Chippenham driving test centre
Unit 11, Cavalier Court, Bumpers Farm, Chippenham, SN14 6LH
Drive the 5 routes around Chippenham before test day →
Key facts
- Chippenham's pass rate was 56.4% in 2025/26 from 9,629 tests, 6.4 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 5 of 21 centres in South West (South West average 51.7%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 4.7 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 10.5 points, from 45.9% to 56.4%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 7.7 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 17.4 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 11.4 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 3.7 weeks.
Only one per cent of the tagged roads within two and a half kilometres of the Chippenham centre are 20 mph. Nineteen per cent are 40, thirteen per cent are 50, and a tenth are higher still, including the A350, which is dual carriageway. Almost all the rest is 30. That is a fast road mix for a test centre, and it comes with roundabouts: eight named ones and 12 mini-roundabouts in the area, and every one of the practice loops on this page takes in between eight and ten of them. So this is a test about approach speed and lane discipline rather than about tight town junctions. The pass rate has risen more than ten points since 2021 and now sits among the highest in the South West.
Drive the Chippenham test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 55 km in all, with 45 roundabouts and 111 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Chippenham; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Chippenham from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 55 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 Bristol Road10.1 km loop with 10 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Hungerdown Lane.10.1 km · 25 turns · 10 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via West Cepen Way10.6 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Chippenham Lane.10.6 km · 21 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via West Cepen Way11.3 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Bristol Road.11.3 km · 21 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via West Cepen Way10.6 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Bristol Road.10.6 km · 21 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Hungerdown Lane12.2 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Bristol Road.12.2 km · 23 turns · 8 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Roundabouts are the structure of every loop on this page. Each takes in between eight and ten of them, and the named ones in the area are Badger Roundabout, Brook Roundabout, Chequers Roundabout, Cepen Park South, Methuen Park, Sandown Drive, Bumpers Farm and Showell Farm. Twelve mini-roundabouts sit among them. What makes Chippenham different from other roundabout towns is the speed you arrive at them. Nineteen per cent of the roads in the area are 40 mph and thirteen per cent are 50, so the approach is often a fast single carriageway or a slip rather than a queue, and the decision about lane and gap has to be made further out.
The A350 is the piece to prepare for specifically. It is dual carriageway, it carries through traffic, and joining and leaving it is the highest-speed driving on the practice loops. Reach the speed of the traffic already there within the distance you are given, then lose it again for the roundabout at the other end. Both halves are marked.
Bristol Road, West Cepen Way, Bumpers Way and Hungerdown Lane carry most of the rest, at 30 and 40, with Hardenhuish Lane, Derriads Lane and Sheldon Road quieter and better suited to the manoeuvres.
Only ten schools sit in the area and hardly any of it is 20 mph, so this is not a test where a school run or a traffic-calmed estate is likely to catch you out. The faults that do are lane choice on a two-lane roundabout taken too quickly, and hesitation at a give way where the traffic is moving at 50 and the gap looks smaller than it is.
Pass rate at Chippenham, 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 | 9,629 | 56.4% | 57.2% | 55.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7,641 | 50.6% | 52.2% | 48.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7,066 | 47.6% | 49.0% | 46.1% |
| 2022/23 | 8,229 | 46.4% | 47.0% | 45.7% |
| 2021/22 | 6,610 | 45.9% | 46.7% | 44.9% |
| 2020/21 | 1,407 | 50.2% | 52.2% | 48.1% |
| 2019/20 | 5,634 | 47.0% | 50.3% | 43.9% |
| 2018/19 | 5,292 | 45.9% | 48.7% | 43.2% |
South West average 51.7% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Chippenham
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 | 7.7 | 17.4 | 43 | 18.1% |
| Jul 2026 | 7.7 | 16.8 | 48 | 20.4% |
| Jun 2026 | 6.1 | 16.2 | 52 | 18.3% |
| May 2026 | 5.3 | 21.5 | 55 | 18.2% |
| Apr 2026 | 4.4 | 24 | 60 | 14% |
| Mar 2026 | 6.1 | 24 | 53 | 18.7% |
Tell me when the wait at Chippenham drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Chippenham
The centre is Unit 11 in Cavalier Court, on the Bumpers Farm estate on the west side of Chippenham. Cavalier Court is a courtyard of small business units, so once you are on the estate the unit number is what you are looking for, not a sign from Bumpers Way. Allow a few minutes for that if you have not been before.
DVSA runs car tests and ADI parts 2 and 3 here. Nothing is published about wheelchair access or other arrangements at this centre. If you need step-free entry or anything agreed in advance, ring the centre rather than assuming, because the record does not say either way.
Parking is not published. Business estate units of this kind usually have marked bays and there is generally more room than at a town centre unit, but treat that as typical rather than promised, and leave the bays nearest the door for the examiners.
The median wait was under eight weeks in July, about five weeks shorter than a year earlier, and more than a fifth of the standard slots in the booking window were unbooked. For a centre with a pass rate this high, that is an unusually easy one to get into.
Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Chippenham
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 2ADI part 3
- Wheelchair access
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Other tests at Chippenham
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 Chippenham
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 Chippenham.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Unit 11, Cavalier Court, Bumpers FarmChippenham SN14 6LH
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- TrowbridgeBA14 7DZ · 17 km55.2%+5.2 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- Bristol (Kingswood)Bristol · BS15 4GQ · 24 km51.9%+1.9 vs GB5.3 wkswait
- SwindonSN5 5BL · 25 km51.1%+1.1 vs GB11.7 wkswait
- Bristol (Avonmouth)Avonmouth, · BS11 8AQ · 38 km55.5%+5.5 vs GB8 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Chippenham
- Is Chippenham an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 56.4% 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 Chippenham?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Chippenham was 7.7 weeks, and you had to look about 17.4 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 Chippenham driving test centre?
- Chippenham test centre is at Unit 11, Cavalier Court, Bumpers Farm, Chippenham, SN14 6LH. 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 Chippenham do a year?
- 9,629 car tests were conducted at Chippenham in 2025/26, of which 5,435 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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