Hexham Driving Test Centre
The Hexham driving test centre is located in Hexham, England. 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
11.4K passed, 9.9K failed, 21.2K total
How Hexham compares
Hexham 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 Hexham 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 Hexham have been gradually shortening as DVSA recovers post-pandemic capacity. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Hexham typically wait around 9 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 Hexham
- 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 NE46 3EW, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Hexham is the DVSA car test centre in Hexham, North East. Examiners use a small set of fixed routes built around the roads immediately surrounding the centre. Over 2017-18-2024-25, 21.2K candidates sat tests here. The figures are statistically usable for centre-to-centre comparisons, which is most of what people land on this page wanting to do.
Rank: #90 of 323. Pass rate: 56.7%. UK average: 48.7%. That's a upper half centre by the DVSA's own published figures. The DVSA's first-attempt figure for Hexham sits at 56.8%, 7.8 points clear of the 49% UK average. The gap is wide enough to matter when you're deciding which local centre to book.
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 Hexham
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Hexham's rate reflects route geography more than examiner discretion, DVSA marking is centrally trained. Prepare for the same fault categories you'd prepare for anywhere.
- First-time pass rate of 56.8% at Hexham 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 Hexham will have a working knowledge of which routes Hexham uses.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Hexham. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Hexham
Aim to be at Hexham ten minutes early. Because parking and waiting facilities are not the same at every DVSA centre, check the approach on the DVSA centre finder before the day. At moderate demand and about 9 weeks' wait, securing a convenient date here is usually less of a scramble. The examiner needs to see your provisional photocard licence to begin, and the car you bring must be roadworthy, fitted with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Durham is fully booked, Hexham is the next closest centre, roughly 25 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; 56.7% of candidates at Hexham currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Hexham?
Is Hexham an easy or hard test centre?
How does Hexham compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Hexham each year?
Which driving test centres are near Hexham?
When is the best time to book a test at Hexham?
How do I book a test at Hexham and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Hexham?
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.