Fort William Driving Test Centre
Fort William posts a 57.6% pass rate, with Ballachulish the nearest alternative about 10 miles away. Read on for its full DVSA history, first-time pass rate, waiting time and demographic breakdown.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Fort William sits in the top quarter of car pass rates nationally (Top 24%, rank #78 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Mallaig, about 30.1 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 3.0K passed, 2.0K failed, 4.9K total
How Fort William compares
Fort William runs 8.9 points ahead of the national average, ranked 78 of 323 in its category. Margins in this range usually track route difficulty: fewer multi-lane roundabouts and less dense traffic.
Where Fort William ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The longer arc at Fort William points down: 65% in 2017-18 against 62% now, a 3-point slide, though 2020-21 showed what the routes allow at 69.1%.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Fort William
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Fort William in May 2026 had waited 17.6 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 Fort William
- 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 PH33 6AN, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Fort William is in Fort William, Highland (PH33 6AJ) and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. Your examiner picks the route on the day without telling you which, and the DVSA does not publish them. Across 2017-18-2024-25 the centre handled 4.9K tests, a modest sample. The aggregated multi-year figure on this page is the most reliable read; quarterly swings deserve more skepticism here than at a high-volume centre.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Fort William ranks 78, which lands it in the top quarter nationally. The 57.6% pass rate is 8.9 points clear of the UK figure of 48.7%. 61% of first-timers pass at Fort William, 12 points above the UK figure of 49%. A prepared first attempt has a real shot here in a way it doesn't at every centre.
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 Fort William
- Fort William passes higher than the UK average, but the marking sheet is identical to every other DVSA centre. The bias is in the local road mix (less traffic, simpler junction geometry); the standard is national.
- First-time pass rate of 61% at Fort William 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.
- Ask any instructor working Fort William 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.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Fort William. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Fort William
Ten minutes early is the right target at Fort William. Parking differs between DVSA centres, so it pays to scout the route on the DVSA centre finder (postcode PH33 6AJ) the day before. Demand sits at low with a modelled wait of about 4 to 8 weeks, which generally leaves more room to choose a date. Bring the provisional photocard licence, the examiner checks for it first, and make sure your car is roadworthy with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Ballachulish is fully booked, Fort William is the next closest centre, roughly 10 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 tell-me question, after which the examiner rides along for the drive and asks one show-me question on the move. 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-seven chance of an emergency stop. The drive covers the local mix of road types within roughly a twenty-minute radius of the centre. Across DVSA marking nationally, the fault recorded most often on car tests is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.
The result is given immediately when you get back. Whatever the outcome, the examiner reads through the marked faults and prints your DL25 feedback form; pass and they take the provisional licence to trigger your full one by post. The threshold is the national one, 15 driving faults at most and zero serious or dangerous, which 57.6% of Fort William's candidates reach right now. Candidates on their first attempt clear that bar more often here, 61% against the 57.6% overall figure.
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.