Lochgilphead driving test centre
Lochgilphead Community Centre, Manse Brae, PA31 8QX
Drive the 5 routes around Lochgilphead before test day →
Key facts
- Lochgilphead's pass rate was 56.4% in 2025/26 from 140 tests, 6.4 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 37 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 7.1 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 24.1 points, from 80.5% to 56.4%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 14.3 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 20.1 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 5.8 weeks.
No centre in Britain has changed as much as this one. In 2021/22 Lochgilphead passed 80.5 per cent of candidates; in 2025/26 it passed 56.4 per cent from 140 tests. That is a fall of 24.1 points in four years, and it is the steepest drop anywhere. The rate is still above the national 50 per cent and above the Scottish 49.3, which puts it 84th of 302 centres, so the test is not a hard one by national standards — it is simply nothing like the near-certainty it used to be. Turn up prepared. Eighty-seven per cent of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 30 mph, and almost all of the marking happens at junctions rather than at speed.
Drive the Lochgilphead test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 48 km in all, with 4 roundabouts and 86 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Lochgilphead; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Lochgilphead from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 48 km · 86 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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- Route 1 · via Manse Brae5.5 km loop with 11 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Whitegates Road.5.5 km · 19 turns
- Route 2 · via Manse Brae12.3 km loop with 1 roundabout, 9 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Bishopton Road.12.3 km · 21 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 3 · via Manse Brae11.4 km loop with 1 roundabout, 9 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Blarbuie Road.11.4 km · 16 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 4 · via Poltalloch Street7.8 km loop with 4 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Manse Brae.7.8 km · 12 turns
- Route 5 · via Manse Brae11.2 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Paterson Street.11.2 km · 18 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.
Eighty-seven per cent of the distance on these loops is at 30 mph, 10 per cent at 40 and 3 per cent at 60. It is a town test with a short run out of it, and the marking follows that: junctions, position and observation rather than anything at speed. The A83 comes into the set and there is a stretch of dual carriageway, which is the one place you will change lanes and get back to a settled speed.
Four mini-roundabouts, one set of traffic signals, one signalled crossing and one give-way junction across 48.2 kilometres. No zebra crossings, no traffic calming and no level crossings. With that little instruction painted on the road, the mini-roundabouts do most of the work — four of them, and mini-roundabouts are where nerves show, because the priority is decided in the last few metres and there is no room to hesitate.
The turning is heavy for the distance. A 5.5 kilometre loop asks for 11 right turns and eight left, which is a junction roughly every 300 metres. A 12.3 kilometre loop takes in a roundabout, nine rights and 11 lefts. Two more loops carry a roundabout each, and one carries two.
Manse Brae, Argyll Street, Lochnell Street, Cossack Street, Paterson Street, Bishopton Road, Oban Road, Monydrain Road, Whitegates Road, Blarbuie Road, Fernoch Drive and Brackley Park carry most of the driving. There are 3 schools in the area, so expect narrowed streets and cars stopping on the kerb at the start and end of the school day.
Pass rate at Lochgilphead, 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 | 140 | 56.4% | 53.0% | 61.4% |
| 2024/25 | 144 | 62.5% | 65.8% | 58.5% |
| 2023/24 | 148 | 63.5% | 58.3% | 73.1% |
| 2022/23 | 110 | 72.7% | 74.6% | 70.2% |
| 2021/22 | 123 | 80.5% | 81.3% | 79.7% |
| 2020/21 | 27 | 74.1% | 70.6% | 80.0% |
| 2019/20 | 125 | 70.4% | 73.9% | 66.1% |
| 2018/19 | 149 | 77.2% | 78.2% | 76.1% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Lochgilphead
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 | 14.3 | 24 | 13 | 6.7% |
| Jul 2026 | 14.3 | 24 | 29 | 14.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 18.8 | 24 | 0 | 0% |
| May 2026 | 17.6 | 24 | 13 | 25% |
| Apr 2026 | 20.6 | 24 | 0 | 42.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 20.6 | 24 | 13 | 50% |
Tell me when the wait at Lochgilphead drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Lochgilphead
Tests are conducted from Lochgilphead Community Centre on Manse Brae, PA31 8QX. Car tests only. GOV.UK does not publish a wheelchair access note for this site, so ring DVSA and ask if you need to know before you book.
There is no railway station here, and no note about parking either. A community centre car park is shared with whatever else is on that morning, so give yourself ten minutes in hand rather than arriving to find it full.
The wait was a median of 14.3 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, longer than the national median of 11.9. It has at least been coming down: a year earlier it was 17 weeks, so about 2.7 weeks have come off. The number to plan around, though, is the other one — the first week with a tenth of its slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
Everything within reach is a long drive and a long wait. Inveraray is 31 kilometres away, passes 69.4 per cent and was waiting 20.9 weeks. Dunoon is 32.8 kilometres at 71.5 per cent and 21.1 weeks. Rothesay is 32.1 kilometres at 52 per cent and 23.6 weeks. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Lochgilphead
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. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Lochgilphead
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 Lochgilphead.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Lochgilphead Community Centre, Manse BraeLochgilphead PA31 8QX
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
Questions learners ask about Lochgilphead
- Is Lochgilphead an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 56.4% 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 Lochgilphead?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Lochgilphead was 14.3 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 Lochgilphead driving test centre?
- Lochgilphead test centre is at Lochgilphead Community Centre, Manse Brae, PA31 8QX. 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 Lochgilphead do a year?
- 140 car tests were conducted at Lochgilphead in 2025/26, of which 79 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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