New research has revealed that passing a driving test in Swindon is harder than anywhere else in the UK.
A study, by Howden Insurance, examined the pass rate percentage of major driving test centres in the UK which conducted at least 1,000 tests from January 2020 to December 2023.
It found that in Swindon 21.5% of learners had passed their tests overall, with males having a pass rate of 20.15% and females slightly higher with 25%.
Speke in London is the second most difficult place to pass a test, with a success rate of 32.0%. Males have a 32.3% pass rate whereas females have a slightly lower pass rate at 31.6%.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire, has the third-lowest percentage of people passing at 32.5% out of 314 tests taken.
The fourth lowest pass rate is Erith, London, with 32.8% passes in total out of 12,332 tests taken.
Belvedere in London has the fifth lowest rate of people passing at 33.5% in total out of 9,481 tests taken.
At the other end of the success scale, the locations with the highest pass rates are in Scotland.
Montrose, Angus, came out on top with the highest percentage of pass rates out of all test centres in the UK. This test centre has an average pass rate of 74.8% – of 1,249 tests taken, 934 were passed.
Peebles is second, with a pass rate of 74.2%. Peebles Test Centre has assessed 531 prospective drivers since the start of 2020, deeming 394 of them ready to drive.
Hawick is the third easiest test centre for someone to pass their driving test in the UK, with a pass rate of 73.3%. Males have a higher pass rate than women at 74.8%, and females are not far behind with a pass rate of 71.8%.
Forfar, located in the county of Angus, has been the UK’s busiest over the past three years, completing 1,251 tests and handing out 908 licences – resulting in a pass rate of 70.1%.
In fifth place is Lerwick, with a 70.1% pass rate. Males have a pass rate of 71.1%, whereas women have a slightly lower success rate of 64.8%.
Between the start of 2020 and the end of 2023, 4,490,298 tests were taken nationwide.
A spokesperson from Howden Insurance said: “Taking a driving test is always a daunting task, but perseverance is key when it doesn’t go your way the first time around.
"It is interesting to see the vast differences in success rates between the different test centres across the UK, with Scotland coming out on top.”
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