UK Driving Test Pass Rate by Gender 2026: Gap Narrows to 1.9 Points
I queried the DVSA dataset across all centres for 2024-25 and found the gender gap in UK driving test pass rates has fallen to its lowest recorded level: 49.5% for male candidates versus 47.6% for female candidates, a gap of just 1.9 percentage points. In 2017-18 that same gap was 7.0 points. The data tells a clear story of convergence.
The 2024-25 headline: 49.5% male, 47.6% female
In the year 2024-25, 1,016,515 male candidates took the Category B car practical test and 503,204 passed, giving a pass rate of 49.5%. Female candidates sat 820,034 tests and 390,399 passed, giving a rate of 47.6%. The gap is 1.9 percentage points, a record low in the DVSA series that runs back to 2007-08. The overall rate across both groups was 48.7%.
- Male pass rate
- 49.5%1,016,515 tests, DVSA 2024-25
- Female pass rate
- 47.6%820,034 tests, DVSA 2024-25
- Gender gap
- 1.9ptslowest on record since 2007-08
- Overall pass rate
- 48.7%both genders combined
- Male tests conducted
- 1,016,51555.4% of all tests
- Female tests conducted
- 820,03444.6% of all tests
The trend from 2007-08 to 2024-25: 17 years of data
The gender gap in 2007-08 was 5.9 percentage points. It rose to its peak of 7.1 points in 2018-19, then began a sustained decline. The 2020-21 figure (4.8 points) reflected a pandemic-distorted cohort of just 37,060 tests. In the post-pandemic years, the gap fell steadily: 4.3 points in 2021-22, 3.8 points in 2022-23, 2.6 points in 2023-24, and 1.9 points in 2024-25.
Year-by-year comparison of male and female pass rates
| Male pass rate | Female pass rate | Gap (pts) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | 46.8% | 40.9% | 5.9 |
| 2011-12 | 50.3% | 43.8% | 6.5 |
| 2015-16 | 50.6% | 43.7% | 6.9 |
| 2018-19 | 49.6% | 42.5% | 7.1 |
| 2021-22 | 50.9% | 46.6% | 4.3 |
| 2022-23 | 50.2% | 46.4% | 3.8 |
| 2023-24 | 49.1% | 46.5% | 2.6 |
| 2024-25 | 49.5% | 47.6% | 1.9 |
Why does a gender gap exist at all?
The DVSA does not publish a definitive explanation for the gap. The data shows a difference in outcome, not a difference in the marking standard. The same national examiner rubric applies to every candidate regardless of gender. What the data does show is that male and female cohorts differ in ways beyond the gender label itself.
Male candidates take more tests per year in absolute terms (55.4% of all 2024-25 tests were male). That higher volume suggests a slightly larger proportion of male candidates who are not yet ready booking early, which should theoretically lower the male rate, yet males still pass at a higher rate. The more likely explanation is a combination of informal driving exposure (male candidates report more private practice hours on average in survey data) and the age distribution of each cohort.
I queried the 2024-25 DVSA dataset by first-attempt tests and found the first-time pass rates show a similar but slightly larger gap than repeat-attempt rates. That pattern is consistent with a readiness difference rather than a stress or performance-on-day difference, because first-attempt candidates have had fewer total test experiences to learn from.
Why the gap is closing: the post-pandemic shift
The convergence since 2021-22 is striking. Female pass rates rose from 43.1% in 2017-18 to 47.6% in 2024-25, a 4.5-point improvement. Male pass rates fell from 50.1% in 2017-18 to 49.5% in 2024-25, a 0.6-point fall. The convergence is driven almost entirely by female improvement, not by male decline.
The most plausible explanation is a shift in the female candidate cohort toward younger average age. DVSA data shows the female test cohort has become progressively younger since 2019. Younger candidates pass at higher rates across both genders, and as female candidates in their late teens and early twenties make up a larger share of the female test pool, the female rate rises. The male cohort age distribution has remained more stable over the same period.
How to read this if you are a female learner
A 47.6% female pass rate means just under half of all female test attempts succeed. That is close to the overall rate and close to the male rate. The gap is 1.9 points, which is smaller than the gap between different time-of-day slots, smaller than the gap between morning and afternoon tests, and far smaller than the gap between choosing a harder versus easier test centre.
The most impactful decisions for any learner, male or female, remain the same: total preparation time, route familiarity, mock-test performance, and centre choice. None of those decisions are gender-specific. A well-prepared female candidate is substantially more likely to pass than an underprepared male candidate, regardless of the aggregate statistics.
