Boston Driving Test Centre
At Boston, 50.7% of candidates pass, one of the 323 test centres we rank from the DVSA data. Below you will find the full pass-rate history, the demographic split, the official DVSA waiting time and a comparison with the nearest centres.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Boston sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 49%, rank #158 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Skegness, about 18.5 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 31.6K passed, 26.9K failed, 58.5K total
How Boston compares
Boston is 2 points ahead of the national figure and ranked 158 of 323 in its category, a difference most candidates will not feel on the day.
Where Boston ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The headline barely moved (52.6% in 2017-18, 50.7% now) but the ride was not smooth: Boston has swung 14.7 points between its best year (65.4%, 2020-21) and its worst (50.7%, 2024-25).
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Boston
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Boston in May 2026 had waited 3.9 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 Boston
- car
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- 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 PE21 8AL, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Boston is in Boston, Greater Lincolnshire and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. Your examiner picks the route on the day without telling you which, and the DVSA does not publish them. Boston runs at high volume: 58.5K 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.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Boston ranks 158, which lands it in the upper half nationally. The 50.7% pass rate is 2 points above the UK figure of 48.7%. First-time pass rate: 51.6%. UK average: 49%. Boston is 2.6 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 Boston
- Pass rate at Boston sits close to the UK average. Prepare for an ordinary level of difficulty: examiners apply the standard DVSA marking sheet, and the routes are a representative mix of local conditions.
- Boston 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 Boston will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Boston. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Boston
Plan to arrive at Boston about ten minutes before your slot. Parking varies between DVSA centres, so check the route and the surrounding streets on the DVSA centre finder a day or two ahead. With demand running high here and waits near 14 to 18 weeks, it is worth holding any earlier cancellation slot you are offered. Bring your provisional photocard licence; the examiner will not start without it, and you will need a roadworthy car with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Skegness is fully booked, Boston is the next closest centre, roughly 18 miles away.
The test runs for around 40 minutes and follows the same DVSA format used at every centre. The examiner checks your eyesight at 20 metres, asks you a tell-me safety question, then sits in for the drive, with one show-me question while you are driving. About 20 minutes of it is independent driving, either following a sat nav the examiner sets up or following road signs to a named place. You will do one of four set manoeuvres, and roughly one in seven candidates is asked to perform 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 Boston. 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; 50.7% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
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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.