Peterborough Driving Test Centre
The Peterborough driving test centre is located in Peterborough, England (PE1 1XH). 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
65.7K passed, 70.4K failed, 136.0K total
How Peterborough compares
Peterborough sits close to the UK average pass rate.
Where Peterborough 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 Peterborough have been lengthening as demand outpaces examiner capacity. Booking requires patience: learners booking at Peterborough 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 Peterborough
- car
- motorcycle module 1 (off-road)
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- 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 PE1 5XA, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Peterborough sits in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, just inside the PE1 1XH 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 Peterborough tend to know already. By volume, Peterborough is at the upper end of the DVSA's network. With 136.0K tests across 2017-18-2024-25, the figures on this page are about as statistically settled as DVSA data gets.
50.2% at Peterborough, against a UK car average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 1.5 points above the national figure and ranks it #171 of 323 car centres in the DVSA's network. The first-time pass figure here is 49.6%, which lines up almost exactly with the UK average of 49%. If you're a first-timer, the centre is neither lucky nor unlucky ground, it's 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 Peterborough
- Pass rate at Peterborough sits close to the UK average. Prepare for an ordinary level of difficulty: examiners apply the standard DVSA marking sheet, and the routes are a representative mix of local conditions.
- Peterborough is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA cancellation feed daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Ask any instructor working Peterborough 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 Peterborough
Turn up at Peterborough 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 (postcode PE1 1XH). Demand is high and waits are near 18 weeks, so an early booking plus a cancellation watch is the sensible approach. 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.
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 show-me and one tell-me question to you, then accompanies the drive. About 20 minutes is independent driving, sat nav or road signs to a named destination, with one of four set manoeuvres and an emergency stop on roughly one test in three. 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.
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; 50.2% of candidates at Peterborough currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Peterborough?
Is Peterborough an easy or hard test centre?
How does Peterborough compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Peterborough each year?
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When is the best time to book a test at Peterborough?
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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.