Duns driving test centre
Duns Library, 49 Newtown Street, TD11 3AU
Drive the 5 routes around Duns before test day →
Key facts
- Duns's pass rate was 70.2% in 2025/26 from 171 tests, 20.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 7 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 20.9 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 3.9 points, from 74.1% to 70.2%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 22.4 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 14 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 13 weeks, so waits have grown by about 9.4 weeks.
- 62.5% 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.
Duns has no 30 mph road on its practice loops at all. Fifty-four per cent of the distance is at 20 and 41 per cent at 60, so the test jumps straight from a slow town street to national-limit Border road and back. There are no traffic signals anywhere on the set, no named roundabout, and eleven give-way junctions in 53.4 kilometres — nothing tells you when to move. It passes 70.2 per cent, seventh of the 302 centres ranked and 20.9 points above the Scottish average, though that is down 3.9 points on 2021/22. The wait is 22.4 weeks, up seven on a year ago, so book long before you feel ready.
Drive the Duns test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 53 km in all, with 0 roundabouts and 72 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Duns; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Duns 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 · 72 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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Everything else on PassRank, every centre, its pass rate, its waiting time and the forum, is free and needs no account.
- Route 1 · via Castle Street12.0 km loop with 13 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Newtown Street.12.0 km · 17 turns
- Route 2 · via Preston Road11.7 km loop with 4 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Station Road.11.7 km · 10 turns
- Route 3 · via Station Road7.0 km loop with 8 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Station Drive.7.0 km · 13 turns
- Route 4 · via Station Road11.1 km loop with 6 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Preston Road.11.1 km · 14 turns
- Route 5 · via New Road11.6 km loop with 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Bridgend.11.6 km · 18 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 no 30 mph road anywhere on the practice loops on this page. Fifty-four per cent of the distance is at 20, 41 per cent at 60 and a little at 5 in the yards. That is an unusual thing to prepare for, because the limit almost every lesson is taught in simply does not appear: you are either doing 20 through the town, watching for people between parked cars, or doing 60 on Border road with hedges, dips and slow farm traffic.
Neither half gives you much help. No traffic signals across 53.4 kilometres, no roundabout named anywhere, one mini-roundabout and eleven give-way junctions. Every priority is yours to read, and on the open stretches there is nothing to pace yourself against either.
The loops differ more than the distances suggest. A 12 kilometre loop asks for thirteen right turns and only four left; a 7 kilometre loop asks for eight and five; an 11.7 kilometre loop asks for four right turns in the whole distance. If you draw the first of those, most of your junctions will involve crossing traffic on a road where the other car is doing 60.
Newtown Street, Currie Street, Castle Street, Bridgend, Station Road, Station Drive, Langtongate, Tannage Brae, The Crescent and Berrywell Drive carry the town half. There are only 2 schools in the area, no A-road on the loops, no dual carriageway and no level crossings.
Waiting time for a test at Duns
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 | 22.4 | 14 | 13 | 62.5% |
| Jul 2026 | 22.4 | 18.5 | 0 | 53.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 46.7% |
| May 2026 | 20.9 | 13.5 | 0 | 50% |
| Apr 2026 | 20.7 | 17.5 | 7 | 35.7% |
| Mar 2026 | 21 | 21.4 | 10 | 47.6% |
Pass rate at Duns, 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 | 171 | 70.2% | 67.4% | 73.4% |
| 2024/25 | 132 | 74.2% | 79.0% | 70.0% |
| 2023/24 | 135 | 67.4% | 71.2% | 64.5% |
| 2022/23 | 109 | 76.1% | 84.8% | 69.8% |
| 2021/22 | 116 | 74.1% | 77.6% | 71.6% |
| 2020/21 | 30 | 80.0% | 88.9% | 66.7% |
| 2019/20 | 126 | 69.0% | 66.7% | 71.2% |
| 2018/19 | 111 | 68.5% | 84.4% | 62.0% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Tell me when the wait at Duns drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Duns
The centre is at Duns Library, 49 Newtown Street, TD11 3AU. Reporting to a library rather than a DVSA building is normal at small Border centres, but it does mean the building has its own users and its own quiet.
Car tests only are conducted here. DVSA will make arrangements for you at this test centre if you have a disability, which means telling them when you book.
No station is close enough to be useful, so everyone arrives by car or with an instructor. Parking is not published; Newtown Street is an ordinary town street, so read the signs and give yourself a few minutes rather than arriving on the hour.
The wait was a median of 22.4 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, roughly double the national 11.9, and it has grown from 15.1 a year earlier. The first week with a tenth of its slots still free was 18.5 weeks ahead, a little under the median, so it is worth checking regularly rather than taking the first date offered.
None of the neighbours is quicker except one that is much harder: Galashiels is 33.9 kilometres away at 7.4 weeks but passes 47.4 per cent. Kelso passes 59.2 at 22.9 weeks, Berwick-On-Tweed 53.9 at 20.3. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Duns
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
- Not published. DVSA says it will make arrangements for candidates with a disability, which is not the same as step-free access. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Duns
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 Duns.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Duns Library, 49 Newtown StreetDuns TD11 3AU
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Berwick-On-TweedBerwick-upon-Tweed · TD15 2UY · 21 km53.9%+3.9 vs GB20.3 wkswait
- KelsoTD5 8DW · 21 km59.2%+9.2 vs GB22.9 wkswait
- GalashielsTD1 3BH · 34 km47.4%-2.6 vs GB7.4 wkswait
- HaddingtonEH41 3NG · 34 km57.5%+7.5 vs GB23.3 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Duns
- Is Duns an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 70.2% 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 Duns?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Duns was 22.4 weeks, and you had to look about 14 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 Duns driving test centre?
- Duns test centre is at Duns Library, 49 Newtown Street, TD11 3AU. 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 Duns do a year?
- 171 car tests were conducted at Duns in 2025/26, of which 120 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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