Ashfield Driving Test Centre
The Ashfield driving test centre is located in Ashfield, England. 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
61.4K passed, 48.0K failed, 109.4K total
How Ashfield compares
Ashfield sits close to the UK average pass rate.
Where Ashfield 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 Ashfield have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is achievable but not immediate: learners booking at Ashfield typically wait around 16 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
Accessibility & facilities
Parking, toilets, and disabled-access details vary by centre. Check the official DVSA find a driving test centre tool, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Ashfield is one of the DVSA's car test sites in England, located in Ashfield, East Midlands. The choice of routes reflects the local mix of road types rather than any standard national template. The DVSA has logged 109.4K tests at this centre over 2017-18-2024-25. At that scale, the year-on-year shifts you see in the chart correspond to genuine changes in how the centre is performing, not statistical wobble.
Ashfield runs close to the national curve: 51.2% pass rate, 2.5 points above the UK average of 48.7%. The rank is #148 of 323 car centres. Across 4.9K first-attempt tests, Ashfield passes 52% of candidates, against 49% nationally. The centre is a relatively forgiving venue for a first booking, by the DVSA's own data.
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 Ashfield
- Pass rate at Ashfield sits close to the UK average. Prepare for an ordinary level of difficulty: examiners apply the standard DVSA marking sheet, and the routes are a representative mix of local conditions.
- Ashfield is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA cancellation feed daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Practising the test routes is the single thing that most reliably moves a candidate's pass odds. Most ADI instructors in Ashfield will have a working knowledge of which routes Ashfield uses.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Ashfield, the DVSA's official cancellation pool refreshes constantly. Check at off-peak times (early morning, late evening) for better odds.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Ashfield
Give yourself ten minutes in hand when you head to Ashfield, and look up where to park beforehand, facilities differ from one DVSA site to the next. The DVSA centre finder shows the exact location. This is a high-demand centre, modelled at roughly 16 weeks to a slot, so book as far ahead as you can and keep an eye on cancellations. You must have your provisional photocard licence on you, plus a car with L plates and a working interior mirror for the examiner. If Watnall is fully booked, Ashfield is the next closest centre, roughly 8 miles 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 works through whatever mix of urban and outlying roads sits within about a twenty-minute radius, and at a centre this busy that usually means heavier traffic to read. 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 Ashfield. 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; 51.2% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
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Is Ashfield an easy or hard test centre?
How does Ashfield compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Ashfield each year?
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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.