Dunoon Driving Test Centre
The Dunoon driving test centre is located in Dunoon, Scotland (PA23 7HG). 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
1.7K passed, 1.2K failed, 2.9K total
How Dunoon compares
Dunoon performs notably better than the UK average. This often correlates with rural or suburban routes that have fewer multi-lane roundabouts and complex urban scenarios.
Where Dunoon 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 Dunoon have been gradually shortening as DVSA recovers post-pandemic capacity. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Dunoon typically wait around 6 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 Dunoon
- car
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 PA23 8BP, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Dunoon is in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute (PA23 7HG) and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. The routes are the same fixed set every day; your examiner picks one without telling you which. Volume here sits at 2.9K over 2017-18-2024-25. That's the territory where a noisy quarter can shift the rate by two or three percentage points, so read the trend chart in context rather than reacting to any single bar.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Dunoon ranks 76, which lands it in the top quarter nationally. The 57.8% pass rate is 9.1 points clear of the UK figure of 48.7%. Across 345 first-attempt tests, Dunoon passes 58.8% of candidates, against 49% nationally. The centre is a relatively forgiving venue for a first booking, by the DVSA's own data.
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 Dunoon
- Above-average pass rate at Dunoon doesn't mean above-average ease. The fundamentals examiners mark are the same nationally: junctions, mirrors, observation, signal timing. A 65%+ pass rate means more candidates clear those, not that the bar is lower.
- First-time pass rate of 58.8% at Dunoon is on the forgiving side. A well-prepared first booking has a reasonable shot; don't over-correct by booking a "practice" test you don't actually need.
- Practising the test routes is the single thing that most reliably moves a candidate's pass odds. Most ADI instructors in Dunoon will have a working knowledge of which routes Dunoon uses.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Dunoon. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Dunoon
Plan to arrive at Dunoon about ten minutes before your slot. Parking varies between DVSA centres, so check the route and the surrounding streets on the DVSA centre finder (postcode PA23 7HG) a day or two ahead. Demand here is low with waits around 6 weeks, so there is usually a little more slot choice than at the busiest urban centres. Bring your provisional photocard licence; the examiner will not start without it, and you will need a roadworthy car with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Greenock is fully booked, Dunoon is the next closest centre, roughly 7 miles away.
Plan for a drive of roughly 40 minutes, identical in structure to every other DVSA centre. First comes the 20-metre eyesight check and a pair of vehicle-safety questions, one show-me, one tell-me, then the examiner joins you for the road section. About 20 minutes is independent driving by sat nav or by following signs to a named target, you tackle one of four set manoeuvres, and around a third of candidates get an emergency stop. 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; 57.8% of candidates at Dunoon currently clear that.
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.