Gosforth Driving Test Centre
Gosforth posts a 47.5% pass rate, with Workington the nearest alternative about 16 miles away. Read on for its full DVSA history, first-time pass rate, waiting time and demographic breakdown.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Gosforth sits in the bottom half of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 29%, rank #229 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Kendal (Oxenholme Road), about 28.8 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 29.4K passed, 33.3K failed, 62.6K total
How Gosforth compares
The 1.2-point gap at Gosforth (ranked 229 of 323 in its category) is real but small; local route familiarity moves your odds more than the venue does.
Where Gosforth ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The series at Gosforth is remarkably flat, moving only from 48.8% (2017-18) to 47.5% now, with a total spread of 4.6 points.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Gosforth
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23.8 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Gosforth in May 2026 had waited 16.6 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 Gosforth
- car
- 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 NE3 5HB, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Gosforth: a DVSA car test centre in Gosforth, Cumberland. Local routes, local traffic patterns, no national standard for what "harder" or "easier" looks like beyond what the numbers below show. If you're cross-checking this pass rate against other sources, the sample size matters. 62.6K 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.
The lower half of the UK by pass rate: Gosforth ranks #229 of 323 car centres at 47.5%, 1.2 points below the national figure of 48.7%. First-attempt pass rate: 48.7%, against the UK figure of 49%. Effectively level, the gap between candidates who pass first time at Gosforth and those who pass first time nationally is preparation, not the 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 Gosforth
- Centre difficulty is roughly average at Gosforth. The same fault categories that fail candidates nationally (junctions, mirrors, observation) are what fail candidates here, in similar proportions.
- 62.6K tests through this centre over the published window. At that throughput, competition for short-notice slots is constant, so make a habit of checking the official booking page often.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Gosforth area. Local instructors know which nearby junctions are demanding and will drill them.
- 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 Gosforth
Give yourself ten minutes in hand when you head to Gosforth, and look up where to park beforehand, facilities differ from one DVSA site to the next. The DVSA centre finder shows the exact location. This is a high-demand centre, modelled at roughly 14 to 18 weeks to a slot, so book as far ahead as you can and keep an eye on cancellations. You must have your provisional photocard licence on you, plus a car with L plates and a working interior mirror for the examiner. If Workington is fully booked, Gosforth is the next closest centre, roughly 16 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 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.
Results come immediately on return to the centre. The examiner talks you through any faults marked, prints the DL25 feedback form, and (if you passed) takes your provisional licence so the full one can be issued by post. A pass needs no more than 15 driving faults and zero serious or dangerous faults, the standard 47.5% of candidates at Gosforth meet under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Gosforth?
Is Gosforth an easy or hard test centre?
How does Gosforth compare to the UK average?
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How long is the wait for a driving test at Gosforth?
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.