Darlington driving test centre
DVSA, High Point Business Park, Yarm Road, Darlington, DL1 4PW
Drive the 5 routes around Darlington before test day →
Key facts
- Darlington's pass rate was 47.1% in 2025/26 from 12,183 tests, 2.9 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 10 of 11 centres in North East (North East average 48.4%), one of the lower pass rates in the region.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 7.9 points, from 55% to 47.1%.
- Male candidates passed at 44.7% and female candidates at 51.3%, a gap of 6.6 points, wider than at most centres.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 8.9 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 9.4 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 5.9 weeks, so waits have grown by about 3 weeks.
Yarm Road is the road this test keeps coming back to, and much the busiest street on the practice loops on this page. The centre is on High Point Business Park on the eastern edge of Darlington, with the A66 dual carriageway a short drive away, so the test opens on a wide, quick road rather than a quiet one.
That gives Darlington a particular shape. Right turns outnumber left turns comfortably, because the loops keep crossing Yarm Road to get from one side of town to the other, and a right turn across a busy dual-lane road is the fault-catcher here. Roundabouts do the rest. Beyond them the routes drop into housing estates and, on the longer loops, out towards open country. The pass rate has slipped several points in recent years and sits below the national average.
Drive the Darlington test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 50 km in all, with 32 roundabouts and 100 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Darlington; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Darlington from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 50 km · 100 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 Yarm Road9.8 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of McMullen Road.9.8 km · 19 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Yarm Road12.5 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Geneva Road.12.5 km · 22 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Yarm Road11.1 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 4 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Geneva Road.11.1 km · 17 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Yarm Road8.4 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Geneva Road.8.4 km · 18 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Yarm Road8.1 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Lingfield Way.8.1 km · 24 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.
Yarm Road is the test. It is the road the practice loops on this page keep returning to, and one of the named roundabout roads in this area, alongside Little Burdon and Freeman's Place. Most of these are multi-lane, some in quick succession around Morton Park, and the mistake they produce is not the entry but the lane. Decide which lane you want while you can still change it, get the signal on for the exit, and hold the lane round rather than drifting wide as the road opens up.
The A66 gives the fast driving. Joining it means matching the speed of traffic that is already moving properly, and leaving it means slowing to a town limit in the space the slip allows. Both halves of that are watched. Hesitating at the join is marked as readily as arriving at the roundabout at the end of it too quickly.
The estates are the other half. Geneva Road, Lanethorpe Road, Westminster Road and the streets around Lingfield Close are the sort of residential roads where manoeuvres are asked for: parked on one side, wide enough to be fair, and quiet enough that the examiner can hear you thinking. Neasham Road and McMullen Road link them back to Yarm Road and add several more roundabouts on the way.
Longer loops reach out past Salters Lane and Morton Road, where the limit rises and the road narrows at the same time. The loops run between five and eight miles.
Pass rate at Darlington, 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 | 12,183 | 47.1% | 44.7% | 51.3% |
| 2024/25 | 6,828 | 49.2% | 48.4% | 50.4% |
| 2023/24 | 6,944 | 55.1% | 54.0% | 57.0% |
| 2022/23 | 5,456 | 57.0% | 58.1% | 55.6% |
| 2021/22 | 3,317 | 55.0% | 57.5% | 52.2% |
| 2020/21 | 702 | 62.1% | 69.5% | 55.6% |
| 2019/20 | 3,337 | 51.5% | 54.9% | 47.9% |
| 2018/19 | 3,069 | 51.5% | 54.0% | 49.2% |
North East average 48.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Darlington
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 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 37 | 8.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 8.9 | 15.5 | 44 | 8.1% |
| Jun 2026 | 7.1 | 13 | 50 | 7.6% |
| May 2026 | 6.7 | 13 | 52 | 9.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 6.4 | 13.5 | 54 | 15.6% |
| Mar 2026 | 5.7 | 15.2 | 58 | 11.6% |
Tell me when the wait at Darlington drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Darlington
The centre is the DVSA building on High Point Business Park, off Yarm Road, and there is a second Darlington site on Banks Road used for lorries and buses. Check which one your booking names, because they are on opposite sides of town and turning up at the wrong one costs you the test.
There is candidate parking, a ramped entrance for wheelchair users and male, female and accessible toilets. The business park is quiet enough that finding a space is not usually the problem; arriving in the right frame of mind after the run along Yarm Road is more of one.
The examiner meets you in the waiting area, checks your licence and the insurance declaration, and does the eyesight check outside before you get in the car. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK. This is a busy centre for more than cars: motorcycle modules 1 and 2, lorries and buses, car and trailer and ADI tests are all conducted from Darlington, so expect large vehicles moving around you as you leave the business park and turn out onto Yarm Road.
What DVSA publishes about Darlington
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)lorry and busADI part 2ADI part 3
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at Darlington
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 Darlington
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 Darlington.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
DVSA, High Point Business Park, Yarm RoadDarlington DL1 4PW
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- NorthallertonDL6 1NU · 21 km60.4%+10.4 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- MiddlesbroughTS3 8TE · 22 km47.7%-2.3 vs GB14.3 wkswait
- DurhamMeadowfield · DH7 8XL · 26 km53.2%+3.2 vs GB15.7 wkswait
- HartlepoolTS25 1TZ · 27 km51.0%+1.0 vs GB13.4 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Darlington
- Is Darlington an easy test centre?
- Its 47.1% 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 Darlington?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Darlington was 8.9 weeks, and you had to look about 9.4 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 Darlington driving test centre?
- Darlington test centre is at DVSA, High Point Business Park, Yarm Road, Darlington, DL1 4PW. 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 Darlington do a year?
- 12,183 car tests were conducted at Darlington in 2025/26, of which 5,740 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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