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Birmingham driving test centre

DVSA name: Birmingham (Kings Heath) · 955 Alcester Road South, Birmingham, B14 5JA

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

Drive the 5 routes around Birmingham before test day →

Pass rate 2025/26
46.8%
GB 50.0% · West Midlands 46.2%
Median wait, Aug 2026
11.7weeks
Free slots 24 weeks ahead
Tests a year
9,072
4,242 passed

Key facts

  • Birmingham's pass rate was 46.8% in 2025/26 from 9,072 tests, 3.2 points below the national average of 50.0%.
  • That puts it 16 of 26 centres in West Midlands (West Midlands average 46.2%), a mid-table pass rates in the region.
  • Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 7.7 points, from 39.1% to 46.8%.
  • On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 11.7 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
  • A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 5.6 weeks, so waits have grown by about 6.1 weeks.
  • 37.2% 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.

Kings Heath is one of the harder centres in the West Midlands, and there is another test centre a little over a kilometre away that passes considerably more of its candidates. That is worth knowing before you book, because the two are not testing the same roads. Kings Heath puts you on the A435, Alcester Road South, a main road with bus stops, side turnings and signalled crossings along it, and then into the estates around Warstock Road and Druids Lane. There are 34 give-way junctions on the practice loops on this page and 17 signalled crossings. The pass rate has climbed nearly eight points since 2021, and it is still below the national average.

Drive the Birmingham test routes before test day

5 loops from the centre, 52 km in all, with 31 roundabouts and 106 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Birmingham; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.

Drive it before test day

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

  • 5 routes · 52 km · 106 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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  1. Route 1 · via Highters Heath Lane
    9.5 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Alcester Road.
    9.5 km · 22 turns · 9 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  2. Route 2 · via Bells Lane
    11.6 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Monyhull Hall Road.
    11.6 km · 19 turns · 4 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  3. Route 3 · via Alcester Road South
    11.2 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Hollywood Lane.
    11.2 km · 21 turns · 5 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  4. Route 4 · via Alcester Road South
    8.1 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Druids Lane.
    8.1 km · 22 turns · 6 roundabouts
    Drive this route
  5. Route 5 · via Alcester Road
    11.2 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Alcester Road South.
    11.2 km · 22 turns · 7 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.

Two things dominate here. The first is the A435. Alcester Road South carries the main road part of every loop at 30 mph, with parked cars, bus stops and crossings close enough together that you are rarely more than a few seconds from the next one. Seventeen signalled crossings sit on the practice loops on this page, along with two sets of traffic lights. Amber decisions are the recurring fault.

The second is roundabouts, and they arrive in clusters. One loop takes in nine of them in under six miles, and the quietest still has four. Eight of those on the loops are mini-roundabouts, and the named ones sit at Maypole Lane, Highters Heath Lane, School Road, Druids Lane, Monyhull Hall Road, Warstock Road and Broad Meadow Lane, with another on Alcester Road South itself. Mini-roundabouts are where candidates lose it: signal the exit, give way to the right, and keep off the painted circle.

In between, the loops run through estate roads with 34 give-way junctions and 37 schools inside the area. Eighty per cent of the distance is 30 mph, roughly a seventh of it is 40 and a smaller share is in 20 zones, so the limit changes often and the sign is easy to miss when you are already looking for the next roundabout.

Manoeuvres go on the residential roads off Highters Heath Lane and Haunch Lane, where the kerbs are straight and there is parking on one side to work around.

Pass rate at Birmingham, 2007/08 to 2025/26

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

25%40%55%GB 50%46.8%07/0811/1216/1720/2125/26

Month by month, 2025/26

0%30%60%AprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMar

By year and gender

YearTestsPass rateMaleFemale
2025/269,07246.8%47.6%45.7%
2024/258,48847.0%48.9%44.7%
2023/248,03344.5%46.1%42.9%
2022/236,13744.2%46.6%41.6%
2021/225,48739.1%42.2%36.0%
2020/211,59243.6%47.2%40.4%
2019/204,83541.9%46.1%38.4%
2018/195,87639.1%44.7%34.7%

West Midlands average 46.2% · GB 50%

Waiting time for a test at Birmingham

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

01020GB 11.9 wks11.7Sep 2023May 2024Feb 2025Nov 2025Aug 2026
MonthMedian waitWeeks to free slotsSlots offeredStill free
Aug 202611.7244737.2%
Jul 202611.7244439.2%
Jun 202614.7243942.1%
May 202610244536.6%
Apr 202611.4244338.1%
Mar 202614244039.8%

Tell me when the wait at Birmingham drops

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

Test day at Birmingham

The centre is at 955 Alcester Road South, on the main road running south out of Kings Heath. Units like this sit in a parade rather than standing alone, so the number on the door matters more than the shape of the building.

DVSA runs car tests and ADI part 3 here. The record says DVSA will make arrangements for candidates who have a disability, which is not the same as a statement that the building is step-free, so ring the centre and describe what you need rather than assuming it is covered.

Nothing is published about candidate parking or the waiting room. On a main road unit of this kind there is rarely much space at the door, and instructors normally drop candidates off and then find a side street. If you are driving yourself, allow ten minutes for that and walk back rather than circling with the clock running.

The nearest station is Pineapple Road, about three kilometres away, so most candidates arrive by car or by bus along the A435. The median wait was under twelve weeks in July and has grown by about four weeks in a year, which makes a cancellation worth watching for.

Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.

What DVSA publishes about Birmingham

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. DVSA says it will make arrangements for candidates with a disability, which is not the same as step-free access. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.

Learner reports from Birmingham

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 Birmingham.

  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

955 Alcester Road South
Birmingham B14 5JA

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

Nearby centres

Questions learners ask about Birmingham

Is Birmingham an easy test centre?
Its 46.8% 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 Birmingham?
In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Birmingham was 11.7 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 Birmingham driving test centre?
Birmingham test centre is at 955 Alcester Road South, Birmingham, B14 5JA. 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 Birmingham do a year?
9,072 car tests were conducted at Birmingham in 2025/26, of which 4,242 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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