Preston Driving Test Centre
Preston posts a 53.7% pass rate, with Chorley the nearest alternative about 8 miles away. Read on for its full DVSA history, first-time pass rate, waiting time and demographic breakdown.
DVSA data last updated July 2026
Preston sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 36%, rank #117 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Southport (Liverpool), about 14.6 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 73.8K passed, 66.6K failed, 140.3K total
How Preston compares
At 5 points above the UK figure and ranked 117 of 323 in its category, Preston offers a modest but real edge, typically a product of its local road layout rather than the venue itself.
Where Preston ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The headline barely moved (54.6% in 2017-18, 53.7% now) but the ride was not smooth: Preston has swung 9.4 points between its best year (63.1%, 2020-21) and its worst (53.7%, 2024-25).
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Preston
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Preston in May 2026 had waited 15.6 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
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Preston
- 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 PR2 2PD, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Preston is in Preston, Lancashire and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. Your examiner picks the route on the day without telling you which, and the DVSA does not publish them. Preston runs at high volume: 140.3K tests across 2017-18-2024-25 put it among the busier DVSA centres in the country. The headline numbers carry weight because the sample carries weight.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Preston ranks 117, which lands it in the upper half nationally. The 53.7% pass rate is 5 points clear of the UK figure of 48.7%. 53.8% of first-timers pass at Preston, 4.8 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 Preston
- Preston 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.
- Preston is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA booking service daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Ask any instructor working Preston 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.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Preston. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Preston
Plan to arrive at Preston about ten minutes before your slot. Parking varies between DVSA centres, so check the route and the surrounding streets on the DVSA centre finder a day or two ahead. With demand running very high here and waits near 18 to 22 weeks, it is worth holding any earlier cancellation slot you are offered. Bring your provisional photocard licence; the examiner will not start without it, and you will need a roadworthy car with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Chorley is fully booked, Preston is the next closest centre, roughly 8 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 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 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 53.7% of Preston's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
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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.