Men vs Women UK Driving Test: Pass Rate Gap by Region and Age

#What are the male vs female UK driving test pass rates?

In 2024-2025 DVSA data, male candidates passed at roughly 51% and female candidates at 47%. The gap is around 4 percentage points and has been remarkably consistent over decades, varying within a 3 to 5 point range.

#What do the precise latest-year figures show?

The headline 51 versus 47 framing is the rounded, long-run picture. The exact latest-year read from the DVSA DRT122A release is tighter: in 2024-25 men passed at 49.6% and women at 47.6%, a 1.9 percentage point gap. That is the smallest gap in the five financial years on record, down from around 6 points in the 2000s. The gap has not closed because women got better at the test or men got worse; it has narrowed because the female share of bookings has risen, shifting the candidate mix.

#How does test volume differ between male and female candidates?

Around 55% of practical car tests are taken by men and 45% by women, on 2024-25 volumes of roughly 1.0 million male and 0.8 million female tests. The female share has risen steadily and is now the highest on record. The narrowing volume gap matters because pass rates can be sensitive to candidate composition: as the mix shifts, the headline gap moves even when no individual candidate has changed.

#Does the gap reverse anywhere, and what about the theory test?

Two facts complicate the simple "men pass more" story. First, the practical-test gap is not uniform: across UK county-level regions with at least 1,000 tests for each sex, a meaningful minority show a female pass rate above the male figure, while others show a 6 to 10 point male lead. The national average smooths over genuine local variation. Second, the direction reverses entirely on the theory test, where women pass at a higher rate than men, roughly 53% to 48% in recent DVSA quarterly data, a 5-point gap the other way. So the practical-test gap is not about general road-rule knowledge; it shows up specifically in the on-road examined drive, which points to test-day factors such as composition and nerves rather than ability.

#Why does the gender pass rate gap exist?

Several factors interact, none of them about driving ability:

• Average age of male candidates is slightly lower; younger learners pass at higher rates
• Male candidates take the test marginally sooner after starting lessons, sometimes underprepared, sometimes confidently
• Women report higher test-day anxiety in surveys, which correlates with higher minor-fault counts
• Women take more pre-test mock exams on average, but also retake the theory more often
• Geographic distribution differs slightly, with women slightly more likely to test in larger urban centres with lower pass rates

#Where is the male vs female pass rate gap largest?

The gender gap is largest at the easiest test centres, where male candidates pass at 65 to 70% and female candidates at 60 to 65%. At the hardest centres, the gap narrows to 1 to 2 points, suggesting the gap is partly an artefact of the candidate pool, not the marking.

#Where does the gender pass rate gap reverse?

In a small but rising number of centres (mostly small rural ones with low test volumes), women pass at higher rates than men. These reversals are often within the margin of statistical noise but suggest there is no fixed structural reason for the headline gap.

#What does the male vs female pass rate gap not mean?

• It does not mean men are better drivers, insurance and accident data show the opposite long-term
• It does not reflect examiner bias, DVSA actively monitors examiner-level pass rate variance
• It does not mean the test is unfair, the marking criteria are objective and gender-blind
• It does not predict your individual outcome, your preparation matters far more than your gender

#How should learners use the gender pass rate data?

For most learners, the gender split is interesting context, not actionable advice. The 4-point gap is dwarfed by the 35-point gap between best and worst test centres. Choosing a well-prepared route and a familiar centre matters far more than your demographic profile.

#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)
• If you fail your driving test (gov.uk)
• Theory test (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)