Letchworth Driving Test Centre
The Letchworth driving test centre is located in Baldock, England (SG6 1RF). 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
40.9K passed, 41.2K failed, 82.1K total
How Letchworth compares
Letchworth 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 Letchworth 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 Letchworth have been lengthening as demand outpaces examiner capacity. Booking requires patience: learners booking at Letchworth typically wait around 18 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 Letchworth
- 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 SG6 1RF, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Letchworth: a DVSA car test centre in Baldock, Hertfordshire. Local routes, local traffic patterns, no national standard for what "harder" or "easier" looks like beyond what the numbers below show. The DVSA has logged 82.1K tests at this centre over 2017-18-2024-25. At that scale, the year-on-year shifts you see in the chart correspond to genuine changes in how the centre is performing, not statistical wobble.
The top quarter of the UK by pass rate: Letchworth ranks #69 of 323 car centres at 58.3%, 9.6 points clear of the national figure of 48.7%. Across 2.7K first-attempt tests, Letchworth passes 58.2% of candidates, against 49% nationally. The centre is a relatively forgiving venue for a first booking, by the DVSA's own data.
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 Letchworth
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Letchworth'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.
- 58.2% of first-timers pass at Letchworth. If your instructor is signing you off as test-ready, that figure is a fair guide, the centre isn't the variable, your preparation is.
- Volume at Letchworth is among the highest in the network. Don't take the first available date on faith, refreshing the DVSA booking page across a few days regularly turns up cancellations.
- Practising the test routes is the single thing that most reliably moves a candidate's pass odds. Most ADI instructors in Baldock will have a working knowledge of which routes Letchworth uses.
- 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 Letchworth
Arrive at Letchworth 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 SG6 1RF) maps the centre and its surroundings. With high demand and waits near 18 weeks, take any earlier slot the booking service offers rather than holding out. 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.
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 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 recent DVSA marking, the fault logged most often at this centre 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 58.3% of candidates at Letchworth meet under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Letchworth?
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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.