Bredbury (Manchester) Driving Test Centre
Bredbury (Manchester) in Castle Hill currently passes 54.2% of tests, 5.5 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
Bredbury (Manchester) sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 34%, rank #110 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 30.8K passed, 31.4K failed, 62.2K total
How Bredbury (Manchester) compares
Bredbury (Manchester) runs 5.5 points ahead of the national average, ranked 110 of 323 in its category. Margins in this range usually track route difficulty: fewer multi-lane roundabouts and less dense traffic.
Where Bredbury (Manchester) ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Bredbury (Manchester) has climbed 12.5 points across the series, 41.7% in 2017-18 to 54.2% now; the weakest year on record was 41.7% in 2017-18.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Bredbury (Manchester)
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Bredbury (Manchester) in May 2026 had waited 11.1 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 Bredbury (Manchester)
- car
- motorcycle module 1 (off-road)
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- lorry and bus
- 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 SK6 2QT, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Bredbury (Manchester) is one of the DVSA's car test sites in England, located in Castle Hill, Greater Manchester at SK6 2SR. The choice of routes reflects the local mix of road types rather than any standard national template. The DVSA has logged 62.2K tests at this centre over 2017-18-2024-25. At that scale, the year-on-year shifts you see in the chart correspond to genuine changes in how the centre is performing, not statistical wobble.
Bredbury (Manchester) passes higher than most. At 54.2% versus a UK average of 48.7%, it ranks #110 of 323 car centres, the upper half of the network. First-time pass rate: 55.9%. UK average: 49%. Bredbury (Manchester) is 6.9 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 Bredbury (Manchester)
- Bredbury (Manchester) passes higher than the UK average, but the marking sheet is identical to every other DVSA centre. The bias is in the local road mix (less traffic, simpler junction geometry); the standard is national.
- 55.9% of first-timers pass at Bredbury (Manchester), 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.
- Bredbury (Manchester) 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 Castle Hill will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Bredbury (Manchester), 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 Bredbury (Manchester)
Turn up at Bredbury (Manchester) 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 (postcode SK6 2SR). 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 Chadderton is fully booked, Bredbury (Manchester) is the next closest centre, roughly 8 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 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; 54.2% of candidates at Bredbury (Manchester) currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Bredbury (Manchester)?
Is Bredbury (Manchester) an easy or hard test centre?
How does Bredbury (Manchester) compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Bredbury (Manchester) record?
Which driving test centres are near Bredbury (Manchester)?
When is the best time to book a test at Bredbury (Manchester)?
How do I book a test at Bredbury (Manchester) and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Bredbury (Manchester)?
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.