Kendal (Oxenholme Road) Driving Test Centre
Kendal (Oxenholme Road) in Heron Hill currently passes 64.8% of tests, 16.1 points above the UK average of 48.7%. The sections below cover the year-by-year trend, who passes most often, how long learners wait, and how it stacks up against neighbouring centres.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Kendal (Oxenholme Road) sits in the top 10% of UK car pass rates nationally (Top 7%, rank #23 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 12.6K passed, 7.0K failed, 19.6K total
How Kendal (Oxenholme Road) compares
A 16.1-point lead over the national figure puts Kendal (Oxenholme Road) ranked 23 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 Kendal (Oxenholme Road) ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Kendal (Oxenholme Road) has held a narrow 5.7-point range across the whole series (62.6% at the low in 2017-18, 68.3% at the high in 2022-23); what you see is what you get.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Kendal (Oxenholme Road)
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 16.8 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Kendal (Oxenholme Road) in May 2026 had waited 8.1 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 Kendal (Oxenholme Road)
- car
- 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 LA9 7RL, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Kendal (Oxenholme Road) sits in Heron Hill, Westmorland and Furness, just inside the LA9 7RL postcode. It's a DVSA-run car test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Heron Hill tend to know already. Kendal (Oxenholme Road) sees moderate volume: 19.6K practical tests through 2017-18-2024-25. Year-on-year percentages here are meaningful, but watch the trend line rather than fixating on any single period.
64.8% at Kendal (Oxenholme Road), against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 16.1 points clear of the national figure and ranks it #23 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. First-attempt pass rate at Kendal (Oxenholme Road): 68.5%, against 49% nationally. That's a 19.5-point lead. Well-prepared candidates with no prior test attempts pass here at a noticeably higher rate than the UK average.
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 Kendal (Oxenholme Road)
- Kendal (Oxenholme Road) 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.
- 68.5% of first-timers pass at Kendal (Oxenholme Road), so the centre is on the forgiving side. If your instructor is signing you off as test-ready, your own preparation matters far more than the venue.
- Ask any instructor working Kendal (Oxenholme Road) 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.
- 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 Kendal (Oxenholme Road)
Arrive at Kendal (Oxenholme Road) with about ten minutes to spare and know your parking options in advance, they vary site to site across the DVSA network. The DVSA centre finder (postcode LA9 7RL) maps the centre and its surroundings. Waits here run around 10 to 14 weeks at moderate demand, so you can usually pick a date without a long wait. Don't set off without your provisional photocard licence; the test cannot start without it, and your car needs L plates and a working interior mirror. If Heysham is fully booked, Kendal (Oxenholme Road) is the next closest centre, roughly 19 miles away.
Once underway the test takes around 40 minutes and is the same wherever you sit it. The examiner verifies your eyesight at 20 metres, puts one tell-me question to you, then accompanies the drive and asks one show-me question while you are driving. About 20 minutes is independent driving, sat nav or road signs to a named destination, with one of the set manoeuvres and an emergency stop on roughly one test in seven. 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.
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; 64.8% of candidates at Kendal (Oxenholme Road) currently clear that. Candidates on their first attempt clear that bar more often here, 68.5% against the 64.8% overall figure.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Kendal (Oxenholme Road)?
Is Kendal (Oxenholme Road) an easy or hard test centre?
How does Kendal (Oxenholme Road) compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Kendal (Oxenholme Road) record?
Which driving test centres are near Kendal (Oxenholme Road)?
When is the best time to book a test at Kendal (Oxenholme Road)?
How do I book a test at Kendal (Oxenholme Road) and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Kendal (Oxenholme Road)?
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.