Stafford Driving Test Centre
The Stafford driving test centre is located in Stafford, 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
25.0K passed, 25.6K failed, 50.7K total
How Stafford compares
Stafford sits close to the UK average pass rate.
Where Stafford 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 Stafford have been gradually shortening as DVSA recovers post-pandemic capacity. Booking is achievable but not immediate: learners booking at Stafford typically wait around 17 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 Stafford
- car
- 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 ST16 2RF, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Stafford is in Stafford, Staffordshire and runs DVSA car tests for learners across the local area. The routes are the same fixed set every day; your examiner picks one without telling you which. Volume is not the issue at Stafford. 50.7K tests sit on the record across 2017-18-2024-25, so the trend line below reflects real movement, not sample noise.
Out of 323 UK car test centres, Stafford ranks 251, which lands it in the bottom quarter nationally. The 46.1% pass rate is 2.6 points below the UK figure of 48.7%. Stafford is one of the tougher venues for a first attempt. The DVSA reports 44.9% first-time pass against a UK average of 49%, 4.1 points down on the national figure.
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 Stafford
- Stafford 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 Stafford 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.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Stafford routes. Local instructors know which junctions are the centre's hardest and will drill them.
- Don't pay third-party sites for booking access at Stafford. Use gov.uk/book-driving-test directly; cancellations show up on the same booking flow.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Stafford
Plan to arrive at Stafford 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 high here and waits near 17 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 Stone LGV is fully booked, Stafford is the next closest centre, roughly 7 miles away.
The test runs for around 40 minutes and follows the same DVSA format used at every centre. The examiner checks your eyesight at 20 metres, asks one show-me and one tell-me question, then sits in for the drive. About 20 minutes of it is independent driving, either following a sat nav the examiner sets up or following road signs to a named place. You will do one of four set manoeuvres, and roughly one in three candidates is asked to perform 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 recent DVSA marking, the fault logged most often at this centre is junctions - observation, worth drilling on the local routes before your date.
You find out there and then, back at Stafford. The examiner runs through the faults on the DL25 feedback form and, on a pass, keeps your provisional licence so a full licence follows in the post. Clearing the test means staying under 16 driving faults, that is 15 or fewer, with no serious or dangerous fault; 46.1% of candidates here manage it on the current marking.
Frequently asked questions
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How does Stafford compare to the UK average?
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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.