Stornoway Driving Test Centre
The Stornoway driving test centre is located in Steòrnabhagh, Scotland. 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
204 passed, 30 failed, 234 total
How Stornoway compares
Stornoway 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 Stornoway 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 Stornoway have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Stornoway typically wait around 6 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 Stornoway
- 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
Of the DVSA motorcycle module 1 centres across Scotland, Stornoway is the one covering Steòrnabhagh, Na h-Eileanan Siar. The routes are built around the roads the centre's examiners can reach inside the test's time budget. Stornoway is a low-volume centre, 234 tests through 2015-16-2023-24. PassRates aggregates the multi-year total because the per-quarter figures are too noisy to draw conclusions from in isolation.
If you've been told Stornoway is "an easy centre" or "a hard one", the data won't fully back that. 87.2% is 38.5 points clear of the UK motorcycle module 1 average of 48.7%, which is rank #1 out of 80. First-attempt data for Stornoway 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 Stornoway
- Stornoway passes higher than the UK average, but the marking sheet is identical to every other DVSA centre. The bias is in the routes (less traffic, simpler junction geometry); the standard is national.
- Stornoway is a low-volume centre (234 tests on record). Period-to-period swings can look dramatic without much underlying change, read the multi-year aggregate rather than any single quarter's figure.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Stornoway routes. Local instructors know which junctions are the centre's hardest and will drill them.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Stornoway, the DVSA's official cancellation pool refreshes constantly. Check at off-peak times (early morning, late evening) for better odds.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Stornoway
Arrive at Stornoway 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. Waits here run around 6 weeks at low demand, so you can usually pick a date without a long wait. 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.
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 show-me and one tell-me question to you, then accompanies the drive. About 20 minutes is independent driving, sat nav or road signs to a named destination, with one of four set manoeuvres and an emergency stop on roughly one test in three. 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.
There is no wait for the verdict, the examiner delivers it at the centre. They go over each fault recorded, hand you the DL25 feedback form, and on a pass retain your provisional licence so the full version arrives by post. To pass you need no more than 15 driving faults and not a single serious or dangerous one; 87.2% of candidates at Stornoway currently clear that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Stornoway?
Is Stornoway an easy or hard test centre?
How does Stornoway compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Stornoway each year?
Which driving test centres are near Stornoway?
When is the best time to book a test at Stornoway?
How do I book a test at Stornoway and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Stornoway?
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: 2023-24.