Taunton Driving Test Centre
Taunton in Taunton records a 56.3% pass rate against a UK average of 48.7%, with a median wait of 11.3 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
Taunton sits in the top half of car pass rates nationally (Top 29%, rank #94 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Barry, about 28.0 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 45.3K passed, 35.4K failed, 80.7K total
How Taunton compares
The 7.6-point advantage at Taunton (ranked 94 of 323 in its category) is worth having but not decisive; a well-prepared candidate passes at either kind of centre.
Where Taunton ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Year-to-year volatility is the story at Taunton: 21.4 points separate 2020-21 (75.8%) from 2018-19 (54.4%), even though the endpoints nearly match.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Taunton
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 23.3 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Taunton in May 2026 had waited 11.3 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
Source: DVSA find a driving test centre (Open Government Licence v3.0), captured 2026-05-12.
Tests offered at Taunton
- 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 TA2 8RX, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Where do you actually take your car test if you book Taunton? You start in Taunton, Somerset (TA1 1JD), and the examiner takes you through whatever mix of urban and outlying roads sits within a roughly twenty-minute drive of the centre. Volume is not the issue at Taunton. 80.7K tests sit on the record across 2017-18-2024-25, so the trend line below reflects real movement, not sample noise.
How does Taunton compare nationally? 56.3% pass rate, #94 of 323 car centres in the DVSA network, 7.6 points clear of the UK average of 48.7%. The upper half of the country, in other words. First-attempt pass rate at Taunton: 56.2%, against 49% nationally. That's a 7.2-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 Taunton
- Above-average pass rate at Taunton doesn't mean above-average ease. The fundamentals examiners mark are the same nationally: junctions, mirrors, observation, signal timing. A 65%+ pass rate means more candidates clear those, not that the bar is lower.
- First-time pass rate of 56.2% at Taunton is on the forgiving side. A well-prepared first booking has a reasonable shot; don't over-correct by booking a "practice" test you don't actually need.
- Taunton is a high-volume centre. Booking pressure is real, check the DVSA booking service daily for earlier slots rather than relying on the headline available date.
- Practising the roads around the centre is the preparation that most reliably pays off. Most ADI instructors in Taunton will know the road types and junctions learners commonly meet near the centre.
- Book through the official DVSA service (gov.uk/book-driving-test). Third-party "fast-track" sites charge a premium for the same booking; the official DVSA booking service is free.
Other test centres nearby
On the day at Taunton
Aim to be at Taunton ten minutes early. Because parking and waiting facilities are not the same at every DVSA centre, check the approach on the DVSA centre finder (postcode TA1 1JD) before the day. Demand is high and the modelled wait is close to 15 to 19 weeks, so an early booking and a cancellation alert are both worth setting up. The examiner needs to see your provisional photocard licence to begin, and the car you bring must be roadworthy, fitted with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Weston-super-Mare is fully booked, Taunton is the next closest centre, roughly 24 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 tell-me question, after which the examiner rides along for the drive and asks one show-me question on the move. 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-seven chance of 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 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 56.3% of Taunton's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Taunton?
Is Taunton an easy or hard test centre?
How does Taunton compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Taunton record?
Which driving test centres are near Taunton?
When is the best time to book a test at Taunton?
How do I book a test at Taunton and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Taunton?
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.