Orkney Driving Test Centre
Orkney in Orkney Islands records a 62.5% pass rate against a UK average of 48.7%, with a median wait of 7.6 weeks. This page covers the multi-year trend, the first-time and gender pass rates, and a like-for-like comparison with other centres.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Orkney sits in the top quarter of car pass rates nationally (Top 11%, rank #35 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Golspie, about 79.1 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 3.2K passed, 1.8K failed, 5.0K total
How Orkney compares
A 13.8-point lead over the national figure puts Orkney ranked 35 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 Orkney ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Across the recorded years Orkney has drifted from 70.7% to 66%, down 4.7 points, with the best year at 71.6% in 2020-21.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Orkney
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Orkney in May 2026 had waited 7.6 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
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
Orkney sits in Orkney Islands. It's a DVSA-run car test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Orkney Islands tend to know already. Sample size: 5.0K tests over 2017-18-2024-25. Enough that comparisons hold up; small enough that a quiet month or a route being temporarily diverted can show in the data.
62.5% at Orkney, against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 13.8 points clear of the national figure and ranks it #35 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. 62.5% of first-timers pass at Orkney, 13.5 points above the UK figure of 49%. A prepared first attempt has a real shot here in a way it doesn't at every 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 Orkney
- Orkney 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.
- 62.5% of first-timers pass at Orkney, 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.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Orkney 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 Orkney
Turn up at Orkney ten minutes before your appointment, and check ahead where you can park, DVSA sites vary on that. You can preview the location on the DVSA centre finder. At low demand and roughly 4 to 8 weeks' wait, getting a date that works for you is usually straightforward. The examiner will ask to see your provisional photocard licence before anything else, and your car must carry L plates and a working interior mirror. If Wick is fully booked, Orkney is the next closest centre, roughly 38 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 tell-me vehicle-safety question, then the examiner joins you for the road section, with one show-me question while you drive. 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 one in seven candidates get 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.
You find out there and then, back at Orkney. The examiner runs through the faults on the DL25 feedback form and, on a pass, keeps your provisional licence so a full licence follows in the post. Clearing the test means staying under 16 driving faults, that is 15 or fewer, with no serious or dangerous fault; 62.5% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Orkney?
Is Orkney an easy or hard test centre?
How does Orkney compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Orkney record?
Which driving test centres are near Orkney?
When is the best time to book a test at Orkney?
How do I book a test at Orkney and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Orkney?
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.