Barnsley Driving Test Centre
Barnsley in Barnsley currently passes 52.2% of tests, 3.5 points above the UK average of 48.7%. The sections below cover the year-by-year trend, who passes most often, how long learners wait, and how it stacks up against neighbouring centres.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Barnsley sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 40%, rank #128 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 47.1K passed, 53.7K failed, 100.8K total
How Barnsley compares
The 3.5-point advantage at Barnsley (ranked 128 of 323 in its category) is worth having but not decisive; a well-prepared candidate passes at either kind of centre.
Where Barnsley ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Barnsley has held a narrow 7.2-point range across the whole series (48.5% at the low in 2019-20, 55.7% at the high in 2021-22); what you see is what you get.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Barnsley
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23.3 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Barnsley in May 2026 had waited 9.3 weeks from booking to test day.
Official DVSA data, May 2026. The median is the time between booking and taking the test; for live availability use the DVSA booking service.
Centre details
Address
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Barnsley
- car
- 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 S75 2DH, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
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.
What learners should know about Barnsley
- Centre difficulty is roughly average at Barnsley. The same fault categories that fail candidates nationally (junctions, mirrors, observation) are what fail candidates here, in similar proportions.
- Volume at Barnsley is among the highest in the network. Don't take the first available date on faith, refreshing the DVSA booking page across a few days regularly turns up cancellations.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Barnsley area. Local instructors know which nearby junctions are demanding and will drill them.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Barnsley, cancellations appear on the official DVSA booking service throughout the day. Check at off-peak times (early morning, late evening) for the best chance of catching one.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Barnsley
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Barnsley?
Is Barnsley an easy or hard test centre?
How does Barnsley compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Barnsley record?
Which driving test centres are near Barnsley?
When is the best time to book a test at Barnsley?
How do I book a test at Barnsley and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Barnsley?
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.