Darlington Driving Test Centre
Darlington in Morton Palms currently passes 49.2% of tests, in line with 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
Darlington sits in the bottom half of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 41%, rank #193 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Northallerton, about 12.5 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 34.4K passed, 33.4K failed, 67.8K total
How Darlington compares
With a gap of under one point to the national average, Darlington (ranked 193 of 323 in its category) neither helps nor hurts; treat any difference you have heard about as noise.
Where Darlington ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Stability is the story at Darlington: 49.2% in 2017-18, 49.2% now, and every year in between inside a 7.8-point band.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Darlington
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 13 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Darlington in May 2026 had waited 6.7 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 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 booking service 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, 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 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 14 to 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 Northallerton is fully booked, Darlington is the next closest centre, roughly 13 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; 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 driving tests does Darlington record?
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.