Tilbury Driving Test Centre
Tilbury in Tilbury records a 49.1% pass rate against a UK average of 48.7%, with a median wait of 4.3 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
Tilbury sits in the bottom half of car pass rates nationally (Bottom 39%, rank #198 of 323). The strongest car alternative nearby is Gillingham, about 9.4 miles away.
Pass vs fail at a glance
All-time 41.7K passed, 58.7K failed, 100.4K total
How Tilbury compares
Tilbury sits within a percentage point of the UK figure and is ranked 198 of 323 in its category: the venue itself is unlikely to move your odds either way.
Where Tilbury ranks among 323 centres
Pass-rate trend by year
Tilbury has climbed 6 points across the series, 43.1% in 2017-18 to 49.1% now; the weakest year on record was 42.8% in 2018-19.
Pass rate by demographic
Waiting time at Tilbury
The headline figure for reaching 10% availability is 24 weeks, but the typical (median) learner who took their test at Tilbury in May 2026 had waited 4.3 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 Tilbury
- car
- 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 RM18 7AE, or call DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122.
About this test centre
Where do you actually take your car test if you book Tilbury? You start in Tilbury, Essex (RM18 8LB), and the examiner takes you through whatever mix of urban and outlying roads sits within a roughly twenty-minute drive of the centre. 100.4K tests over 2017-18-2024-25. That's enough volume that the headline pass rate here moves slowly, a single bad quarter shifts it by a fraction of a percentage point rather than visibly.
How does Tilbury compare nationally? 49.1% pass rate, #198 of 323 car centres in the DVSA network, within a point of the UK average of 48.7%. The lower half of the country, in other words. 2.1K first-attempt tests, 50% pass rate, against a UK average of 49%. Tilbury doesn't favour or punish first-timers relative to the national pattern.
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 Tilbury
- Tilbury 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 Tilbury 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 Tilbury area. Local instructors know which nearby junctions are demanding and will drill them.
- 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 Tilbury
Ten minutes early is the right target at Tilbury. Parking differs between DVSA centres, so it pays to scout the route on the DVSA centre finder (postcode RM18 8LB) the day before. This centre sees very high demand, modelled at roughly 18 to 22 weeks to a slot; booking well ahead and watching for cancellations both help. Bring the provisional photocard licence, the examiner checks for it first, and make sure your car is roadworthy with L plates and a working interior mirror. If Basildon is fully booked, Tilbury is the next closest centre, roughly 9 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 49.1% of Tilbury's candidates reach right now.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass rate at Tilbury?
Is Tilbury an easy or hard test centre?
How does Tilbury compare to the UK average?
How many driving tests does Tilbury record?
Which driving test centres are near Tilbury?
When is the best time to book a test at Tilbury?
How do I book a test at Tilbury and what do I need?
How long is the wait for a driving test at Tilbury?
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.