Chadderton Driving Test Centre
The Chadderton driving test centre is located in Chadderton, England (OL9 0HX). 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
30.0K passed, 39.0K failed, 69.0K total
How Chadderton compares
Chadderton has a slightly tougher pass rate than the UK average. Routes here may be more demanding than rural centres.
Where Chadderton ranks among 323 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 Chadderton have been lengthening as demand outpaces examiner capacity. Booking requires patience: learners booking at Chadderton typically wait around 18 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
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Chadderton
- car
- 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 OL9 9XA, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Chadderton sits in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, just inside the OL9 0HX postcode. It's a DVSA-run car test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Chadderton tend to know already. By volume, Chadderton is at the upper end of the DVSA's network. With 69.0K tests across 2017-18-2024-25, the figures on this page are about as statistically settled as DVSA data gets.
44.9% at Chadderton, against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 3.8 points below the national figure and ranks it #269 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. First-attempt pass rate at Chadderton: 44.5%, against 49% nationally. That's 4.5 points below the UK average. Many candidates need a second go, and route familiarity is the most consistent thing 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 Chadderton
- Chadderton doesn't deviate much from the national curve, so generic preparation advice (mock tests, mirror discipline, junction observation) applies here in the same shape it would anywhere.
- 69.0K tests through this centre over the published window. At that throughput, competition for short-notice slots is constant, set up a cancellation alert and check often.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Chadderton 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 Chadderton
Arrive at Chadderton with about ten minutes to spare and know your parking options in advance, they vary site to site across the DVSA network. The DVSA centre finder (postcode OL9 0HX) maps the centre and its surroundings. With high demand and waits near 18 weeks, take any earlier slot the booking service offers rather than holding out. Don't set off without your provisional photocard licence; the test cannot start without it, and your car needs L plates and a working interior mirror. If Failsworth (Manchester) is fully booked, Chadderton is the next closest centre, roughly 3 miles away.
Expect about 40 minutes once you set off, to the same national DVSA script. It opens with an eyesight check at 20 metres and one show-me plus one tell-me question, after which the examiner rides along for the drive. Around 20 minutes of that is independent driving, guided either by a sat nav the examiner provides or by road signs to a named destination, with one of four set manoeuvres and a one-in-three chance of 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 recent DVSA marking, the fault logged most often at this centre is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.
Results come immediately on return to the centre. The examiner talks you through any faults marked, prints the DL25 feedback form, and (if you passed) takes your provisional licence so the full one can be issued by post. A pass needs no more than 15 driving faults and zero serious or dangerous faults, the standard 44.9% of candidates at Chadderton meet under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Chadderton?
Is Chadderton an easy or hard test centre?
How does Chadderton compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Chadderton 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.