Darlington Driving Test Centre
The Darlington driving test centre is located in Morton Palms, England (DL1 4BS). 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
34.4K passed, 33.4K failed, 67.8K total
How Darlington compares
Darlington sits very close to the UK average, within 1 percentage point.
Where Darlington 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 Darlington have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is achievable but not immediate: learners booking at Darlington typically wait around 16 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 Darlington
- car
- motorcycle module 1 (off-road)
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- lorry and bus
- ADI part 2
- 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 DL1 4PW, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Of the DVSA car centres across England, Darlington is the one covering Morton Palms, Tees Valley and the surrounding DL1 4BS area. The routes are built around the roads the centre's examiners can reach inside the test's time budget. The DVSA has logged 67.8K 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.
If you've been told Darlington is "an easy centre" or "a hard one", the data won't fully back that. 49.2% is within a point of the UK car average of 48.7%, which is rank #193 out of 323. The first-time pass figure here is 48.1%, which lines up almost exactly with the UK average of 49%. If you're a first-timer, the centre is neither lucky nor unlucky ground, it's 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 Darlington
- Centre difficulty is roughly average at Darlington. The same fault categories that fail candidates nationally (junctions, mirrors, observation) are what fail candidates here, in similar proportions.
- Darlington is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA cancellation feed daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Ask any instructor working Darlington about the centre's "usual fails", they'll have two or three specific junctions or manoeuvres in mind. Practise those until they're automatic before your date.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Darlington, the DVSA's official cancellation pool refreshes constantly. Check at off-peak times (early morning, late evening) for better odds.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Darlington
Arrive at Darlington 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 DL1 4BS) maps the centre and its surroundings. With high demand and waits near 16 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.
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 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.
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; 49.2% of candidates at Darlington currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Darlington?
Is Darlington an easy or hard test centre?
How does Darlington compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Darlington each year?
Which driving test centres are near Darlington?
When is the best time to book a test at Darlington?
How do I book a test at Darlington and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Darlington?
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.