Alness driving test centre
Unit 22 Fyrish Way, Teaninich Industrial Estate, Alness, IV17 0PJ
Drive the 5 routes around Alness before test day →
Key facts
- Alness's pass rate was 63.1% in 2025/26 from 783 tests, 13.1 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 21 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 13.8 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 61.4% (2021/22) and 63.1% (2025/26).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 14.9 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
Half of the driving on the practice loops at Alness is at 60 mph. That is the single fact that matters here. There is not one set of traffic lights on the loops, not one signalled pedestrian crossing, and only a single zebra. What the routes give you instead is unlit single-carriageway road between Alness and the villages around it, with junctions you join at speed. The town part is short and slow, a fifth of it at 20 mph. The centre itself is a unit on the Teaninich Industrial Estate, and the pass rate has sat in the low sixties for years without much movement, which is unusual and says something about how consistent the driving is.
Drive the Alness test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 50 km in all, with 10 roundabouts and 91 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Alness; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Alness from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 50 km · 91 marked turns
- Examiner-style marking on signalling and observation
- Street View tour of each route
- Every roundabout and junction, in the order you'll meet them
- The four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios, included
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- Route 1 · via Teaninich Avenue10.8 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Novar Road.10.8 km · 17 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Teaninich Avenue10.3 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of River Drive.10.3 km · 21 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Ardross Street10.5 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of High Street.10.5 km · 16 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Teaninich Avenue9.9 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Firhill Perimeter Road.9.9 km · 17 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Teaninich Avenue8.8 km loop with 9 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Springfield Terrace.8.8 km · 20 turns
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Just over half the loop length is 60 mph and none of it is dual carriageway. That combination is the whole character of an Alness test. Single-carriageway national limit road means oncoming traffic at closing speeds, side turnings and farm entrances that arrive without much warning, and overtaking decisions the examiner will notice you not making as much as making. The B817 runs through it.
The town half is a third at 30 mph and a fifth at 20, on Market Street, Obsdale Road, Coulhill Road and the streets off them. There are only two traffic calming features across all five loops, so the limit sign is the only thing telling you to slow down.
Junction furniture barely exists. No traffic signals at all, no signalled crossings, one zebra crossing, and nine give-way junctions across 50 km of loop. Roundabouts are almost as rare: one at Teaninich Avenue and a single mini-roundabout. If you have learned in Inverness, expect the opposite of the problem you are used to. Nothing here tells you what to do.
Two level crossings sit on the loops. The longest runs 10.8 km out towards Novar Road with three roundabouts on it. The shortest is 8.8 km around Springfield Terrace with none at all. The loop along Firhill Perimeter Road is the one that stays closest to the estate, and it is worth driving early if the industrial traffic is what you are nervous about.
Pass rate at Alness, 2007/08 to 2025/26
Share of car tests passed each April-to-March year. Dashed line: Great Britain average for 2025/26.
Month by month, 2025/26
By year and gender
| Year | Tests | Pass rate | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 783 | 63.1% | 62.7% | 63.5% |
| 2024/25 | 865 | 63.0% | 63.6% | 62.4% |
| 2023/24 | 877 | 61.6% | 64.9% | 58.6% |
| 2022/23 | 898 | 62.0% | 63.7% | 60.3% |
| 2021/22 | 1,008 | 61.4% | 63.1% | 59.7% |
| 2020/21 | 324 | 63.3% | 61.8% | 64.9% |
| 2019/20 | 867 | 56.6% | 55.6% | 57.6% |
| 2018/19 | 858 | 58.2% | 59.1% | 57.0% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Alness
Median weeks between booking and taking the test, for tests taken each month. Dashed line: GB median for August 2026.
| Month | Median wait | Weeks to free slots | Slots offered | Still free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 14.9 | 24 | 10 | 10.2% |
| Jul 2026 | 14.9 | 24 | 22 | 1.7% |
| Jun 2026 | 15 | 24 | 14 | 7.4% |
| May 2026 | 17.6 | 24 | 8 | 9.8% |
| Apr 2026 | 11.1 | 20.5 | 35 | 9.5% |
| Mar 2026 | 13.5 | 21.6 | 34 | 10.5% |
Tell me when the wait at Alness drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Alness
The centre is Unit 22 on Fyrish Way, on the Teaninich Industrial Estate at the western edge of Alness. Industrial estate units look alike from a moving car, so find the unit number rather than trusting the postcode. DVSA publishes that you can access this centre if you use a wheelchair.
Car tests are the only tests run here. Nothing is published about parking or a waiting room. On an estate like this, parking is shared with the businesses around it rather than reserved for candidates, which is typical, so arrive early enough that a full row of vans is not a problem. Alness station is a little over a kilometre away, though the service is sparse and most candidates come by car.
The wait is the thing to plan around. A test taken in July had been booked around fifteen weeks earlier, and the first week with a real choice of slots was about 24 weeks out. Inverness is roughly twenty-two kilometres south with a much shorter wait, but its pass rate is a long way below this one, so the trade is a genuine one rather than an obvious win. Booking, moving and cancelling is only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Alness
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- car
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Learner reports from Alness
No reports yet for this centre. If you tested here, the first one is yours to write.
What examiners mark most often
DVSA does not publish faults by centre, but it does publish them nationally. These collected the most marks across every car test in Great Britain in 2025/26, and they are the same ones you will be marked on at Alness.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Unit 22 Fyrish Way, Teaninich Industrial EstateAlness IV17 0PJ
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Inverness (Longman Drive)Inverness · IV1 1SU · 22 km45.8%-4.2 vs GB5.9 wkswait
- GolspieKW10 6SP · 36 km71.0%+21.0 vs GB15.6 wkswait
- LairgIV27 4DB · 38 km50.0%+0.0 vs GB–wait
Questions learners ask about Alness
- Is Alness an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 63.1% of car tests were passed there in 2025/26, against 50.0% nationally. Pass rates reflect the local roads and who takes tests there as much as the examiners, so treat it as a guide, not a guarantee.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Alness?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Alness was 14.9 weeks, and you had to look about 24 weeks ahead to find a week with at least 10% of slots free. DVSA publishes this monthly; the figure above updates when they do.
- Where is Alness driving test centre?
- Alness test centre is at Unit 22 Fyrish Way, Teaninich Industrial Estate, Alness, IV17 0PJ. Arrive at least 10 minutes early with your provisional licence; parking rules vary by centre, so check the learner reports below.
- How many driving tests does Alness do a year?
- 783 car tests were conducted at Alness in 2025/26, of which 494 were passed.
Source: DVSA tables DRT122A (pass rates by centre and month) and DRT122F (waiting times and availability), Open Government Licence v3.0. PassRank adds the comparisons and rankings.
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