Silverstone Driving Test Centre
The Silverstone driving test centre is located in Silverstone, England. 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
1.3K passed, 318 failed, 1.6K total
How Silverstone compares
Silverstone performs well above the UK average. Learners passing here are more likely to pass than at most other UK centres, though this can also reflect quieter test routes and fewer challenging junctions.
Where Silverstone ranks among 80 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 Silverstone have been gradually shortening as DVSA recovers post-pandemic capacity. Booking is achievable but not immediate: learners booking at Silverstone typically wait around 10 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
Tests offered at Silverstone
- Motorcycle Module 1
For other test types at this location, search the DVSA centre finder.
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
Silverstone sits in Silverstone, West Northamptonshire. It's a DVSA-run motorcycle module 1 test centre, and the routes from here work outward into the streets and arterial roads that learners from Silverstone tend to know already. 1.6K tests across 2009-10-2012-13, a workable sample but on the lighter side. Single-period swings can look dramatic without actually meaning much, the multi-year aggregate is the more honest number.
80.4% at Silverstone, against a UK motorcycle module 1 average of 48.7%. That puts the centre 31.7 points clear of the national figure and ranks it #4 of 80 motorcycle module 1 centres in the DVSA's network. First-attempt data for Silverstone is missing from the DVSA's DRT122C release. It's not a low number, it's no number, the centre is small enough that DVSA omits it from that particular table.
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 Silverstone
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Silverstone'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.
- Ask any instructor working Silverstone 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 Silverstone
Turn up at Silverstone 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 moderate demand and roughly 10 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 Northampton is fully booked, Silverstone is the next closest centre, roughly 11 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 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 covers the local mix of road types within roughly a twenty-minute radius of the centre. 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 80.4% of candidates at Silverstone meet under current DVSA marking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Silverstone?
Is Silverstone an easy or hard test centre?
How does Silverstone compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Silverstone each year?
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When is the best time to book a test at Silverstone?
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How long is the wait for a driving test at Silverstone?
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: 2012-13.