Kelso driving test centre
Lloyd Land Rover, Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate, Lee Forbes Way, Kelso, TD5 8DW
Drive the 5 routes around Kelso before test day →
Key facts
- Kelso's pass rate was 59.2% in 2025/26 from 434 tests, 9.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 26 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 9.9 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 10.9 points, from 70.1% to 59.2%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 22.9 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 10 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 17.3 weeks, so waits have grown by about 5.6 weeks.
- 57.6% 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.
Three per cent. That is how much of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 30 mph — the limit almost every driving lesson is built around barely exists here. Instead it is 49 per cent at 60, 25 per cent at 40 and 24 per cent at 20, and there is not one set of traffic signals on the whole set. Kelso passes 59.2 per cent, 49th of the 302 centres ranked, though the rate has fallen 10.9 points since 2021/22. The wait is 22.9 weeks, up more than six on a year ago, so this is a centre to book well before you feel ready rather than after.
Drive the Kelso test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 49 km in all, with 16 roundabouts and 110 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Kelso; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Kelso from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 49 km · 110 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 Rotary Way10.4 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Yetholm Road.10.4 km · 24 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Burnside7.6 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Sprouston Road.7.6 km · 26 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Yetholm Road9.8 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of Rotary Way.9.8 km · 16 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Burnside10.4 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 15 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Sprouston Road.10.4 km · 29 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Rotary Way11.0 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Burnside.11.0 km · 15 turns · 2 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The speed profile here is unlike a town test anywhere. Forty-nine per cent of the distance is at 60 mph, 25 per cent at 40, 24 per cent at 20, and just 3 per cent at 30. Most of your lessons will have been spent at a limit that Kelso barely uses. What you get instead is a jump from 20 in the town straight out to 60 on Border road, with 40 as the transition, and the fault that costs marks is being slow to take each new limit — hesitating out of the 20, then still at 40 halfway along a clear 60 stretch.
There is not one set of traffic signals across 49.1 kilometres. Twelve give-way junctions, one signalled crossing, one zebra and two mini-roundabouts are all the junction furniture there is, with three named roundabouts on Rotary Way, Yetholm Road and Station Road. Nothing here decides anything for you.
The turning is concentrated in the town. One 10.4 kilometre loop asks for fifteen right turns and twelve left; a 7.6 kilometre loop asks for eleven and thirteen. Another 9.8 kilometre loop, mostly out of town, asks for seven right turns and three left in the whole distance — so which loop you draw changes what the test feels like.
Yetholm Road, Station Road, Sprouston Road, Burnside, Rotary Way, Maxwell Lane, The Knowes and Edenside Gardens carry the driving. There are only 4 schools in the area, no A-road on the loops, no dual carriageway and no level crossings.
Waiting time for a test at Kelso
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 | 22.9 | 10 | 6 | 57.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 22.9 | 16.5 | 18 | 54.4% |
| Jun 2026 | 19.9 | 21.6 | 15 | 45.5% |
| May 2026 | 21.4 | 24 | 13 | 51.6% |
| Apr 2026 | 21.7 | 22 | 9 | 62.2% |
| Mar 2026 | 19.3 | 20.8 | 22 | 45.9% |
Pass rate at Kelso, 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 | 434 | 59.2% | 58.3% | 60.1% |
| 2024/25 | 381 | 57.0% | 55.9% | 57.8% |
| 2023/24 | 381 | 65.6% | 63.6% | 67.8% |
| 2022/23 | 247 | 74.5% | 70.8% | 77.3% |
| 2021/22 | 244 | 70.1% | 72.3% | 68.0% |
| 2020/21 | 14 | 71.4% | 83.3% | 62.5% |
| 2019/20 | 235 | 56.6% | 60.6% | 53.2% |
| 2018/19 | 243 | 55.6% | 54.2% | 56.5% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Tell me when the wait at Kelso drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Kelso
The centre is at the Lloyd Land Rover dealership on the Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate, Lee Forbes Way, TD5 8DW. It shares the site with a working car dealership, so forecourt traffic is part of what you set off into.
One thing to check before you book: GOV.UK states that you cannot access this test centre if you use a wheelchair. If that affects you, ring DVSA and ask what they can arrange instead.
Car tests are conducted here, along with ADI part 3. No station is close enough to be useful, so everyone arrives by car or with an instructor.
Parking is not published for this site. On a dealership forecourt, the sensible thing is to leave the car on the estate road rather than in a display bay, and walk the last part.
The wait was a median of 22.9 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, roughly double the national 11.9, and it has grown from 16.3 a year earlier. The first week with a tenth of its slots still free was 16.5 weeks ahead, so there is some room below the median if you keep checking.
January returned 69.4 per cent and July 51.1, on fewer than a hundred tests a month. Galashiels is 23.8 kilometres away and was waiting only 7.4 weeks, but passes 47.4 per cent. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Kelso
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 3
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you cannot access this centre in a wheelchair. Ring DVSA before booking to arrange an alternative.
Learner reports from Kelso
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 Kelso.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Lloyd Land Rover, Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate, Lee Forbes WayKelso TD5 8DW
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- DunsTD11 3AU · 21 km70.2%+20.2 vs GB22.4 wkswait
- GalashielsTD1 3BH · 24 km47.4%-2.6 vs GB7.4 wkswait
- HawickTD9 8EJ · 27 km64.3%+14.3 vs GB24.9 wkswait
- Berwick-On-TweedBerwick-upon-Tweed · TD15 2UY · 32 km53.9%+3.9 vs GB20.3 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Kelso
- Is Kelso an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 59.2% 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 Kelso?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Kelso was 22.9 weeks, and you had to look about 10 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 Kelso driving test centre?
- Kelso test centre is at Lloyd Land Rover, Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate, Lee Forbes Way, Kelso, TD5 8DW. 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 Kelso do a year?
- 434 car tests were conducted at Kelso in 2025/26, of which 257 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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