centre-level totals across reporting periods.
Edited by Vikas. DVSA data period: 2024-25.