Isles of Scilly Driving Test Centre
Isles of Scilly posts a 87.5% pass rate, with Penzance the nearest alternative about 37 miles away. Read on for its full DVSA history, first-time pass rate, waiting time and demographic breakdown.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Isles of Scilly sits in the top 10% of UK car pass rates nationally (Top 1%, rank #1 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 7 passed, 1 failed, 8 total
How Isles of Scilly compares
A 38.8-point lead over the national figure puts Isles of Scilly ranked 1 of 323 in its category. Gaps this large usually come from the roads, not the examiners: fewer complex junctions and lighter traffic on the local routes.
Where Isles of Scilly ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Isles of Scilly
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 18.3 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Isles of Scilly in May 2026 had waited 21.7 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
Tests offered at Isles of Scilly
- Car
For other test types at this location, search the DVSA centre finder.
Accessibility & facilities
Parking, toilets, and disabled-access details vary by centre. Check the official DVSA find a driving test centre tool, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Where do you actually take your car test if you book Isles of Scilly? You start in Isles of Scilly, and the examiner takes you through whatever mix of urban and outlying roads sits within a roughly twenty-minute drive of the centre. 8 tests across 2014-15-2024-25. That's a small sample, and the single-period rates you'll see in the chart can swing wildly without much underlying change. The multi-year roll-up is the only stable read.
How does Isles of Scilly compare nationally? 87.5% pass rate, #1 of 323 car centres in the DVSA network, 38.8 points clear of the UK average of 48.7%. The top ten percent of the country, in other words. First-attempt data for Isles of Scilly is missing from the DVSA's DRT122C release. It's not a low number, it's no number, the centre is small enough that DVSA omits it from that particular table.
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 Isles of Scilly
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Isles of Scilly'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.
- With 8 tests on record at Isles of Scilly, the per-quarter pass rates are noisy. The trend chart on this page is more informative than any specific number from a specific period.
- Ask any instructor working Isles of Scilly 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.
- Book through the official DVSA service (gov.uk/book-driving-test). Third-party "fast-track" sites charge a premium for the same booking; the official DVSA booking service is free.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Isles of Scilly
Aim to be at Isles of Scilly 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 8 to 12 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 Penzance is fully booked, Isles of Scilly is the next closest centre, roughly 37 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 87.5% of Isles of Scilly's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Isles of Scilly?
Is Isles of Scilly an easy or hard test centre?
How does Isles of Scilly compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Isles of Scilly record?
Which driving test centres are near Isles of Scilly?
When is the best time to book a test at Isles of Scilly?
How do I book a test at Isles of Scilly and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Isles of Scilly?
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.