Carlisle Driving Test Centre
At Carlisle, 54.9% 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
Carlisle sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 32%, rank #103 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Hawick, about 36.9 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 25.4K passed, 21.9K failed, 47.3K total
How Carlisle compares
At 6.2 points above the UK figure and ranked 103 of 323 in its category, Carlisle offers a modest but real edge, typically a product of its local road layout rather than the venue itself.
Where Carlisle ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Since 2017-18 the rate at Carlisle has risen from 47.3% to 54.9%, a 7.6-point gain, peaking at 57.7% in 2021-22.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Carlisle
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Carlisle in May 2026 had waited 8.1 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
Accessibility & facilities
Parking, toilets, and disabled-access details vary by centre. Check the official DVSA find a driving test centre tool, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Carlisle is the DVSA car test centre in Carlisle, Cumberland. Examiners drive a mix of the roads immediately surrounding the centre; the DVSA does not publish its test routes. 47.3K tests across 2017-18-2024-25. That's a working sample, enough to take the pass rate at face value but not so large that a single quiet quarter passes unnoticed.
Rank: #103 of 323. Pass rate: 54.9%. UK average: 48.7%. That's a upper half centre by the DVSA's own published figures. First-attempt pass rate at Carlisle: 53.4%, against 49% nationally. That's a 4.4-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 Carlisle
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Carlisle's rate reflects route geography more than examiner discretion, DVSA marking is centrally trained. Prepare for the same fault categories you'd prepare for anywhere.
- Practising the roads around the centre is the preparation that most reliably pays off. Most ADI instructors in Carlisle will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Carlisle. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Carlisle
Ten minutes early is the right target at Carlisle. Parking differs between DVSA centres, so it pays to scout the route on the DVSA centre finder the day before. This centre sees high demand, modelled at roughly 14 to 18 weeks to a slot; booking well ahead and watching for cancellations both help. Bring the provisional photocard licence, the examiner checks for it first, and make sure your car is roadworthy with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Hawick is fully booked, Carlisle is the next closest centre, roughly 37 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 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.
You find out there and then, back at Carlisle. 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; 54.9% 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.