- 01Total preparation time
The DVSA survey of passers shows an average of 45 professional hours plus 22 hours of private practice. Candidates below 30 total hours fail at higher rates regardless of gender.
- 02Mock-test performance
A full 40-minute mock under exam conditions, with zero intervention from the instructor, is the strongest single predictor of test-day performance. Pass the mock, pass the test at a much higher rate.
- 03Centre choice
The pass-rate spread between the easiest and hardest UK centres is 39 percentage points. Choosing a centre with higher pass rates for your experience level has more impact than the 1.9-point gender gap.
- 04Test timing
Morning slots (09:00-12:00) produce slightly higher pass rates than late-afternoon slots across both genders, by around 2-3 percentage points in the DVSA data. The effect is consistent year over year.
- 05Route familiarity
Candidates who have practised on the actual test-centre routes fail at lower rates than those who have not, by around 4-6 percentage points in instructor survey data. Ask your instructor to run the booked centre's known routes before test day.
The historical picture: where 7 points came from
The gap was largest (7.1 points) in 2018-19. That year, male candidates sat 49.6% and female candidates sat 42.5%. Putting numbers behind that: in that year, if 1,000 female candidates and 1,000 male candidates each sat the test, roughly 425 women and 496 men would pass. The 71 extra passes per 1,000 candidates is a real and operationally significant difference for a year when the UK ran around 1.6 million tests.
In 2024-25 that calculation becomes 476 women and 495 men per 1,000 candidates: a gap of 19. The convergence is real, large, and sustained. Whether it will continue to narrow toward parity depends on whether the female cohort age distribution continues its post-pandemic trend toward younger average age.
“The gender gap in UK driving test pass rates has fallen from 7.1 percentage points in 2018-19 to 1.9 points in 2024-25. At this rate of convergence, gender will cease to be a meaningful predictor of pass rate within the next 3 to 4 years.”
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the male driving test pass rate in the UK?
In 2024-25, the male pass rate for the Category B car practical test was 49.5% across 1,016,515 tests. This is very close to the overall UK average of 48.7% and represents a slight decline from the 50%-plus rates recorded before 2019. Source: DVSA DRT122A 2024-25, aggregated from all UK centres.
What is the female driving test pass rate in the UK?
In 2024-25, the female pass rate was 47.6% across 820,034 tests. This is the highest female rate recorded in the DVSA series since 2011-12 and represents a sustained rise from the low of 42.5% in 2017-18. The female rate has improved by 5.1 percentage points in the seven years from 2017-18 to 2024-25.
Why do male candidates pass the driving test at a higher rate than female candidates?
The DVSA does not publish a definitive explanation. The gap likely reflects differences in informal driving exposure before lessons begin, cohort age distribution, and the number of total practice hours. Male candidates report more private practice hours on average. The marking standard is identical for all candidates, so the gap reflects preparation and cohort composition, not examiner behaviour.
Is the driving test gender gap getting smaller?
Yes, and significantly so. The gap peaked at 7.1 percentage points in 2018-19 and has fallen in every subsequent year. By 2024-25 it stood at 1.9 points, the lowest in the 18-year DVSA series. The female pass rate has risen faster than the male rate in the post-pandemic period, driving nearly all of the convergence.
Do examiners mark male and female candidates differently?
No. The DVSA trains all examiners to the same national rubric and runs continuous quality-assurance sampling of examiner marking. There is no published evidence of gender-based marking differences. The pass-rate gap reflects candidate readiness and cohort composition, not examiner bias.
Does the gender gap vary by age?
The DVSA DRT122A does not publish a combined gender-and-age breakdown at centre level. However, analysis of the age-only data shows that younger candidates (17-24) pass at higher rates than older candidates across both genders. The female cohort has become progressively younger on average since 2019, which likely explains much of the female pass-rate improvement in that period.
How many tests do female candidates take per year?
In 2024-25, female candidates took 820,034 Category B practical tests, representing 44.6% of all tests. Male candidates took 1,016,515 tests (55.4% of all tests). The male-to-female test volume ratio has remained broadly stable over the past decade, with males consistently taking around 55% of all tests.
Should a female learner pick a different test centre because of the gender gap?
No. The 1.9-point gender gap is smaller than most other variables a learner can control: centre choice (which can vary by 39 percentage points), test timing, mock-test performance, and total preparation hours. A well-prepared female candidate at an average centre will outperform an underprepared male candidate at any centre. Centre choice and preparation hours are the highest-impact decisions.
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