Rugby Driving Test Centre
Rugby in Rugby currently passes 46% of tests, 2.7 points below 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
Rugby sits in the bottom quarter of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 21%, rank #256 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Nuneaton, about 13.5 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 33.8K passed, 34.2K failed, 68.0K total
How Rugby compares
The 2.7-point gap at Rugby (ranked 256 of 323 in its category) is real but small; local route familiarity moves your odds more than the venue does.
Where Rugby ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
The headline barely moved (45.7% in 2017-18, 46% now) but the ride was not smooth: Rugby has swung 17.3 points between its best year (61.8%, 2021-22) and its worst (44.5%, 2023-24).
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Rugby
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Rugby in May 2026 had waited 6.6 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 Rugby
- 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 CV22 7DH, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Rugby is in Rugby, Warwickshire 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. 68.0K tests over 2017-18-2024-25. That's enough volume that the headline pass rate here moves slowly, a single bad quarter shifts it by a fraction of a percentage point rather than visibly.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Rugby ranks 256, which lands it in the bottom quarter nationally. The 46% pass rate is 2.7 points below the UK figure of 48.7%. First-attempt pass rate: 47.8%, against the UK figure of 49%. Effectively level, the gap between candidates who pass first time at Rugby and those who pass first time nationally is preparation, not the 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 Rugby
- Rugby doesn't deviate much from the national curve, so generic preparation advice (mock tests, mirror discipline, junction observation) applies here in the same shape it would anywhere.
- Volume at Rugby 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 roads around the centre is the preparation that most reliably pays off. Most ADI instructors in Rugby will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Rugby. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Rugby
Ten minutes early is the right target at Rugby. Parking differs between DVSA centres, so it pays to scout the route on the DVSA centre finder the day before. This centre sees very high demand, modelled at roughly 19 to 23 weeks to a slot; booking well ahead and watching for cancellations both help. Bring the provisional photocard licence, the examiner checks for it first, and make sure your car is roadworthy with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Hinckley is fully booked, Rugby is the next closest centre, roughly 13 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 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.
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 46% of candidates at Rugby meet under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Rugby?
Is Rugby an easy or hard test centre?
How does Rugby compare to the UK average?
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How long is the wait for a driving test at Rugby?
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.