Dunoon driving test centre
Dunoon Business Centre, Unit 20 Highland Avenue, Sandbank Business Park, PA23 8BP
Drive the 5 routes around Dunoon before test day →
Key facts
- Dunoon's pass rate was 71.5% in 2025/26 from 193 tests, 21.5 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 5 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 22.2 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 12.9 points, from 58.6% to 71.5%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 21.1 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 23.7 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 2.6 weeks.
Dunoon has no railway station and nothing faster than a 40 limit near the test centre. Candidates coming from the mainland cross the water by ferry, and the centre itself is a unit on Sandbank Business Park, a couple of miles north of the town centre. It is one of the smallest centres in the country, with fewer than 200 car tests a year, and one of the most successful: the pass rate is among the highest anywhere in Britain and has risen sharply since 2021. That is not because the roads are gentle. It is because nearly everyone who tests here has learned on these roads, in a town with one set of traffic lights and no conventional roundabout at all.
Drive the Dunoon test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 43 km in all, with 0 roundabouts and 89 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Dunoon; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Dunoon from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 43 km · 89 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 Alexandra Parade9.9 km loop with 12 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Ardenslate Road.9.9 km · 19 turns
- Route 2 · via Argyll Street8.8 km loop with 11 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Victoria Road.8.8 km · 20 turns
- Route 3 · via Alexandra Parade9.8 km loop with 11 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Marine Parade.9.8 km · 17 turns
- Route 4 · via Hunter Street6.4 km loop with 11 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Queen Street.6.4 km · 17 turns
- Route 5 · via Sandbank Road7.6 km loop with 10 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Alexandra Parade.7.6 km · 16 turns
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
There is one set of traffic lights within a mile and a half of the centre and no conventional roundabout at all, so a Dunoon test is decided almost entirely on unmarked junctions, priority and observation. If you have learned somewhere with roundabouts on every corner, the adjustment is that nothing here tells you who goes first.
The town part of the route is the grid behind the seafront: Argyll Street, John Street, Queen Street, Church Street, Nile Street and the short links between them. They are narrow, parked on both sides and busy through the summer, and that is where the meeting-traffic and emerging work happens. Alexandra Parade and Victoria Road run along the water and give the long straight stretches, with pedestrians crossing between the front and the shops.
Out of town the A815 and A885 carry the routes towards Sandbank and the head of the loch. Every road tagged near the centre is either 30 or 40 mph, with nothing faster in the area. The 40 sections are where candidates get caught: they hold 30 out of caution and pick up an undue hesitation mark, or they carry 40 back into the town.
Ardenslate Road and Milton Road link the seafront to the housing on the hillside, and that is usually where the manoeuvres are set. The practice loops on this page are short by national standards, 6.4 to 9.9 km, which is a fair reflection of how little road network the town has.
Waiting time for a test at Dunoon
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 | 21.1 | 24 | 0 | 10% |
| Jul 2026 | 21.1 | 21.8 | 20 | 55% |
| Jun 2026 | 23.9 | 24 | 0 | 60% |
| May 2026 | 25.6 | 24 | 0 | 93.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 25.3 | 24 | 14 | 57.1% |
| Mar 2026 | 24.1 | 23 | 0 | 100% |
Pass rate at Dunoon, 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 | 193 | 71.5% | 67.6% | 76.8% |
| 2024/25 | 183 | 62.8% | 58.4% | 68.3% |
| 2023/24 | 222 | 55.4% | 55.6% | 55.3% |
| 2022/23 | 209 | 56.0% | 57.0% | 54.9% |
| 2021/22 | 297 | 58.6% | 58.6% | 58.6% |
| 2020/21 | 51 | 62.7% | 61.3% | 65.0% |
| 2019/20 | 209 | 61.2% | 64.0% | 59.3% |
| 2018/19 | 239 | 58.2% | 58.9% | 57.6% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Tell me when the wait at Dunoon drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Dunoon
The centre is Unit 20 on Highland Avenue, part of Dunoon Business Centre on Sandbank Business Park, north of the town along the shore. If you are coming across on the ferry, work out the sailing and the drive from the pier the day before. Arriving late means losing the test and the fee, and the crossing is not something you can hurry.
Business-park units usually have parking beside them and that is typical here, though nothing specific is published about candidate spaces. GOV.UK does record that you can access this centre if you use a wheelchair, which is not the case at every small centre.
Car tests are the only type listed at Dunoon. The routine is the same as anywhere: your name called, licence checked, the insurance and residency declaration signed, then the eyesight check outside before you get in the car.
One practical thing about a centre this size. There may be a single examiner working on the day, and the timetable has no slack in it, so being ten minutes late here is a real problem rather than something that can be absorbed. The wait for a slot runs to about twenty weeks even though the centre is quiet, which makes a Dunoon date worth protecting.
What DVSA publishes about Dunoon
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- car
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Learner reports from Dunoon
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 Dunoon.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Dunoon Business Centre, Unit 20 Highland Avenue, Sandbank Business ParkDunoon PA23 8BP
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- GreenockPA16 8DD · 9.5 km41.7%-8.3 vs GB9 wkswait
- RothesayPA20 0DG · 15 km52.0%+2.0 vs GB23.6 wkswait
- DumbartonG82 3PD · 22 km52.8%+2.8 vs GB12.9 wkswait
- PaisleyPA1 2FB · 30 km48.6%-1.4 vs GB13.7 wkswait
- InverarayInverary · PA32 8UY · 32 km69.4%+19.4 vs GB20.9 wkswait
- LochgilpheadPA31 8QX · 33 km56.4%+6.4 vs GB14.3 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Dunoon
- Is Dunoon an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 71.5% 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 Dunoon?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Dunoon was 21.1 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 Dunoon driving test centre?
- Dunoon test centre is at Dunoon Business Centre, Unit 20 Highland Avenue, Sandbank Business Park, PA23 8BP. 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 Dunoon do a year?
- 193 car tests were conducted at Dunoon in 2025/26, of which 138 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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