Ballachulish driving test centre
Mountain Rescue Centre, Glencoe, Balachulish, PH49 4HP
Drive the 5 routes around Ballachulish before test day →
Key facts
- Ballachulish's pass rate was 69.2% in 2015/16 from 13 tests, 19.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
The figures for Ballachulish are old and thin: 69.2 per cent from 13 tests in 2015/16, and no published waiting time. Thirteen tests tells you almost nothing, so use it as background and nothing more. The roads are worth taking seriously. Forty-seven per cent of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 60 mph and 35 per cent at 40, on Glencoe roads that bend continuously between the hills and the loch. There is not one give-way junction, not one set of traffic signals and not one roundabout in the whole area across 43.9 kilometres. Fort William is 15.3 kilometres away and publishes current figures.
Drive the Ballachulish test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 44 km in all, with 0 roundabouts and 70 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Ballachulish; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Ballachulish from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 44 km · 70 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
One payment, no renewal. Or £9.99 a month with a 3-day free trial. Cancel any time.
Everything else on PassRank, every centre, its pass rate, its waiting time and the forum, is free and needs no account.
- Route 1 · via Old Glencoe Road7.1 km loop with 5 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Lorn Drive.7.1 km · 14 turns
- Route 2 · via Bridge of Coe5.8 km loop with 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Lorn Drive.5.8 km · 18 turns
- Route 3 · via Carnoch Crofts Road12.7 km loop with 5 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Lower Carnoch Township Road.12.7 km · 11 turns
- Route 4 · via Lorn Drive12.5 km loop with 5 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Lower Carnoch Township Road.12.5 km · 12 turns
- Route 5 · via Lorn Drive5.9 km loop with 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Bridge of Coe.5.9 km · 15 turns
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
This is an open-road test. Forty-seven per cent of the distance is at 60 mph and 35 per cent at 40, with 17 per cent at 20 and a short section at 50. Very little of it is town driving. The roads run between the hills and the loch, bending continuously, rising and falling, with sightlines that open and close as the ground does. Choosing a speed for what you can actually see, and adjusting before the bend rather than in it, is what the examiner is watching.
There is no junction furniture at all. Not one give-way junction across 43.9 kilometres, no traffic signals, no roundabouts, no mini-roundabouts, no zebra crossings and no level crossings. One signalled crossing and two pieces of traffic calming are the entire list, and those sit in the settled sections where the limit drops to 20.
The turning is uneven and concentrated on the short loops. A 5.8 kilometre loop asks for nine right turns and nine left, and a 5.9 kilometre loop asks for eight and seven — that is a junction every 350 metres or so. The two long loops, at 12.7 and 12.5 kilometres, ask for only five and six or seven, because most of their length is road between junctions.
Lorn Drive, Old Glencoe Road, Tigh a' Phuirt Road and the Lower Carnoch Township Road carry the named driving, with Bridge of Coe on one loop. There is one school in the area and no dual carriageway.
Pass rate at Ballachulish, 2007/08 to 2015/16
Share of car tests passed each April-to-March year. Dashed line: Great Britain average for 2025/26.
Month by month, 2015/16
By year and gender
| Year | Tests | Pass rate | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 13 | 69.2% | 71.4% | 66.7% |
| 2014/15 | 43 | 65.1% | 65.2% | 65.0% |
| 2013/14 | 49 | 71.4% | 66.7% | 77.3% |
| 2012/13 | 45 | 68.9% | 82.4% | 60.7% |
| 2011/12 | 34 | 64.7% | 72.7% | 50.0% |
| 2010/11 | 44 | 47.7% | 46.2% | 48.4% |
| 2009/10 | 55 | 56.4% | 60.0% | 52.0% |
| 2008/09 | 53 | 56.6% | 53.8% | 64.3% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Ballachulish
Median weeks between booking and taking the test, for tests taken each month. Dashed line: GB median for August 2026.
Not enough data to draw a chart.
Tell me when the wait at Ballachulish drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Ballachulish
Tests are conducted from the Mountain Rescue Centre at Glencoe, PH49 4HP. Car tests only. GOV.UK does not publish a wheelchair access note for this site, so ring DVSA and ask if you need to know before booking.
There is no railway station here and parking is not published for the centre. A mountain rescue base has to be able to turn vehicles out at any hour, so leave the car well clear of the doors and of the access track, and walk the last part.
No waiting time is published for this centre at all. That normally means it runs too few tests for DVSA to report a reliable median, and it is consistent with the 13 tests behind the last published pass rate. The only way to find out what is available is to look at the booking system yourself, and to keep looking.
Fort William is 15.3 kilometres away, passes 65.5 per cent and was waiting 15.6 weeks. Oban is 37.9 kilometres at 66.1 per cent and 15.4 weeks. Both have current figures and a diary you can plan against, which is the main argument for either of them. If you are set on testing here, book early and expect the date to be the constraint rather than the drive. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Ballachulish
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
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Ballachulish
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 Ballachulish.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Mountain Rescue Centre, GlencoeBalachulish PH49 4HP
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Fort WilliamPH33 6AN · 15 km65.5%+15.5 vs GB15.6 wkswait
- ObanPA34 4AE · 38 km66.1%+16.1 vs GB15.4 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Ballachulish
- Is Ballachulish an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 69.2% of car tests were passed there in 2015/16, 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.
- Where is Ballachulish driving test centre?
- Ballachulish test centre is at Mountain Rescue Centre, Glencoe, Balachulish, PH49 4HP. 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 Ballachulish do a year?
- 13 car tests were conducted at Ballachulish in 2015/16, of which 9 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.
Drive Ballachulish’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month · or £14.99 once for 90 days
Try free