Barnsley Driving Test Centre

DVSA data last updated October 2026

About this test centre

Barnsley is one of the DVSA's car test sites in England, located in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The choice of routes reflects the local mix of road types rather than any standard national template. If you're cross-checking this pass rate against other sources, the sample size matters. 100.8K tests over 2017-18-2024-25 is large enough that any rounding you see between sites is just rounding, not disagreement on the underlying data.

Barnsley runs close to the national curve: 52.2% pass rate, 3.5 points above the UK average of 48.7%. The rank is #128 of 323 car centres. First-time pass rate: 52.2%. UK average: 49%. Barnsley is 3.2 points to the good on first attempts, a meaningful gap, not a rounding artefact.

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.

Turn up at Barnsley ten minutes before your appointment, and check ahead where you can park, DVSA sites vary on that. You can preview the location on the DVSA centre finder. Demand is high and waits are near 16 to 20 weeks, so an early booking plus a cancellation watch is the sensible approach. The examiner will ask to see your provisional photocard licence before anything else, and your car must carry L plates and a working interior mirror. If Wakefield is fully booked, Barnsley is the next closest centre, roughly 9 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 tell-me vehicle-safety question, then the examiner joins you for the road section, with one show-me question while you drive. 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 one in seven 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 DVSA marking nationally, the fault recorded most often on car tests is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.

You find out there and then, back at Barnsley. 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; 52.2% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.