Barry Driving Test Centre
Barry in Barry, Wales has a current pass rate of 61.8%, 13.1 points above the UK average of 48.7%. This page breaks down the multi-year trend, the first-time and gender pass rates, the waiting time and how it compares with the rest of the UK, all from the DVSA quarterly data.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Barry sits in the top quarter of car pass rates nationally (Top 14%, rank #45 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 12.2K passed, 8.9K failed, 21.2K total
How Barry compares
A 13.1-point lead over the national figure puts Barry ranked 45 of 323 in its category. Gaps this large usually come from the roads, not the examiners: fewer complex junctions and lighter traffic on the local routes.
Where Barry ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The direction of travel here is upward: Barry has added 5.2 points since 2017-18, from 56.6% to 61.8%, with its strongest year at 64.2% in 2020-21.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Barry
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23.8 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Barry in May 2026 had waited 11.3 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 Barry
- car
- 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 CF62 5QN, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Barry: a DVSA car test centre in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. Local routes, local traffic patterns, no national standard for what "harder" or "easier" looks like beyond what the numbers below show. Barry sees moderate volume: 21.2K practical tests through 2017-18-2024-25. Year-on-year percentages here are meaningful, but watch the trend line rather than fixating on any single period.
The top quarter of the UK by pass rate: Barry ranks #45 of 323 car centres at 61.8%, 13.1 points clear of the national figure of 48.7%. First-attempt pass rate at Barry: 61.6%, against 49% nationally. That's a 12.6-point lead. Well-prepared candidates with no prior test attempts pass here at a noticeably higher rate than the UK average.
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 Barry
- Above-average pass rate at Barry doesn't mean above-average ease. The fundamentals examiners mark are the same nationally: junctions, mirrors, observation, signal timing. A 65%+ pass rate means more candidates clear those, not that the bar is lower.
- 61.6% of first-timers pass at Barry, so the centre is on the forgiving side. If your instructor is signing you off as test-ready, your own preparation matters far more than the venue.
- Ask any instructor working Barry 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 Barry
Turn up at Barry 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. At moderate demand and roughly 7 to 11 weeks' wait, getting a date that works for you is usually straightforward. 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 Cardiff (Llanishen) is fully booked, Barry is the next closest centre, roughly 6 miles away.
Once underway the test takes around 40 minutes and is the same wherever you sit it. The examiner verifies your eyesight at 20 metres, puts one tell-me question to you, then accompanies the drive and asks one show-me question while you are driving. About 20 minutes is independent driving, sat nav or road signs to a named destination, with one of the set manoeuvres and an emergency stop on roughly one test in seven. The drive covers the local mix of road types within roughly a twenty-minute radius of the centre. Across DVSA marking nationally, the fault recorded most often on car tests is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.
There is no wait for the verdict, the examiner delivers it at the centre. They go over each fault recorded, hand you the DL25 feedback form, and on a pass retain your provisional licence so the full version arrives by post. To pass you need no more than 15 driving faults and not a single serious or dangerous one; 61.8% of candidates at Barry currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Barry?
Is Barry an easy or hard test centre?
How does Barry compare to the UK average?
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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.