First-time driving test pass rates in East of England, 2025/26

24 test centres in East of England ranked by the share of candidates who pass on their first ever driving test, highest to lowest. 99,181 first tests here produced 51,250 passes, a first-time rate of 51.7%, against 50.5% across Great Britain.

All regions East Midlands East of England London North East North West Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and The Humber

#	Test centre	Region	First tests	First-time pass rate	All attempts	Gap
1	Norwich (Peachman Way)	East of England	7,263	63.1%	61.7%	+1.4
2	Ipswich	East of England	6,504	63.0%	62.3%	+0.7
3	Letchworth	East of England	2,717	59.3%	57.5%	+1.8
4	Stevenage	East of England	2,375	55.8%	55.3%	+0.5
5	Chelmsford (Hanbury Road)	East of England	4,702	55.0%	55.4%	-0.4
6	Bedford	East of England	4,785	54.4%	53.7%	+0.7
7	Cambridge (Brookmount Court)	East of England	7,215	53.4%	53.8%	-0.4
8	Peterborough	East of England	5,406	53.2%	52.8%	+0.4
9	Kings Lynn	East of England	3,397	52.9%	51.9%	+1.0
10	Colchester	East of England	4,102	51.1%	50.6%	+0.5
11	Bishops Stortford	East of England	3,272	50.9%	51.3%	-0.4
12	Tilbury	East of England	2,473	50.3%	50.4%	-0.1
13	St Albans	East of England	3,873	49.4%	50.7%	-1.3
14	Borehamwood (London)	East of England	3,660	49.2%	50.8%	-1.6
15	Basildon	East of England	4,011	49.0%	49.1%	-0.1
16	Clacton-on- Sea	East of England	2,229	48.9%	48.2%	+0.7
17	Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road)	East of England	3,892	48.8%	49.9%	-1.1
18	Loughton (London)	East of England	3,359	48.0%	47.0%	+1.0
19	Brentwood (London)	East of England	2,890	47.1%	48.5%	-1.4
20	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	3,529	47.0%	47.0%	+0.0
21	Bury St Edmunds	East of England	4,224	46.9%	46.2%	+0.7
22	Watford	East of England	6,479	44.8%	46.2%	-1.4
23	Lowestoft (Mobbs Way)	East of England	3,394	44.1%	43.3%	+0.8
24	Luton	East of England	3,430	35.8%	39.2%	-3.4

What a first-time pass rate measures

The headline pass rate at a test centre mixes two groups: people sitting the driving test for the first time, and people coming back for a second, third or fifth attempt. The figure on this page counts only the first group. Of the candidates who arrived at each centre having never sat a driving test before, this is the share who drove away with a licence, which is the question you are actually asking if you have never taken the test.

The difference is smaller than most people expect. In 2025/26 the first-time rate across Great Britain was 50.5%, against 50.0% counting every attempt, a gap of 0.5 points. Centre by centre it splits almost evenly: of the 257 centres here with both figures published, 140 pass first-timers at a higher rate than their candidates overall and 107 at a lower one, with a median difference of 0.2 points. Retaking is not the drag on a centre's headline number that it is often assumed to be.

28,207 of those first-time passes were clean sheets, with no driving faults recorded at all, not even a minor. That is 5.7% of everyone who passed at the first attempt.

Centres with fewer than 500 first tests in the year are left out, because at that size a couple of dozen results moves the rate by several points and the ranking stops meaning anything. 54 centres are excluded on that rule.

The same ranking for the whole country is on the national first-time pass rate table, and addresses, waiting times and route notes for these centres are in the East of England test centre directory.