Bristol (Kingswood) Driving Test Centre Pass Rate 2024-25

#The 2024-25 result in context

At 52.0%, Bristol (Kingswood) sits 3.3 percentage points above the UK national average of 48.7% for 2024-25. Among the 263 high-confidence car test centres that conducted at least 1,000 tests in the year, this places Kingswood at rank 78, comfortably in the upper third of all UK test locations. The 11,483 tests conducted give the headline figure strong statistical reliability: the 95% confidence interval is approximately plus or minus 0.9 percentage points either side of 52.0%, which means the centre's above-average performance is not a product of a small or unrepresentative sample.

Bristol's second centre, Bristol (Avonmouth), returned 53.7% in 2024-25 on 9,980 tests, ranking 62nd out of 263 high-confidence centres. Both Bristol centres are measurably above the national average, and candidates in the Bristol area who are deciding between the two will find Avonmouth posting a modestly higher headline rate of 1.7 percentage points. That gap falls within the range where individual candidate preparation is the more meaningful variable, but for candidates who have not yet chosen a centre and for whom both are accessible, the Avonmouth figure is worth considering alongside travel distance and route familiarity.

#Pass rate history at Bristol (Kingswood)

Bristol (Kingswood) has posted above-average pass rates for several consecutive years, but the direction of travel since 2019-20 has been consistently downward. The pre-COVID year of 2019-20 produced the centre's most recent peak of 54.3%. After the COVID-19 testing suspension of 2020-21, the centre returned 54.2% in 2021-22 and 53.9% in 2022-23, close to the pre-pandemic level. Since then the rate has fallen by a full 1.9 percentage points in two years: 52.8% in 2023-24 and 52.0% in 2024-25. The decline is gradual and the centre has not crossed below the national average, but the consistent direction warrants attention for candidates planning their test date.

#Male and female pass rates at Bristol (Kingswood)

The gender split at Bristol (Kingswood) in 2024-25 is unusual by national standards. Female candidates passed at 52.9% on 5,000 tests, outperforming male candidates at 51.3% on 6,483 tests, a gap of 1.6 percentage points in favour of women. Nationally, male candidates have historically passed at slightly higher rates than female candidates in most years of DVSA published data. The reversal at Kingswood is not large enough to draw firm conclusions from a single year, but it is statistically detectable rather than random noise given the test volumes involved. Both rates sit above the national average of 48.7%, so candidates of either gender will find the Bristol (Kingswood) environment broadly accessible.

#First-time candidates at Bristol (Kingswood)

The first-time pass rate at Bristol (Kingswood) in 2024-25 was 52.9% from 5,961 first-attempt candidates. The fact that this figure is fractionally above rather than substantially below the 52.0% overall rate suggests the centre's performance is spread evenly across candidate experience levels, rather than being driven by a large pool of repeat candidates who have refined their approach through previous attempts. For candidates approaching their first test at Kingswood, the 52.9% first-time figure is the more directly relevant benchmark, and it paints a slightly more encouraging picture than the headline rate.

#How Bristol (Kingswood) compares to nearby centres

For candidates in the Bristol area who have some flexibility over which centre they book, the comparison with surrounding sites covers a wide range of outcomes. Chippenham, 14.9 miles to the east, returned 50.6% in 2024-25 on 7,641 tests. Trowbridge, 16.5 miles to the south-east, returned 51.1% on 2,547 tests. Newport (Gwent), 21.9 miles to the north-west across the Severn Bridge, returned 51.0% on 7,106 tests. All three are within two percentage points of Kingswood's 52.0%, so the practical difference between these centres and Kingswood is small relative to the effect of preparation quality.

Weston-super-Mare, 22.8 miles to the south-west, returned 56.5% in 2024-25 on 5,807 tests, a 4.5 percentage point advantage over Kingswood and a meaningful gap by any measure. The Weston-super-Mare result reflects a less congested test environment and a road network with fewer of the complex multi-lane junctions and peak-hour pressure that characterise the eastern Bristol suburbs. For a Bristol-based candidate whose instructor covers the South West region and for whom a longer journey is feasible, Weston-super-Mare is the standout comparison in this area. Monmouth, at 25.3 miles, returned 61.2%, but on only 1,407 tests, a sample small enough that a few weeks of unusual conditions could shift the rate several points in either direction.

#What test routes at Bristol (Kingswood) involve

Bristol (Kingswood) is located in the eastern suburbs of Bristol, and test routes from the centre draw on a road network that combines the residential streets of the Kingswood and Hanham areas with the busier A-roads that feed into the city. The A420 Bath Road and the A431 Kingswood Road are among the corridors that provide the multi-lane and higher-speed sections typical of a South West urban driving test. Candidates are also likely to encounter the Bristol Ring Road, junction approaches on the eastern edge of the city, and the retail and business areas east of Bristol that generate consistent commercial and van traffic throughout the day.

Peak-hour traffic on the routes feeding towards central Bristol can significantly increase the complexity of manoeuvres that feel straightforward in quieter conditions. Merge points on dual carriageway sections, the speed and density of traffic at busier roundabouts, and the lane-selection demands at complex junctions are the most common sources of major faults for candidates who have prepared mainly on quieter roads. Practising on the specific roads around the centre during morning and afternoon peaks, rather than on routes chosen purely for convenience, is the single most effective preparation step for most Kingswood candidates.

#How to prepare for your Bristol (Kingswood) test

#Sources and further reading

The figures, fees, and procedures referenced in this article are verifiable on the official gov.uk pages below. PassRates.uk is built on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s open data, published under the Open Government Licence.

• Driving test (gov.uk)
• Find a driving test centre (gov.uk)
• Driving test manoeuvres (gov.uk)
• Driving test and theory test data, cars (gov.uk)
• Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (gov.uk)
• Open Government Licence v3.0 (nationalarchives.gov.uk)