Banbury Driving Test Centre
The Banbury driving test centre is located in Banbury, 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
47.1K passed, 48.4K failed, 95.4K total
How Banbury compares
Banbury has a slightly tougher pass rate than the UK average. Routes here may be more demanding than rural centres.
Where Banbury 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 Banbury have been lengthening as demand outpaces examiner capacity. Booking requires patience: learners booking at Banbury typically wait around 23 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 Banbury
- car
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- 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 OX16 9PA, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Where do you actually take your car test if you book Banbury? You start in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and the examiner takes you through whatever mix of urban and outlying roads sits within a roughly twenty-minute drive of the centre. Volume is not the issue at Banbury. 95.4K tests sit on the record across 2017-18-2024-25, so the trend line below reflects real movement, not sample noise.
How does Banbury compare nationally? 39.9% pass rate, #310 of 323 car centres in the DVSA network, 8.8 points below the UK average of 48.7%. The bottom quarter of the country, in other words. Across 3.6K first attempts, the pass rate at Banbury is 40.1%, against 49% nationally. Booking your first test here is doable, but it's worth a few lessons on the actual test routes before the date.
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 Banbury
- Banbury 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.
- 95.4K tests through this centre over the published window. At that throughput, competition for short-notice slots is constant, set up a cancellation alert and check often.
- Ask any instructor working Banbury 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.
- Book through the official DVSA service (gov.uk/book-driving-test). Third-party "fast-track" sites charge a premium for the same booking; the DVSA's own cancellation feed is free.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Banbury
Plan to arrive at Banbury about ten minutes before your slot. Parking varies between DVSA centres, so check the route and the surrounding streets on the DVSA centre finder a day or two ahead. With demand running very high here and waits near 23 weeks, it is worth holding any earlier cancellation slot you are offered. Bring your provisional photocard licence; the examiner will not start without it, and you will need a roadworthy car with L plates and a working interior mirror.
The test runs for around 40 minutes and follows the same DVSA format used at every centre. The examiner checks your eyesight at 20 metres, asks one show-me and one tell-me question, then sits in for the drive. About 20 minutes of it is independent driving, either following a sat nav the examiner sets up or following road signs to a named place. You will do one of four set manoeuvres, and roughly one in three candidates is asked to perform 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 Banbury. 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; 39.9% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Banbury?
Is Banbury an easy or hard test centre?
How does Banbury compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Banbury each year?
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When is the best time to book a test at Banbury?
How do I book a test at Banbury and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Banbury?
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.