Fort William Driving Test Centre
The Fort William driving test centre is located in Fort William, Scotland (PH33 6AJ). 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
3.0K passed, 2.0K failed, 4.9K total
How Fort William compares
Fort William 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 Fort William 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 Fort William have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Fort William 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 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. The routes are the same fixed set every day; your examiner picks one without telling you which. 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 routes (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 6 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 show-me plus one tell-me question, after which the examiner rides along for the drive. 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-three chance of 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.
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
What is the pass rate at Fort William?
Is Fort William an easy or hard test centre?
How does Fort William compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Fort William each year?
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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.