Durham driving test centre
1st Floor Enna House, Whitfield Court Industrial Estate, St Johns Rd, Meadowfield, DH7 8XL
Drive the 5 routes around Durham before test day →
Key facts
- Durham's pass rate was 53.2% in 2025/26 from 9,451 tests, 3.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 3 of 11 centres in North East (North East average 48.4%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 4.8 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 9.3 points, from 62.5% to 53.2%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 15.7 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 21.6 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 18.6 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 2.9 weeks.
- 28.2% 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.
Candidates booking Durham often picture the old city, the peninsula and the narrow streets under the cathedral. That is not where the test happens. The centre is at Meadowfield, on the Whitfield Court estate west of the city, and the driving around it is village and country driving: terraced High Street frontages, lanes with 60 mph limits, and almost nothing in the way of roundabouts or traffic lights. There is no station within walking distance, so nearly everyone arrives by car.
It is a good centre to pass at. Just over half of candidates do, which puts Durham third of the 11 centres in the North East and comfortably above the regional average. The catch is the wait, which runs several weeks longer than the national median, although it has come down over the past year.
Drive the Durham test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 43 km in all, with 0 roundabouts and 72 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Durham; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Durham 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 · 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
One payment, no renewal. Or £9.99 a month with a 3-day free trial. Cancel any time.
Everything else on PassRank, every centre, its pass rate, its waiting time and the forum, is free and needs no account.
- Route 1 · via Browney Lane8.6 km loop with 11 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of High Street.8.6 km · 18 turns
- Route 2 · via Browney Lane10.9 km loop with 8 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Sawmill Lane.10.9 km · 18 turns
- Route 3 · via Browney Lane9.6 km loop with 8 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of St. John's Road.9.6 km · 15 turns
- Route 4 · via Browney Lane6.2 km loop with 7 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of St. John's Road.6.2 km · 10 turns
- Route 5 · via Browney Lane7.4 km loop with 7 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of High Street.7.4 km · 11 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 not a single conventional roundabout in the streets around this centre, and only two mini-roundabouts and five signalled junctions. That sounds easy and is not. Strip out the roundabouts and the lights and what is left is turns, most of them across oncoming traffic. One of the practice loops on this page is 8.6 km long and contains 11 right turns against seven left. Emerging and turning right is the skill Durham tests, over and over.
The second feature is the range of speed limits in a small area. Roughly a quarter of the roads mapped near the centre are 20 mph, another third are 30, and about a fifth are 40, with a tail of 60 mph lanes beyond that. Browney Lane, Brandon Lane and Sawmill Lane carry the faster part of the drive; the High Street and Mill Road carry the slow part. Moving between them cleanly, and reading the limit from the road rather than guessing, is worth more than any manoeuvre.
The country lanes deserve their own practice. A national speed limit sign on a narrow lane does not mean 60 is safe, and examiners mark both the candidate who crawls and the candidate who takes it at the sign. Bends, hedges, farm entrances and oncoming vehicles that need you to give way all appear on the loops out towards Brandon.
Only five schools sit inside the area covered, so the school run matters less here than at an urban centre. Manoeuvres are usually set on the estate roads at Meadowfield and the streets off the High Street, where kerbs are straight and there is room to turn the car round without an audience.
Pass rate at Durham, 2011/12 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 | 9,451 | 53.2% | 53.7% | 52.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8,228 | 49.6% | 49.7% | 49.5% |
| 2023/24 | 9,516 | 48.1% | 48.8% | 47.3% |
| 2022/23 | 7,617 | 55.7% | 57.0% | 54.6% |
| 2021/22 | 5,795 | 62.5% | 64.8% | 60.4% |
| 2020/21 | 1,815 | 62.6% | 64.6% | 60.6% |
| 2019/20 | 7,598 | 56.9% | 59.1% | 54.8% |
| 2018/19 | 7,306 | 60.0% | 62.8% | 57.6% |
North East average 48.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Durham
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 | 15.7 | 21.6 | 31 | 28.2% |
| Jul 2026 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 29 | 20.4% |
| Jun 2026 | 12.6 | 16.4 | 33 | 28% |
| May 2026 | 14.1 | 20 | 30 | 33% |
| Apr 2026 | 10.4 | 21 | 36 | 28.6% |
| Mar 2026 | 10.4 | 22.2 | 39 | 28.6% |
Tell me when the wait at Durham drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Durham
The centre is on the first floor of Enna House, on the Whitfield Court industrial estate off St John's Road at Meadowfield. First floor matters: if stairs are a problem for you, sort it out in advance. DVSA publishes no accessibility information for Durham at all, so ring the booking line before the day rather than assuming a lift or a ground-floor room.
Nothing is published about candidate parking either. Estates of this kind normally have space somewhere near the unit, but that is what is typical rather than anything confirmed for Whitfield Court, so leave time to park and walk. Most candidates come with an instructor in any case, because there is no realistic way to arrive here by train.
Car tests, ADI part 2 and ADI part 3 are held at Durham. There are no motorcycle tests. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
Aim to arrive about ten minutes before your slot. The examiner calls you by name, checks your licence and asks you to sign the declaration confirming the car is insured for the test. The eyesight check is done outside on the estate before you get in, reading a number plate at the roadside.
What DVSA publishes about Durham
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.
Learner reports from Durham
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 Durham.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
1st Floor Enna House, Whitfield Court Industrial Estate, St Johns RdMeadowfield DH7 8XL
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- SunderlandSR5 3JJ · 23 km51.1%+1.1 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- GatesheadNE11 9HU · 24 km37.5%-12.5 vs GB7.1 wkswait
- DarlingtonDL1 4PW · 26 km47.1%-2.9 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- HartlepoolTS25 1TZ · 27 km51.0%+1.0 vs GB13.4 wkswait
- GosforthNewcastle Upon Tyne · NE3 5HB · 33 km48.4%-1.6 vs GB16.3 wkswait
- MiddlesbroughTS3 8TE · 33 km47.7%-2.3 vs GB14.3 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Durham
- Is Durham an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 53.2% 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 Durham?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Durham was 15.7 weeks, and you had to look about 21.6 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 Durham driving test centre?
- Durham test centre is at 1st Floor Enna House, Whitfield Court Industrial Estate, St Johns Rd, Meadowfield, DH7 8XL. 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 Durham do a year?
- 9,451 car tests were conducted at Durham in 2025/26, of which 5,027 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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