PassRank

Pass rates offline, and the 3D routes on your phone

GetGet
PassRank
Try 3D free

Barry driving test centre

Unit 16, Business Support Centre, Hood Road, Innovation Quarter, The Waterfront, Barry, CF62 5QN

First on your home page, plus an email when the wait here falls.

Drive the 5 routes around Barry before test day →

Pass rate 2025/26
57.0%
GB 50.0% · Wales 52.4%
Median wait, Aug 2026
10weeks
Free slots 10.4 weeks ahead
Tests a year
2,244
1,280 passed

Key facts

  • Barry's pass rate was 57% in 2025/26 from 2,244 tests, 7 points above the national average of 50.0%.
  • That puts it 7 of 21 centres in Wales (Wales average 52.4%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 4.6 points above it.
  • Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 6.7 points, from 63.7% to 57%.
  • On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 10 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 10.4 weeks ahead.
  • 28.7% of the standard slots in the booking window were still unbooked in August 2026, which usually means a cancellation or new date is realistic here.

Barry is a 20 mph test. Eighty-three per cent of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 20 and another 3 per cent at 10, around the Waterfront and the docks, so what is being marked is control and observation rather than speed. It passes 57 per cent, 74th of the 302 centres ranked and seventh of the 21 centres in Wales, though that is down 6.7 points on 2021/22. It is also one of the easier centres to book: a median wait of 10 weeks, with 43.4 per cent of the slots in the booking window still unbooked. Thirteen named roundabouts and 23 signalled crossings tell you the rest — a slow, busy, crossing-heavy town test.

Drive the Barry test routes before test day

5 loops from the centre, 49 km in all, with 38 roundabouts and 125 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Barry; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.

Drive it before test day

Drive all 5 loops around Barry from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.

  • 5 routes · 49 km · 125 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
Start driving: £14.99 for 90 daysI already subscribe

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.

  1. Route 1 · via Westward Rise
    10.3 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Gladstone Road.
    10.3 km · 31 turns · 7 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  2. Route 2 · via Ffordd y Mileniwm
    9.6 km loop with 12 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Broad Street.
    9.6 km · 27 turns · 12 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  3. Route 3 · via Ffordd Y Mileniwm
    8.5 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Hood Road.
    8.5 km · 20 turns · 7 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  4. Route 4 · via Ffordd Y Mileniwm
    11.2 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Pontypridd Road.
    11.2 km · 25 turns · 7 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  5. Route 5 · via Plymouth Road
    9.5 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Colcot Road.
    9.5 km · 22 turns · 5 roundabouts
    Drive this route

The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.

Twenty is the number to hold in your head. Eighty-three per cent of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 20 mph and another 3 per cent at 10, in the docks and around the Waterfront. Twelve per cent is at 30 and 2 per cent at 40. Holding a steady 20 is harder than it sounds: drifting over is a fault, and so is crawling well under it out of nerves on a road where traffic is behind you.

Roundabouts do the joining. Thirteen are named — Park Road, Park Crescent, Jenner Road, Gladstone Road, Gladstone Bridge, Ffordd y Mileniwm, Pontypridd Road, Buttrills Road, Porthkerry Road, Morel Street, Broad Street, College Road and St. Nicholas Road — with two mini-roundabouts alongside, and one 9.6 kilometre loop takes in twelve of them.

Crossings are the other half of the test. There are 23 signalled crossings and eleven zebras on the set, along with 16 sets of traffic signals, which is dense for a town this size. With 18 schools in the area, pedestrians are what the examiner is watching you for: your speed on the approach to a zebra, and whether you look before you commit rather than after.

Ffordd y Mileniwm, Hood Road, Gladstone Road, Broad Street, Island Road, Jenner Road, Pontypridd Road, Park Road and Market Street carry most of the driving, with the A4050 and A4055 on the outside and a short stretch of dual carriageway on the set. Two level crossings sit on the loops, and there are 19 give-way junctions.

Pass rate at Barry, 2011/12 to 2025/26

Share of car tests passed each April-to-March year. Dashed line: Great Britain average for 2025/26.

45%57.5%70%GB 50%57%11/1214/1518/1921/2225/26

Month by month, 2025/26

0%35%70%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMar

By year and gender

YearTestsPass rateMaleFemale
2025/262,24457.0%56.8%57.3%
2024/251,62161.8%61.1%62.5%
2023/241,72556.1%57.2%55.0%
2022/231,35961.1%61.8%60.5%
2021/221,42463.7%65.6%62.1%
2020/2134164.2%70.1%60.3%
2019/201,91055.3%60.7%51.2%
2018/192,27258.0%66.0%51.7%

Wales average 52.4% · GB 50%

Waiting time for a test at Barry

Median weeks between booking and taking the test, for tests taken each month. Dashed line: GB median for August 2026.

01020GB 11.9 wks10Sep 2023May 2024Feb 2025Nov 2025Aug 2026
MonthMedian waitWeeks to free slotsSlots offeredStill free
Aug 20261010.43828.7%
Jul 202610113724.9%
Jun 20268.916.84516.9%
May 202611.323.83321.6%
Apr 202612.9243120%
Mar 2026920.24121.2%

Tell me when the wait at Barry drops

One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.

Test day at Barry

The centre is Unit 16 in the Business Support Centre on Hood Road, in the Innovation Quarter at The Waterfront, CF62 5QN. It is a unit in a business building rather than a building of its own, so look for the number. Barry station is 0.5 kilometres away, which makes this one of the few centres you can reach on foot from a train.

Car tests are conducted here, along with ADI part 3, the examiner's test for instructors.

Nothing is published about parking. On a modern business quarter the marked bays belong to the units; the sensible thing is to allow a few minutes and leave the car on a nearby road.

The wait was a median of 10 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, shorter than the national 11.9, and the first week with a tenth of its slots still free was 11 weeks ahead. With 43.4 per cent of standard slots unbooked, a cancellation or a moved date is realistic here — which is not true of most centres.

May returned 60.5 per cent and July 54.2. Cardiff (Llanishen) is 15 kilometres away but passes 46.5 per cent; Llantrisant passes 54 at a wait of 8.6 weeks. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.

What DVSA publishes about Barry

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.

Learner reports from Barry

No reports yet for this centre. If you tested here, the first one is yours to write.

Write a test reportShare a tip

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 Barry.

  1. 1Junctions - observation
  2. 2Mirrors - change direction
  3. 3Junctions - turning right
  4. 4Response to signs - traffic lights
  5. 5Control - steering
  6. 6Move off - safely

All ten, and what each one means

Getting there

Unit 16, Business Support Centre, Hood Road, Innovation Quarter, The Waterfront
Barry CF62 5QN

Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK

Nearby centres

Questions learners ask about Barry

Is Barry an easy test centre?
By the numbers, yes: 57% 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 Barry?
In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Barry was 10 weeks, and you had to look about 10.4 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 Barry driving test centre?
Barry test centre is at Unit 16, Business Support Centre, Hood Road, Innovation Quarter, The Waterfront, Barry, CF62 5QN. 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 Barry do a year?
2,244 car tests were conducted at Barry in 2025/26, of which 1,280 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 Barry’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month

Try free