Ashford driving test centre
DVSA name: Ashford (Kent) · International House, Dover Place, Ashford, TN23 1HU
Drive the 5 routes around Ashford before test day →
Key facts
- Ashford's pass rate was 46.2% in 2025/26 from 5,475 tests, 3.8 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 25 of 30 centres in South East (South East average 52.9%), one of the lower pass rates in the region, 6.7 points below it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 46.2% (2021/22) and 52% (2024/25).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 6.3 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 18.4 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 10.3 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 4 weeks.
Pedestrians decide a lot of Ashford tests. The five practice loops on this page carry 31 signalled crossings and ten zebras, on top of 34 sets of traffic signals, across 51 km of driving. That is a lot of controlled walking traffic for a town this size, and 25 schools sit inside the area the loops cover. Ashford is also a town of roundabouts: eleven of the loop roads carry one, among them West Street, New Street, Mace Lane and Simone Weil Avenue. Two-thirds of the distance is at 30 mph, a further quarter at 40, and short sections are signed lower still. The pass rate is among the lower ones in the South East and has not moved much in several years.
Drive the Ashford test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 51 km in all, with 29 roundabouts and 124 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Ashford; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Ashford from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 51 km · 124 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 Avenue Jacques Faucheux9.0 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Mace Lane.9.0 km · 25 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Canterbury Road11.1 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Simone Weil Avenue.11.1 km · 22 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Avenue Jacques Faucheux10.2 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 14 left turns and a stretch of Station Road.10.2 km · 29 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Avenue Jacques Faucheux10.9 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 4 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Hythe Road.10.9 km · 22 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Avenue Jacques Faucheux9.8 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Christchurch Road.9.8 km · 26 turns · 4 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Ashford asks you to keep looking left and right at walking pace. There are 31 signalled crossings on the practice loops on this page and ten zebras, and short sections of the loops are signed as low as 10 mph. Reading those and slowing properly, rather than easing off and hoping, is the single most useful thing to rehearse.
Above that sits the ordinary town test: 34 sets of traffic signals, 30 give-way junctions and eleven roundabout roads in 51 km of loops. Two loops take in eight roundabouts each in around ten kilometres.
Worth practising specifically before an Ashford test:
- Approaching a signalled crossing that is already on green, and being ready for it to change.
- Multi-lane roundabouts entered from the correct lane and held round to the exit without drifting.
- The drop from 40 mph to 30 and then lower again, done at the sign rather than after it.
- The level crossing on the loops, driven once beforehand so the approach and the markings are familiar.
A quarter of the loop distance is at 40 mph. Chart Road, Templer Way and Simone Weil Avenue are among the roundabout roads on that faster edge of the town, and undue hesitation gets marked more often out there than on the residential streets.
Manoeuvres are asked for away from the main roads. With 25 schools in the area, an afternoon slot puts you into the school run whether the route planned for it or not.
Pass rate at Ashford, 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 | 5,475 | 46.2% | 45.7% | 46.9% |
| 2024/25 | 3,504 | 52.0% | 52.3% | 51.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4,811 | 49.0% | 49.3% | 48.5% |
| 2022/23 | 6,103 | 49.7% | 48.6% | 51.2% |
| 2021/22 | 3,904 | 46.2% | 46.2% | 46.3% |
| 2020/21 | 863 | 50.1% | 52.8% | 47.3% |
| 2019/20 | 3,749 | 44.2% | 46.4% | 42.2% |
| 2018/19 | 3,784 | 45.1% | 46.8% | 43.5% |
South East average 52.9% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Ashford
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 | 6.3 | 18.4 | 53 | 15.7% |
| Jul 2026 | 6.3 | 20 | 53 | 18.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 4.7 | 20.6 | 59 | 18.6% |
| May 2026 | 4.3 | 24 | 63 | 16.9% |
| Apr 2026 | 4.1 | 24 | 64 | 15.3% |
| Mar 2026 | 5.3 | 24 | 59 | 15.9% |
Tell me when the wait at Ashford drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Ashford
Two things in DVSA's record for Ashford change what you do on the day. The first is that the centre is moving to a new address, so check the address on your booking confirmation rather than the one you remember or the one an instructor gave you last year. The second is the car park: candidates get in through an automatic barrier, which means arriving with the confirmation to hand and not treating the barrier as somebody else's problem.
Ashford International station is a couple of hundred metres away, which is closer than almost any test centre in the country. If you are not being driven there, this is one of the few centres where the train genuinely works.
Nothing about wheelchair access is published for Ashford. Ring DVSA ahead of the day if you need step-free entry or any other arrangement, rather than finding out on arrival.
The centre runs car tests and ADI part 3. There are no motorcycle tests. Booking, moving and cancelling all go through GOV.UK.
Aim for about ten minutes early. The examiner checks your licence, has you sign the insurance declaration, and does the eyesight check outside before you get in.
What DVSA publishes about Ashford
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- carADI part 3
- Wheelchair access
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
- On the day
- Ashford Test Centre is moving to a new address. To gain access to the car park candidates will need to enter through the automatic barrier.
Learner reports from Ashford
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 Ashford.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
International House, Dover PlaceAshford TN23 1HU
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- CanterburyCT1 3AS · 21 km45.8%-4.2 vs GB5.3 wkswait
- FolkestoneCT20 2TS · 22 km42.4%-7.6 vs GB7.9 wkswait
- MaidstoneME15 6JZ · 28 km60.2%+10.2 vs GB10 wkswait
- Herne BayCT6 6GZ · 31 km55.9%+5.9 vs GB7 wkswait
- GillinghamME8 0EZ · 32 km56.4%+6.4 vs GB9.9 wkswait
- Hastings (Ore)Hastings · TN34 2SA · 36 km52.4%+2.4 vs GB17.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Ashford
- Is Ashford an easy test centre?
- Its 46.2% pass rate in 2025/26 is below the 50.0% national average. Busy urban roads and complex junctions usually explain lower rates; knowing the local routes closes most of that gap.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Ashford?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Ashford was 6.3 weeks, and you had to look about 18.4 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 Ashford driving test centre?
- Ashford test centre is at International House, Dover Place, Ashford, TN23 1HU. 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 Ashford do a year?
- 5,475 car tests were conducted at Ashford in 2025/26, of which 2,530 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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