Eastbourne driving test centre
1 Coastguard Cottages, 84 Wartling Road, Eastbourne, BN22 7PT
Drive the 5 routes around Eastbourne before test day →
Key facts
- Eastbourne's pass rate was 55.4% in 2025/26 from 6,031 tests, 5.4 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 11 of 30 centres in South East (South East average 52.9%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 2.5 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 48.1% (2023/24) and 55.4% (2025/26).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 13.7 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 11.6 weeks, so waits have grown by about 2.1 weeks.
- 29% 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.
Eastbourne is a roundabout test with the sea on one side. Station, Sovereign, Seaside, Birch, Lottbridge, Langney, Harbour and Martello are the named roundabouts in the area, and one of the practice loops on this page takes in eleven roundabout entries in 8.9 km while asking for only two right turns and three left. That is an unusual shape. On most tests the roundabouts are punctuation between junctions. Here they are the sentence.
Two thirds of the roads tagged near the centre are 30 mph, so the speed stays steady and the decisions are almost all about lane choice and observation on the approach. The pass rate is above the national average and has held there.
Drive the Eastbourne test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 45 km in all, with 40 roundabouts and 94 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Eastbourne; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Eastbourne from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 45 km · 94 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 Royal Parade10.4 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Prince William Parade.10.4 km · 25 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Lottbridge Drove8.9 km loop with 11 roundabouts, 2 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of Prince William Parade.8.9 km · 16 turns · 11 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Prince William Parade8.6 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Lottbridge Drove.8.6 km · 17 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Royal Parade7.1 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Seaside.7.1 km · 21 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Lottbridge Drove10.0 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 3 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of Prince William Parade.10.0 km · 15 turns · 9 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Three of the five loops run a stretch of Prince William Parade, which with Royal Parade gives the seafront driving: wide, exposed and busier in summer than the road width suggests. Lottbridge Drove and Seaside carry the other two, and they are the more ordinary town roads of the set.
Roundabouts are the through-line. The 8.9 km loop has eleven roundabout entries and almost no other junction work, while the 7.1 km loop off Seaside has five. Most of the named ones are conventional, and there are seven mini-roundabouts in the area as well, so you meet both kinds in an hour and have to switch between them. On a large coastal roundabout the approach is multi-lane and the exit signage arrives late, which means the lane has to be chosen before you can properly read the sign.
The limits are simple by southern standards. Two roads in three near the centre are 30 mph, one in five is 40 and a small share is at 70. There is very little 20 mph driving compared with most towns of this size, so an Eastbourne test is not one where changing limits catch you out. Speed carried onto a roundabout approach is what does.
Atlantic Drive, Santa Cruz Drive and Key West are the estate roads on the loops. Manoeuvres are usually set on streets of that kind, with straight kerbs and parked cars on one side, enough to make a pull-up on the right worth doing properly. One level crossing sits in the area the loops cover, along with fourteen schools.
Pass rate at Eastbourne, 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 | 6,031 | 55.4% | 54.8% | 56.2% |
| 2024/25 | 5,609 | 52.1% | 53.3% | 50.6% |
| 2023/24 | 6,917 | 48.1% | 48.4% | 47.7% |
| 2022/23 | 5,877 | 52.2% | 54.2% | 49.7% |
| 2021/22 | 6,220 | 54.6% | 56.6% | 52.6% |
| 2020/21 | 1,733 | 54.9% | 57.5% | 52.1% |
| 2019/20 | 4,190 | 51.7% | 54.0% | 49.6% |
| 2018/19 | 4,810 | 50.1% | 54.1% | 46.6% |
South East average 52.9% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Eastbourne
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 | 13.7 | 24 | 45 | 29% |
| Jul 2026 | 13.7 | 24 | 38 | 35.2% |
| Jun 2026 | 7.4 | 24 | 49 | 26.8% |
| May 2026 | 7.7 | 19.8 | 47 | 26.2% |
| Apr 2026 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 45 | 27.8% |
| Mar 2026 | 7.9 | 17.4 | 47 | 23% |
Tell me when the wait at Eastbourne drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Eastbourne
The centre is at 1 Coastguard Cottages, 84 Wartling Road. That is a street address rather than an industrial unit, so the number on the door is what to look for.
DVSA publishes that it will make arrangements for you at this centre if you have a disability. It publishes no step-free access line for Eastbourne. If you need to know whether you can get in without using a step, ask DVSA before the day rather than finding out on it. Nothing is published about candidate parking or the waiting room either. On a residential road of this kind expect to park on the street and walk back, which is typical rather than anything confirmed for Wartling Road.
Car tests are held here, along with motorcycle module 2 on the road and both ADI part 2 and ADI part 3. Module 1 is not done at Eastbourne. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
Most candidates arrive by car with an instructor. Ten minutes before your slot is early enough. 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 at the roadside before either of you gets in.
What DVSA publishes about Eastbourne
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 2 (on-road)ADI part 2ADI part 3
- 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.
Other tests at Eastbourne
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 Eastbourne
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 Eastbourne.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
1 Coastguard Cottages, 84 Wartling RoadEastbourne BN22 7PT
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Hastings (Ore)Hastings · TN34 2SA · 22 km52.4%+2.4 vs GB17.1 wkswait
- Burgess HillRH15 9AG · 37 km45.5%-4.5 vs GB14.9 wkswait
- Tunbridge WellsTN1 2ES · 39 km64.5%+14.5 vs GB10 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Eastbourne
- Is Eastbourne an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 55.4% 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 Eastbourne?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Eastbourne was 13.7 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 Eastbourne driving test centre?
- Eastbourne test centre is at 1 Coastguard Cottages, 84 Wartling Road, Eastbourne, BN22 7PT. 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 Eastbourne do a year?
- 6,031 car tests were conducted at Eastbourne in 2025/26, of which 3,342 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.
Drive Eastbourne’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month · or £14.99 once for 90 days
Try free