Carlisle driving test centre
Port Road Business Park, Port Road, Carlisle, CA2 7AF
Drive the 5 routes around Carlisle before test day →
Key facts
- Carlisle's pass rate was 58.7% in 2025/26 from 3,518 tests, 8.7 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 5 of 31 centres in North West (North West average 49.0%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 9.7 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 53.9% (2022/23) and 58.7% (2025/26).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 8.4 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 20 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 12.3 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 3.9 weeks.
- 24.3% 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.
Carlisle's test centre is on a business park off Port Road, west of the city, and the first minute of the drive is industrial-estate quiet. It does not stay that way. Routes head in towards the centre by Caldcotes or Shaddongate and end up on Castle Way and Hardwicke Circus, where the city's traffic is concentrated: 39 sets of lights sit within a mile and a half of the centre, more than most towns this size carry. Roundabouts are fewer by comparison, five conventional ones and eight mini-roundabouts. The pass rate is among the highest in the North West, and the wait has come down by about half in a year, which makes this one of the more approachable centres in the north.
Drive the Carlisle test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 53 km in all, with 20 roundabouts and 111 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Carlisle; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Carlisle from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 53 km · 111 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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- Route 1 · via Etterby Street10.7 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Etterby Scaur.10.7 km · 24 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Castle Way12.4 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Etterby Street.12.4 km · 21 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Castle Way9.4 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Brampton Road.9.4 km · 20 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Newtown Road9.5 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Castle Way.9.5 km · 24 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Newtown Road10.6 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Castle Way.10.6 km · 22 turns · 4 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Carlisle is a 30 mph test. Nearly four fifths of the roads within a mile and a half of the centre carry that limit and there is no dual carriageway on the loops, so what is being examined is not speed judgement on fast roads. It is junctions, lane choice and keeping the car moving in town.
Hardwicke Circus is the one to know before the day. It is the large roundabout on the north side of the city where several main routes meet, and a hesitant approach costs marks there. Castle Way runs alongside it and Scotland Road takes routes north over the river. Etterby Road and Etterby Scaur climb away from the water on that side, so a hill start on a Carlisle route is a real hill start rather than a token one.
The other half of the work is residential. Caldcotes, Shady Grove Road, Bridgewater Road and Brookside give the quieter streets where reverse manoeuvres and pull-ups on the right are set, and 22 schools sit inside the same radius, so an afternoon test can meet a school run on any of them. Church Street and Court Square bring routes into the older streets near the centre, where the lanes narrow and priorities are less obvious. About 18 per cent of nearby roads are 20 mph. The practice loops on this page run from 9.4 to 12.4 km, each with four roundabouts.
Pass rate at Carlisle, 2008/09 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 | 3,518 | 58.7% | 58.8% | 58.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3,684 | 54.9% | 56.3% | 53.5% |
| 2023/24 | 1,852 | 55.9% | 56.4% | 55.4% |
| 2022/23 | 3,398 | 53.9% | 54.1% | 53.8% |
| 2021/22 | 4,335 | 57.7% | 58.5% | 56.7% |
| 2020/21 | 1,439 | 58.0% | 59.9% | 56.2% |
| 2019/20 | 3,258 | 45.2% | 46.5% | 44.0% |
| 2018/19 | 3,506 | 44.0% | 45.6% | 42.5% |
North West average 49% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Carlisle
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 | 8.4 | 20 | 37 | 24.3% |
| Jul 2026 | 8.4 | 24 | 45 | 19.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 8.6 | 24 | 46 | 19.5% |
| May 2026 | 8.1 | 24 | 47 | 21.5% |
| Apr 2026 | 7 | 24 | 51 | 11.4% |
| Mar 2026 | 7 | 24 | 51 | 12.5% |
Tell me when the wait at Carlisle drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Carlisle
The centre is a unit on Port Road Business Park, about a mile from Carlisle station. That is walkable, though a lift is easier with a test to sit. Business-park units normally have parking on or beside the plot and that is typical here, but nothing specific is published about candidate spaces, so arrive early enough that you are not hunting for one five minutes before your slot.
GOV.UK lists car tests, motorcycle module 1 and motorcycle module 2 at Carlisle. Module 1 is the off-road part, so the site handles bike manoeuvres as well as car tests and the yard can be busier than at a car-only centre. The same record says you can access the centre if you use a wheelchair.
You wait inside until the examiner calls your name, checks your licence and asks you to sign the insurance and residency declaration. The eyesight check is done before you get in the car. The drive starts on the estate roads and joins the ordinary network within the first minute or so; that junction is where nerves tend to show, so take it slowly and get the observation done properly.
What DVSA publishes about Carlisle
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- carmotorcycle module 1 (off-road)motorcycle module 2 (on-road)
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at Carlisle
This centre is not car only. DVSA publishes results for these categories separately, and they are taken by different candidates on different vehicles, so the rates are not comparable with the car figure above.
Learner reports from Carlisle
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 Carlisle.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Port Road Business Park, Port RoadCarlisle CA2 7AF
Questions learners ask about Carlisle
- Is Carlisle an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 58.7% 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 Carlisle?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Carlisle was 8.4 weeks, and you had to look about 20 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 Carlisle driving test centre?
- Carlisle test centre is at Port Road Business Park, Port Road, Carlisle, CA2 7AF. 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 Carlisle do a year?
- 3,518 car tests were conducted at Carlisle in 2025/26, of which 2,065 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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