Folkestone Driving Test Centre
At Folkestone, 45.4% of candidates pass, one of the 323 test centres we rank from the DVSA data. Below you will find the full pass-rate history, the demographic split, the official DVSA waiting time and a comparison with the nearest centres.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Folkestone sits in the bottom quarter of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 18%, rank #265 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Maidstone, about 31.5 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 30.3K passed, 38.3K failed, 68.6K total
How Folkestone compares
Folkestone gives up 3.3 points to the national average and is ranked 265 of 323 in its category; treat that as a route-difficulty signal, not a verdict on your chances.
Where Folkestone ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Folkestone has held a narrow 6-point range across the whole series (41.3% at the low in 2019-20, 47.3% at the high in 2021-22); what you see is what you get.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Folkestone
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 19.8 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Folkestone in May 2026 had waited 4.9 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 Folkestone
- car
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- 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 CT20 2TS, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Folkestone sits in Folkestone, Kent. It's a DVSA-run car test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Folkestone tend to know already. If you're cross-checking this pass rate against other sources, the sample size matters. 68.6K tests over 2017-18-2024-25 is large enough that any rounding you see between sites is just rounding, not disagreement on the underlying data.
45.4% at Folkestone, against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 3.3 points below the national figure and ranks it #265 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. First-attempt pass rate at Folkestone: 45.1%, against 49% nationally. That's 3.9 points below the UK average. Many candidates need a second go, and local-road familiarity is one of the most consistent things 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 Folkestone
- Centre difficulty is roughly average at Folkestone. The same fault categories that fail candidates nationally (junctions, mirrors, observation) are what fail candidates here, in similar proportions.
- Folkestone 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.
- Practising the roads around the centre is the preparation that most reliably pays off. Most ADI instructors in Folkestone will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- 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 Folkestone
Arrive at Folkestone 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 maps the centre and its surroundings. With very high demand and waits near 20 to 24 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 Canterbury is fully booked, Folkestone is the next closest centre, roughly 15 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; 45.4% of candidates at Folkestone currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Folkestone?
Is Folkestone an easy or hard test centre?
How does Folkestone compare to the UK average?
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How long is the wait for a driving test at Folkestone?
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.