Bristol driving test centre
DVSA name: Bristol (Avonmouth) · Unit M6, Cabot Park, Merebank Road, Avonmouth,, BS11 8AQ
Drive the 5 routes around Bristol before test day →
Key facts
- Bristol's pass rate was 55.5% in 2025/26 from 9,400 tests, 5.5 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 6 of 21 centres in South West (South West average 51.7%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 3.8 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 53.7% (2024/25) and 57.5% (2022/23).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 8 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 13.6 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 23 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 15 weeks.
- 22.1% 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.
Avonmouth is a test on an industrial estate and it drives like one. The centre is a unit in Cabot Park on Merebank Road, out among the warehousing behind the docks, and the traffic on the practice loops is largely lorries. Wide roads, long straights, few pedestrians, seven schools in the whole area and three level crossings on the freight lines. Four in ten of the tagged roads around the centre are 40 mph, which is rare for a test centre, and the A4 nearby is dual carriageway. The pass rate sits well above the national average, and the wait has fallen by about fifteen weeks in a year, so this has become one of the easier centres in the South West to get a date at.
Drive the Bristol test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 45 km in all, with 15 roundabouts and 106 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Bristol; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Bristol from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 45 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
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 Saint Andrews Road11.3 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Poplar Way East.11.3 km · 27 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Kings Weston Lane6.4 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Poplar Way West.6.4 km · 18 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Kings Weston Lane7.9 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Merebank Road.7.9 km · 17 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Saint Andrews Road9.9 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Kings Weston Lane.9.9 km · 21 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Kings Weston Lane9.1 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Merebank Road.9.1 km · 23 turns · 2 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The counts for this centre describe the area within two and a half kilometres rather than the loops themselves, and they are unlike anywhere else around Bristol. Thirty-nine per cent of the tagged roads are 40 mph and only a quarter are 30. There are two named roundabouts, Rockingham Roundabout and one at Poplar Way East, seven mini-roundabouts, seventeen signalled junctions and three level crossings.
That mix produces a particular test. The estate roads, Merebank Road, Kings Weston Lane, Third Way and Ironchurch Road, are wide, well surfaced and often empty, and the temptation on a wide empty 40 is to drift up through it. Speed is what catches people here, in both directions: too much on the estate roads, too little when joining the A4, which is dual carriageway and busy.
The level crossings are the feature most candidates have never met on a test. Freight uses them and the barriers can stay down for a while. The marking is on the approach rather than the wait, so slow early, stop behind the line, and do not creep.
Lorries are the other constant. Distribution traffic uses these roads all day, and being held behind one, or having one turn across you at a junction, is normal here rather than bad luck. Leave room to be overtaken and do not sit alongside a cab where the driver cannot see you.
The practice loops on this page run from 6.4 to 11.3 kilometres and carry between two and five roundabouts each. Manoeuvres go on the quieter estate roads, where the kerbs are long and straight and there is seldom anything parked to work around.
Pass rate at Bristol, 2016/17 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 | 9,400 | 55.5% | 56.3% | 54.5% |
| 2024/25 | 9,980 | 53.7% | 54.1% | 53.3% |
| 2023/24 | 11,066 | 56.3% | 57.2% | 55.3% |
| 2022/23 | 7,370 | 57.5% | 59.3% | 55.5% |
| 2021/22 | 7,487 | 56.1% | 58.4% | 53.8% |
| 2020/21 | 2,296 | 55.7% | 60.2% | 51.1% |
| 2019/20 | 8,471 | 51.4% | 54.5% | 48.5% |
| 2018/19 | 5,071 | 51.9% | 55.6% | 48.4% |
South West average 51.7% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Bristol
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 | 8 | 13.6 | 35 | 22.1% |
| Jul 2026 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 19% |
| Jun 2026 | 5.1 | 12.4 | 60 | 17.6% |
| May 2026 | 4.5 | 19 | 58 | 19.5% |
| Apr 2026 | 5.4 | 24 | 55 | 18.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 4 | 24 | 60 | 20.2% |
Tell me when the wait at Bristol drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Bristol
The centre is Unit M6 in Cabot Park, on Merebank Road. Cabot Park is a large estate of units with its own road layout, so put the postcode in and then follow the unit number rather than looking for a sign from the main road. Give yourself an extra five minutes for that on a first visit.
DVSA runs car tests and ADI part 3 here. Nothing is published about wheelchair access or other arrangements at this centre, so if you need step-free entry or anything agreed in advance, ring the centre before the day rather than finding out on it.
Parking is not published either, though units on estates like this normally have marked bays outside and space is less of a problem than at a high street centre. Treat that as typical rather than promised.
Saint Andrews Road station is about a kilometre away, but most candidates arrive by car.
The median wait was around eight weeks in July, roughly fifteen weeks shorter than a year earlier, and a third of the standard slots in the booking window were still unbooked. By recent standards that is an easy centre to get into, and it is worth looking here if your local centre is booked solid. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Bristol
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 Bristol
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 Bristol.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Unit M6, Cabot Park, Merebank RoadAvonmouth, BS11 8AQ
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Bristol (Kingswood)Bristol · BS15 4GQ · 14 km51.9%+1.9 vs GB5.3 wkswait
- Newport (Gwent)Newport · NP19 4XH · 21 km48.9%-1.1 vs GB6.2 wkswait
- Weston-super-MareWeston Super Mare · BS23 3PZ · 28 km61.0%+11.0 vs GB5 wkswait
- MonmouthNP25 3DP · 33 km51.0%+1.0 vs GB11.6 wkswait
- Cardiff (Llanishen)Cardiff · CF14 5GF · 35 km46.5%-3.5 vs GB11.1 wkswait
- ChippenhamSN14 6LH · 38 km56.4%+6.4 vs GB7.7 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Bristol
- Is Bristol an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 55.5% 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 Bristol?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Bristol was 8 weeks, and you had to look about 13.6 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 Bristol driving test centre?
- Bristol test centre is at Unit M6, Cabot Park, Merebank Road, Avonmouth,, BS11 8AQ. 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 Bristol do a year?
- 9,400 car tests were conducted at Bristol in 2025/26, of which 5,214 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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