Lerwick driving test centre
Isleburgh House, King Harald Street, Lerwick, ZE1 0DJ
Drive the 5 routes around Lerwick before test day →
Key facts
- Lerwick's pass rate was 67.8% in 2025/26 from 379 tests, 17.8 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 11 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 18.5 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 5.5 points, from 73.3% to 67.8%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 9.1 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 22.8 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 13.4 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 4.3 weeks.
Lerwick is the most isolated test centre in the country and one of the easiest to pass at: 67.8 per cent in 2025/26, fifteenth of 302 centres. There is no other centre within reach, the nearest being on the Scottish mainland, a ferry or a flight away, so almost every candidate is local, taught by a local instructor, on roads they already know. That shows in the figures. It shows in the driving too. One set of traffic lights serves the whole area, seven mini-roundabouts do the work those lights would do elsewhere, and a single A road carries most of what moves on and off the island.
Drive the Lerwick test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 46 km in all, with 24 roundabouts and 100 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Lerwick; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Lerwick from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 46 km · 100 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.
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- Route 1 · via Knab Road8.5 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of South Lochside.8.5 km · 24 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Sea Road9.7 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of South Road.9.7 km · 19 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via South Road13.7 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Holmsgarth Road.13.7 km · 23 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Sea Road7.5 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of South Lochside.7.5 km · 21 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Sea Road6.9 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of South Road.6.9 km · 13 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.
One set of traffic lights serves the whole area the loops cover. Everything else is a roundabout or a give way, and the roundabouts are what you have to get right: seven mini-roundabouts and three larger ones, at Holmsgarth Road, South Road and North Lochside. They come up repeatedly, because there are only so many ways round the town.
The practice loops on this page total about 52 kilometres over five routes. Around six roads in ten inside the area are 30 mph, a quarter are 20, and one in eight is 40, that last group mostly the A970 running north and south out of Lerwick. It is the closest thing here to open-road driving, with a short dual-carriageway stretch, and it is where speed and lane discipline get looked at properly.
The town streets are the other half of the test. King Harald Street, Annsbrae Place, Knab Road and Twageos Road are narrow, often parked on both sides, and several fall away towards the water. Meeting traffic where only one car fits, and choosing where to wait for it, comes up on most routes. Sea Road, the Esplanade and Holmsgarth Road bring in harbour and ferry traffic, lorries included, turning where you would rather they did not.
Wind is the thing no map shows. On an exposed day a high-sided vehicle passing you on the A970 will move the car, and holding a straight line through that is part of driving here.
Pass rate at Lerwick, 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 | 379 | 67.8% | 66.5% | 69.6% |
| 2024/25 | 432 | 67.8% | 65.7% | 69.8% |
| 2023/24 | 417 | 66.4% | 68.8% | 64.5% |
| 2022/23 | 361 | 67.9% | 66.1% | 69.7% |
| 2021/22 | 483 | 73.3% | 79.4% | 67.6% |
| 2020/21 | 66 | 80.3% | 83.9% | 77.1% |
| 2019/20 | 410 | 64.9% | 63.0% | 66.7% |
| 2018/19 | 424 | 68.9% | 72.3% | 65.8% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Lerwick
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 | 9.1 | 22.8 | 14 | 10.8% |
| Jul 2026 | 9.1 | 24 | 21 | 2.6% |
| Jun 2026 | 14.1 | 24 | 17 | 8.3% |
| May 2026 | 8 | 24 | 43 | 0% |
| Apr 2026 | 13.2 | 24 | 30 | 5% |
| Mar 2026 | 14.4 | 24 | 31 | 8.3% |
Tell me when the wait at Lerwick drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Lerwick
Tests are taken from Isleburgh House on King Harald Street, a short walk from the middle of Lerwick. It is a community building rather than a purpose-built DVSA unit, which is usual for a centre this remote.
GOV.UK lists a wide range here for such a small place: car, both motorcycle modules, and lorry and bus. It also confirms that the centre can be accessed if you use a wheelchair.
Parking is not published. King Harald Street and the streets around it are largely residential with kerbside parking, so leave time to find a space and walk the last part rather than circling.
Waits here have been around nine weeks, shorter than the national median and shorter than a year ago. Even so, a centre of this size has thin cover, and a late cancellation may not get you another date soon. If you have a slot, keep it.
Inside, the examiner checks your licence and the insurance declaration, and the eyesight check is done outside before you get in the car. Booking, moving and cancelling a test is done only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Lerwick
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 1 (off-road)motorcycle module 2 (on-road)lorry and bus
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at Lerwick
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 Lerwick
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 Lerwick.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Isleburgh House, King Harald StreetLerwick ZE1 0DJ
Questions learners ask about Lerwick
- Is Lerwick an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 67.8% 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 Lerwick?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Lerwick was 9.1 weeks, and you had to look about 22.8 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 Lerwick driving test centre?
- Lerwick test centre is at Isleburgh House, King Harald Street, Lerwick, ZE1 0DJ. 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 Lerwick do a year?
- 379 car tests were conducted at Lerwick 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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