Carlisle Driving Test Centre
The Carlisle driving test centre is located in Carlisle, 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
2.7K passed, 816 failed, 3.5K total
How Carlisle compares
Carlisle performs well above the UK average. Learners passing here are more likely to pass than at most other UK centres, though this can also reflect quieter test routes and fewer challenging junctions.
Where Carlisle ranks among 194 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Most common faults at this centre
The fault categories most frequently recorded against learners on test. Knowing them lets you target practice on the things examiners are most likely to penalise.
- 1Junctions - observation10
- 2Mirrors - change direction9
- 3Move off - safely8
- 4Junctions - turning right7
- 5Response to signs - traffic lights6
Per-centre fault breakdowns are derived from the DVSA national fault distribution applied to centre-level test outcomes.
Pass rate by demographic
Estimated wait time and demand
Wait times at Carlisle have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Carlisle typically wait around 8 weeks from booking to test day.
Wait time is estimated from regional demand patterns reported in the National Audit Office investigation into car driving test waiting times (Dec 2024) and the DVSA Despatch blog updates, combined with this centre's test volume. Real availability fluctuates with examiner staffing and cancellations, always check the official DVSA booking service for live slots.
Centre details
Address
Tests offered at Carlisle
- Motorcycle Module 2
For other test types at this location, search the DVSA centre finder.
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: a DVSA motorcycle module 2 test centre in Carlisle, Cumberland. Local routes, local traffic patterns, no national standard for what "harder" or "easier" looks like beyond what the numbers below show. Carlisle is a smaller centre by volume, 3.5K tests through 2017-18-2024-25. The figures hold up for headline comparisons but lose granularity once you slice them by quarter.
The upper half of the UK by pass rate: Carlisle ranks #61 of 194 motorcycle module 2 centres at 76.1%, 27.4 points clear of the national figure of 48.7%. For Carlisle the DVSA suppresses first-attempt figures in DRT122C. Smaller centres get rolled up; this is one of them. The overall pass rate above is the only published figure.
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.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Carlisle routes. Local instructors know which junctions are the centre's hardest and will drill them.
- The only legitimate booking route is gov.uk. Anything calling itself a "test booking concierge" is reselling the same slots at a markup, the slots aren't theirs to control.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Carlisle
Give yourself ten minutes in hand when you head to Carlisle, and look up where to park beforehand, facilities differ from one DVSA site to the next. The DVSA centre finder shows the exact location. Modelled waits here sit around 8 weeks at low demand, which tends to mean less competition for a date that suits you. You must have your provisional photocard licence on you, plus a car with L plates and a working interior mirror for the examiner.
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 show-me and one tell-me question to you, then accompanies the drive. About 20 minutes is independent driving, sat nav or road signs to a named destination, with one of four set manoeuvres and an emergency stop on roughly one test in three. The drive covers the local mix of road types within roughly a twenty-minute radius of the centre. Across recent DVSA marking, the fault logged most often at this centre 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; 76.1% of candidates at Carlisle currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Carlisle?
Is Carlisle an easy or hard test centre?
How does Carlisle compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Carlisle each year?
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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.