Bishops Stortford driving test centre
South Road, Bishops Stortford, CM23 3JQ
Drive the 5 routes around Bishops Stortford before test day →
Key facts
- Bishops Stortford's pass rate was 51.3% in 2025/26 from 6,409 tests, in line with the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 10 of 24 centres in East of England (East of England average 51.4%), a mid-table pass rates in the region.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 3.9 points, from 47.4% to 51.3%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 10.4 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 14.1 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 3.7 weeks.
- 26.3% 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.
Not many test centres have level crossings on the roads around them. Bishops Stortford has three on the practice loops on this page, on the railway either side of the town, and a barrier coming down mid-route is a wait you have to sit out without fidgeting. The rest is a busy market town: four fifths of the route length at 30 mph, six mini-roundabouts, and traffic calming on a great many of the residential roads. London Road and Whittington Way carry the through traffic, with the A1250 running past the centre. The pass rate has risen since 2021 and now sits about the national average, and the wait has come down over the past year, which is not the direction most centres have moved in.
Drive the Bishops Stortford test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 51 km in all, with 41 roundabouts and 110 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Bishops Stortford; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Bishops Stortford 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 · 110 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 Villiers-sur-Marne Avenue9.3 km loop with 11 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of London Road.9.3 km · 23 turns · 11 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Hallingbury Road11.4 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of London Road.11.4 km · 24 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Pig Lane11.6 km loop with 11 roundabouts, 4 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Villiers-sur-Marne Avenue.11.6 km · 21 turns · 11 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via London Road9.2 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Hallingbury Road.9.2 km · 26 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via London Road10.0 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 1 right turn, 6 left turns and a stretch of Friedberg Avenue.10.0 km · 16 turns · 9 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The loops on this page are all between nine and twelve kilometres, but they are not the same test. One passes eleven roundabouts and asks for nine right turns. Another has only two roundabouts and thirteen right turns, which is a completely different half hour. Whichever you get, London Road, Whittington Way and Villiers-sur-Marne Avenue are likely to feature, along with the A1250.
Crossings are the theme. Across the loops there are nineteen signalled pedestrian crossings and fourteen sets of traffic lights in about fifty kilometres of road, and they are not spread evenly: most of them sit in the town-centre stretches rather than out on the lanes. Stopping smoothly at a changing amber, and not creeping over the line while you wait, is worth practising on those roads specifically.
Then there are the three level crossings. If a barrier comes down, stop behind the line, wait, and do not edge forward. The examiner is not marking the wait. They are marking what you do when the barriers lift and the driver behind is impatient.
Traffic calming is heavy on the residential roads, with twenty-seven features across the loops. Friedberg Avenue, Oriole Way, Beaumont Avenue and the streets off Hallingbury Road are the estate half and the usual place for a manoeuvre.
Thirteen per cent of the route length is national speed limit, on the lanes out past Great Hadham Road and Hallingbury Road. Out there the speed has to come from what you can see, not from the sign.
Pass rate at Bishops Stortford, 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 | 6,409 | 51.3% | 51.6% | 51.0% |
| 2024/25 | 6,826 | 50.4% | 49.8% | 51.2% |
| 2023/24 | 8,006 | 49.5% | 50.0% | 49.0% |
| 2022/23 | 5,315 | 50.6% | 51.6% | 49.6% |
| 2021/22 | 5,127 | 47.4% | 49.5% | 45.3% |
| 2020/21 | 1,379 | 49.7% | 51.7% | 47.8% |
| 2019/20 | 6,238 | 46.2% | 50.3% | 42.5% |
| 2018/19 | 6,648 | 43.7% | 47.4% | 40.5% |
East of England average 51.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Bishops Stortford
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 | 10.4 | 24 | 58 | 26.3% |
| Jul 2026 | 10.4 | 24 | 45 | 34.6% |
| Jun 2026 | 11.3 | 24 | 41 | 29.5% |
| May 2026 | 14.3 | 24 | 33 | 33.6% |
| Apr 2026 | 9.6 | 24 | 43 | 29.8% |
| Mar 2026 | 7 | 24 | 50 | 25.1% |
Tell me when the wait at Bishops Stortford drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Bishops Stortford
The centre is on South Road, about six hundred metres from Bishop's Stortford station, which is unusually close. Arriving by train genuinely works here, and the walk is short enough that a late train is not automatically a missed test.
DVSA publishes that you can access this centre if you use a wheelchair. It runs car tests and ADI part 3 and nothing else, so no motorcycle and no lorry tests.
Parking is not in the official record. South Road is near both the town centre and the station, which is not a promising combination for a free space, so the sensible plan is a drop-off at the door with the instructor parking further out, or arriving early enough to walk in from wherever you find room.
Aim for about ten minutes before your slot. The examiner calls you by name, checks your licence and asks you to sign the declaration confirming the car is insured for the test. The eyesight check is done outside on the road before you get in, so take your time over the plate rather than guessing at it.
Booking, moving and cancelling a test are done only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Bishops Stortford
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
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Learner reports from Bishops Stortford
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 Bishops Stortford.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
South RoadBishops Stortford CM23 3JQ
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Enfield (Innova Business Park)Enfield · EN3 7XY · 24 km53.9%+3.9 vs GB20 wkswait
- Loughton (London)Loughton · IG10 1RB · 25 km47.0%-3.0 vs GB9.4 wkswait
- Chelmsford (Hanbury Road)Chelmsford · CM1 2PZ · 25 km55.4%+5.4 vs GB17 wkswait
- StevenageSG1 3DT · 26 km55.3%+5.3 vs GB6.7 wkswait
- Chingford (London)Chingford · E4 6AD · 27 km39.9%-10.1 vs GB9.6 wkswait
- LetchworthSG6 1RF · 29 km57.5%+7.5 vs GB25 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Bishops Stortford
- Is Bishops Stortford an easy test centre?
- It is close to the national average: 51.3% of tests were passed in 2025/26 against 50.0% across Great Britain.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Bishops Stortford?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Bishops Stortford was 10.4 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 Bishops Stortford driving test centre?
- Bishops Stortford test centre is at South Road, Bishops Stortford, CM23 3JQ. 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 Bishops Stortford do a year?
- 6,409 car tests were conducted at Bishops Stortford in 2025/26, of which 3,290 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 Bishops Stortford’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month · or £14.99 once for 90 days
Try free