Birmingham (South Yardley) Driving Test Centre
Birmingham (South Yardley) in Birmingham records a 41.6% pass rate against a UK average of 48.7%, with a median wait of 10 weeks. This page covers the multi-year trend, the first-time and gender pass rates, and a like-for-like comparison with other centres.
DVSA data last updated September 2026
Birmingham (South Yardley) sits in the bottom quarter of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 9%, rank #296 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Birmingham (Shirley), about 3.5 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 57.1K passed, 99.4K failed, 156.5K total
How Birmingham (South Yardley) compares
Birmingham (South Yardley) gives up 7.1 points to the national average and is ranked 296 of 323 in its category; treat that as a route-difficulty signal, not a verdict on your chances.
Where Birmingham (South Yardley) ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The direction of travel here is upward: Birmingham (South Yardley) has added 7.5 points since 2017-18, from 34.1% to 41.6%, with its strongest year at 42.4% in 2023-24.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Birmingham (South Yardley)
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23.8 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Birmingham (South Yardley) in August 2026 had waited 10 weeks from booking to test day.
Official DVSA data, August 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 Birmingham (South Yardley)
- 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 (South Yardley) is the DVSA car test centre in Birmingham, West Midlands. Examiners drive a mix of the roads immediately surrounding the centre; the DVSA does not publish its test routes. Birmingham (South Yardley) runs at high volume: 156.5K tests across 2017-18-2024-25 put it among the busier DVSA centres in the country. The headline numbers carry weight because the sample carries weight.
Rank: #296 of 323. Pass rate: 41.6%. UK average: 48.7%. That's a bottom quartile centre by the DVSA's own published figures. First-attempt pass rate at Birmingham (South Yardley): 39.4%, against 49% nationally. That's 9.6 points below the UK average. Many candidates need a second go, and local-road familiarity is one of the most consistent things that improves the second attempt.
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 (South Yardley)
- Birmingham (South Yardley) 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.
- First-time pass rate at Birmingham (South Yardley) is 39.4%, low enough that a meaningful share of candidates retake. If this is your first booking, take a mock around the centre's local roads before the date.
- Birmingham (South Yardley) is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA booking service daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Practising the roads around the centre is the preparation that most reliably pays off. Most ADI instructors in Birmingham will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Birmingham (South Yardley). Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Whether you pass at Birmingham (South Yardley) is not decided by the centre. It is decided by the 15 things an examiner can mark you on, and mirrors, change direction is one of the ones that ends attempts early.
A fair amount of what goes wrong is settled before the engine starts: the documents, the car, the 2 vehicle safety questions and whichever habit you have not drilled, mirrors, change direction being a common one. Working through it as a list beats remembering it in the car park.
Verbalise MSM out loud on every lane change for two full lessons. Slow down the sequence so each step is deliberate, then speed it back up while keeping the order. Free to use, no sign up. Everything for the day itself is on the practical test hub.
Other test centres nearby
You cannot book a practical test at Birmingham (South Yardley) until you hold a theory pass, and it has to still be valid on the day you sit it. Nationally 44.8% of candidates pass the theory.
Loads, roof racks, towing and keeping the vehicle stable and legal. All 14 DVSA topics are free to practise, with no sign up. See the theory pass rate by centre or the full practice hub.
On the day at Birmingham (South Yardley)
Aim to be at Birmingham (South Yardley) 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 (Garretts Green) is fully booked, Birmingham (South Yardley) is the next closest centre, roughly 2 miles away.
The practical lasts about 40 minutes and uses the standard DVSA format nationwide. After an eyesight check at 20 metres and one show-me and one tell-me question, the examiner sits in for the drive. Roughly 20 minutes of that is independent driving, either following a sat nav set by the examiner or following road signs, and you will complete one of four set manoeuvres; about one in seven tests includes an emergency stop, a frequency the DVSA reduced in late 2025. 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 will know the result before you leave Birmingham (South Yardley). The examiner explains the faults marked on your DL25 feedback form and, if you have passed, takes the provisional licence so a full one can be posted out. The pass standard is fixed nationally, 15 driving faults maximum and zero serious or dangerous faults, and 41.6% of candidates here meet it under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Birmingham (South Yardley)?
Is Birmingham (South Yardley) an easy or hard test centre?
How does Birmingham (South Yardley) compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Birmingham (South Yardley) record?
Which driving test centres are near Birmingham (South Yardley)?
When is the best time to book a test at Birmingham (South Yardley)?
How do I book a test at Birmingham (South Yardley) and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Birmingham (South Yardley)?
Data: DVSA quarterly statistical release, released under the Open Government Licence v3.0. PassRates.uk aggregates DVSA centre-level totals across reporting periods.
DVSA data period: 2024-25.