Swansea Driving Test Centre
The Swansea driving test centre is located in Swansea, Wales (SA1 3BP). 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
13.0K passed, 5.5K failed, 18.5K total
How Swansea compares
Swansea 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 Swansea 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 Swansea have remained broadly stable through recent reporting periods. Booking is comparatively quick: learners booking at Swansea typically wait around 9 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 Swansea
- car
- motorcycle module 1 (off-road)
- motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- ADI part 2
- 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 SA1 8QY, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Of the DVSA motorcycle module 1 centres across Wales, Swansea is the one covering Swansea and the surrounding SA1 3BP area. The routes are built around the roads the centre's examiners can reach inside the test's time budget. Swansea sees moderate volume: 18.5K 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.
If you've been told Swansea is "an easy centre" or "a hard one", the data won't fully back that. 75.3% is 26.6 points clear of the UK motorcycle module 1 average of 48.7%, which is rank #43 out of 80. First-attempt data for Swansea 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 Swansea
- Swansea 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.
- If you can, take at least one lesson with an instructor who specifically works the Swansea routes. Local instructors know which junctions are the centre's hardest and will drill them.
- If you missed the earlier slots at Swansea, 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 Swansea
Give yourself ten minutes in hand when you head to Swansea, and look up where to park beforehand, facilities differ from one DVSA site to the next. The DVSA centre finder (postcode SA1 3BP) shows the exact location. Modelled waits here sit around 9 weeks at moderate demand, which tends to mean less competition for a date that suits you. You must have your provisional photocard licence on you, plus a car with L plates and a working interior mirror for the examiner.
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 three tests includes 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.
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 75.3% of Swansea's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Swansea?
Is Swansea an easy or hard test centre?
How does Swansea compare to the UK average?
How many tests are taken at Swansea each year?
Which driving test centres are near Swansea?
When is the best time to book a test at Swansea?
How do I book a test at Swansea and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Swansea?
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.