Loughton driving test centre
DVSA name: Loughton (London) · Crown Buildings, 284 High Road, Loughton, IG10 1RB
Drive the 5 routes around Loughton before test day →
Key facts
- Loughton's pass rate was 47% in 2025/26 from 7,376 tests, 3 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 19 of 24 centres in East of England (East of England average 51.4%), one of the lower pass rates in the region, 4.4 points below it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 3.6 points, from 43.4% to 47%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 9.4 weeks since booking (shorter 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 4.1 weeks, so waits have grown by about 5.3 weeks.
- 34.3% 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.
Loughton is a forest test. The centre is on the High Road, but the routes climb almost immediately into Epping Forest, and Epping New Road, Earl's Path, Golding's Hill and Baldwin's Hill do a lot of the work. A third of the roads tagged within two and a half kilometres are 40 mph, which is a high share for a place this close to London, and the forest roads are where that limit sits. Roundabouts are scarce: one practice loop on this page has a single roundabout in eight kilometres, though the ones you do meet, Wake Arms and Robin Hood among them, are large and fast. The pass rate is below the national average but has risen since 2021, and the wait has crept back up to over nine weeks.
Drive the Loughton test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 53 km in all, with 12 roundabouts and 75 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Loughton; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Loughton from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 53 km · 75 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 High Road11.2 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Earl's Path.11.2 km · 22 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Alderton Hill8.4 km loop with 1 roundabout, 5 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of High Road.8.4 km · 16 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 3 · via Epping New Road11.1 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Golding's Hill.11.1 km · 12 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Epping New Road11.3 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Earl's Path.11.3 km · 17 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Epping New Road11.3 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 1 left turn and a stretch of Golding's Hill.11.3 km · 8 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 forest roads set this centre apart. Epping New Road, Earl's Path, Golding's Hill, Baldwin's Hill and Forest Road carry a large part of every route, and a third of the roads tagged within two and a half kilometres of the centre are 40 mph. These are not town 40s. They bend, they are enclosed by trees, and the speed that feels right in the middle of a straight is often too much for what follows it. Reading a bend and losing speed before it rather than in it is the skill this test wants.
Roundabouts are rare and then very large. Only a handful sit in the area, Wake Arms and Robin Hood among the named ones, and the practice loops on this page carry between one and four roundabouts each. A whole test can pass with a single roundabout on it, which means the one you get carries real weight. Approach lane, speed and observation all have to be right first time, because there is no second chance to demonstrate them.
Everything else is junction work on the High Road, Alderton Hill, Traps Hill, Rectory Lane and Old Station Road. Roughly half the roads nearby are 30 mph, twelve mini-roundabouts are scattered through the residential streets, and twenty signal-controlled junctions sit in the same radius.
Twenty schools are in the area too, and the residential hills off the High Road are where manoeuvres are usually asked for. A hill start on a slope with parked cars is a fair thing to practise before coming here.
Pass rate at Loughton, 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 | 7,376 | 47.0% | 48.1% | 45.2% |
| 2024/25 | 6,009 | 48.0% | 48.3% | 47.6% |
| 2023/24 | 5,828 | 45.9% | 46.2% | 45.6% |
| 2022/23 | 3,663 | 46.4% | 45.1% | 48.0% |
| 2021/22 | 4,749 | 43.4% | 43.6% | 43.2% |
| 2020/21 | 1,505 | 46.2% | 48.6% | 43.8% |
| 2019/20 | 6,112 | 44.0% | 47.0% | 41.2% |
| 2018/19 | 5,961 | 45.0% | 48.6% | 41.9% |
East of England average 51.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Loughton
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 | 9.4 | 24 | 41 | 34.3% |
| Jul 2026 | 9.4 | 24 | 45 | 36.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 11 | 24 | 43 | 38.4% |
| May 2026 | 5.6 | 24 | 55 | 30% |
| Apr 2026 | 5.7 | 24 | 53 | 33.5% |
| Mar 2026 | 5.1 | 24 | 54 | 31.2% |
Tell me when the wait at Loughton drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Loughton
The centre is in Crown Buildings at 284 High Road, on the main road through Loughton rather than tucked away on an estate. Loughton station is under a kilometre away, so getting here without a car is straightforward, and the buses along the High Road pass the door.
GOV.UK lists car tests along with ADI part 2 and part 3, so some of the people waiting with you will be trainee instructors rather than learners.
On access, the record says only that DVSA will make arrangements for you if you have a disability. Step-free access is not published, so ring the centre ahead of the day if you need that confirmed.
Parking is not published, and a High Road address in a town centre rarely has much of it. What is typical is that instructors drop candidates at the door and park on a side street. Plan for that rather than for a space outside.
Tests are booked, moved and cancelled through GOV.UK only.
Once you are out, the test starts in traffic on the High Road, which means a move-off into a live lane with buses behind you. The forest comes a few minutes later, and with it a different kind of driving entirely.
What DVSA publishes about Loughton
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. 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.
Learner reports from Loughton
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 Loughton.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Crown Buildings, 284 High RoadLoughton IG10 1RB
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Chingford (London)Chingford · E4 6AD · 3.7 km39.9%-10.1 vs GB9.6 wkswait
- Enfield (Innova Business Park)Enfield · EN3 7XY · 6.1 km53.9%+3.9 vs GB20 wkswait
- Wanstead (London)Wanstead · E11 2AW · 8.0 km44.4%-5.6 vs GB20.3 wkswait
- Goodmayes (London)Goodmayes · IG3 9UZ · 10 km43.7%-6.3 vs GB21 wkswait
- TottenhamN17 8JL · 10 km48.9%-1.1 vs GB10.3 wkswait
- Wood Green (London)Wood Green · N22 5LF · 13 km46.8%-3.2 vs GB12.6 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Loughton
- Is Loughton an easy test centre?
- Its 47% pass rate in 2025/26 is below the 50.0% national average. Busy urban roads and complex junctions usually explain lower rates; knowing the local routes closes most of that gap.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Loughton?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Loughton was 9.4 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 Loughton driving test centre?
- Loughton test centre is at Crown Buildings, 284 High Road, Loughton, IG10 1RB. 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 Loughton do a year?
- 7,376 car tests were conducted at Loughton in 2025/26, of which 3,465 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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