Birmingham (Shirley) Driving Test Centre
The Birmingham (Shirley) driving test centre is located in Birmingham, 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
44.5K passed, 47.2K failed, 91.7K total
How Birmingham (Shirley) compares
Birmingham (Shirley) performs notably better than the UK average. This often correlates with rural or suburban routes that have fewer multi-lane roundabouts and complex urban scenarios.
Where Birmingham (Shirley) ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The most common driving test faults nationally
These are the fault types DVSA examiners record most often across all car tests in Great Britain, ranked most to least common. They are a national pattern, not a measurement taken at this centre, but they are the faults worth targeting in practice wherever you sit your test.
- 1Junctions - observationNot looking properly before pulling out at junctions.
- 2Mirrors - change directionNot checking mirrors before signalling, changing speed or direction.
- 3Move off - safelyPulling away without safe control or proper observation.
- 4Junctions - turning rightPoor positioning or judgement when turning right at junctions.
- 5Response to signs - traffic lightsMissing or misreading traffic signs, signals or road markings.
This ranking is DVSA national fault data, shown here for context. DVSA does not publish a separate fault breakdown for individual test centres.
Pass rate by demographic
Estimated wait time and demand
Booking requires patience: on this estimate, learners booking at Birmingham (Shirley) would typically wait around 18 to 22 weeks from booking to test day.
These figures are an estimate, not live data. We model them from published demand reports and this centre's test volume; the method is on our methodology page. Check the DVSA booking service for current slots.
Centre details
Address
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Birmingham (Shirley)
- car
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 B44 9UL, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Birmingham (Shirley) is in Birmingham, West Midlands and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. The routes are the same fixed set every day; your examiner picks one without telling you which. 91.7K tests over 2017-18-2024-25. That's enough volume that the headline pass rate here moves slowly, a single bad quarter shifts it by a fraction of a percentage point rather than visibly.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Birmingham (Shirley) ranks 71, which lands it in the top quarter nationally. The 58.1% pass rate is 9.4 points clear of the UK figure of 48.7%. First-attempt pass rate at Birmingham (Shirley): 59.9%, against 49% nationally. That's a 10.9-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 Birmingham (Shirley)
- Above-average pass rate at Birmingham (Shirley) 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.
- First-time pass rate of 59.9% at Birmingham (Shirley) is on the forgiving side. A well-prepared first booking has a reasonable shot; don't over-correct by booking a "practice" test you don't actually need.
- Birmingham (Shirley) 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 Birmingham will have a working knowledge of which routes Birmingham (Shirley) uses.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Birmingham (Shirley). Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Birmingham (Shirley)
Aim to be at Birmingham (Shirley) ten minutes early. Because parking and waiting facilities are not the same at every DVSA centre, check the approach on the DVSA centre finder before the day. Demand is very high and the modelled wait is close to 18 to 22 weeks, so an early booking and a cancellation alert are both worth setting up. The examiner needs to see your provisional photocard licence to begin, and the car you bring must be roadworthy, fitted with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Birmingham (South Yardley) is fully booked, Birmingham (Shirley) is the next closest centre, roughly 3 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 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; 58.1% of candidates at Birmingham (Shirley) currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Birmingham (Shirley)?
Is Birmingham (Shirley) an easy or hard test centre?
How does Birmingham (Shirley) compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Birmingham (Shirley) each year?
Which driving test centres are near Birmingham (Shirley)?
When is the best time to book a test at Birmingham (Shirley)?
How do I book a test at Birmingham (Shirley) and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Birmingham (Shirley)?
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.