Skipton Driving Test Centre
Skipton in Skipton records a 54.4% pass rate against a UK average of 48.7%, with a median wait of 7.1 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
Skipton sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 33%, rank #108 of 323). No nearby car centre currently posts a higher pass rate.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 25.1K passed, 24.0K failed, 49.1K total
How Skipton compares
Skipton runs 5.7 points ahead of the national average, ranked 108 of 323 in its category. Margins in this range usually track route difficulty: fewer multi-lane roundabouts and less dense traffic.
Where Skipton ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Skipton has climbed 3.5 points across the series, 50.9% in 2017-18 to 54.4% now; the weakest year on record was 49.7% in 2018-19.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Skipton
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Skipton in May 2026 had waited 7.1 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
Skipton: a DVSA car test centre in Skipton, York and North Yorkshire. Local routes, local traffic patterns, no national standard for what "harder" or "easier" looks like beyond what the numbers below show. Skipton sees moderate volume: 49.1K practical tests through 2017-18-2024-25. Year-on-year percentages here are meaningful, but watch the trend line rather than fixating on any single period.
The upper half of the UK by pass rate: Skipton ranks #108 of 323 car centres at 54.4%, 5.7 points clear of the national figure of 48.7%. First-attempt pass rate at Skipton: 53.9%, against 49% nationally. That's a 4.9-point lead. Well-prepared candidates with no prior test attempts pass here at a noticeably higher rate than the UK 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 Skipton
- Don't read a higher pass rate as a softer test. Skipton'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 Skipton 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 Skipton
Arrive at Skipton with about ten minutes to spare and know your parking options in advance, they vary site to site across the DVSA network. The DVSA centre finder maps the centre and its surroundings. With high demand and waits near 14 to 18 weeks, take any earlier slot the booking service offers rather than holding out. Don't set off without your provisional photocard licence; the test cannot start without it, and your car needs L plates and a working interior mirror. If Steeton is fully booked, Skipton is the next closest centre, roughly 5 miles away.
The practical lasts about 40 minutes and uses the standard DVSA format nationwide. After an eyesight check at 20 metres and one show-me and one tell-me question, the examiner sits in for the drive. Roughly 20 minutes of that is independent driving, either following a sat nav set by the examiner or following road signs, and you will complete one of four set manoeuvres; about one in seven tests includes an emergency stop, a frequency the DVSA reduced in late 2025. 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.
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 54.4% of Skipton's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Skipton?
Is Skipton an easy or hard test centre?
How does Skipton compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Skipton record?
Which driving test centres are near Skipton?
When is the best time to book a test at Skipton?
How do I book a test at Skipton and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Skipton?
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.