Mallaig driving test centre
Mallaig and Morar Community Centre, West Bay, PH41 4PX
Drive the 5 routes around Mallaig before test day →
Key facts
- Mallaig's pass rate was 64.2% in 2025/26 from 53 tests, 14.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in July 2026 had waited a median of 10.9 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 15.5 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (July 2025) the median wait was 17.8 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 6.9 weeks.
Mallaig is going the right way while most of the Highlands goes the other. Learners tested in July 2026 had waited a median of 10.9 weeks, down from 17.8 a year earlier — nearly seven weeks off, and shorter than the national median of 11.9. The pass rate is 64.2 per cent from 53 tests, 14.2 points above the national average, though that is too few tests for a national ranking. The drive splits neatly in two: 59 per cent of the distance on the practice loops on this page is at 30 mph in the village and harbour, and the other 41 per cent is at 60 on the road out. One give-way junction and no traffic signals anywhere.
Drive the Mallaig test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 40 km in all, with 5 roundabouts and 83 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Mallaig; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Mallaig from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 40 km · 83 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 East Bay7.7 km loop with 1 roundabout, 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Road to the Isles.7.7 km · 19 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 2 · via Road to the Isles9.0 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of East Bay.9.0 km · 14 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Road to the Isles7.8 km loop with 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Harbour Road.7.8 km · 18 turns
- Route 4 · via Road to the Isles8.7 km loop with 1 roundabout, 9 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Harbour Road.8.7 km · 19 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 5 · via East Bay7.3 km loop with 1 roundabout, 7 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Road to the Isles.7.3 km · 13 turns · 1 roundabout
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The set divides almost in half. Fifty-nine per cent of the distance is at 30 mph, around the harbour and up through the village, and 41 per cent is at 60 on the road running out along the coast. Nothing in between. So the drive alternates between close, slow work with parked cars and pedestrians either side, and open road where the examiner wants to see you make proper progress and read the bends early.
The junction furniture is thin: one give-way junction, one signalled crossing and two zebra crossings across 41.5 kilometres, with no traffic signals at all, no mini-roundabouts, no traffic calming and no level crossings. Three roundabouts are named here — Station Road, Road to the Isles and Harbour Road — and four of the five loops take in one or two of them.
The turning is heaviest on a short loop. An 8.7 kilometre loop asks for 11 right turns and ten left, which for that distance is a junction every 400 metres, and it is the one loop with no roundabout to break it up. Two others ask for nine of each; the quieter pair ask for seven and five.
Harbour Road, East Bay, Station Road, Mallaigvaig Road, Cameron Avenue, Davie's Brae and the Road to the Isles carry most of the driving. There are 2 schools in the area, and no dual carriageway.
Pass rate at Mallaig, 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 | 53 | 64.2% | 61.5% | 71.4% |
| 2024/25 | 46 | 63.0% | 70.4% | 52.6% |
| 2023/24 | 41 | 85.4% | 77.8% | 91.3% |
| 2022/23 | 71 | 83.1% | 84.8% | 81.6% |
| 2021/22 | 31 | 87.1% | 84.6% | 88.9% |
| 2019/20 | 30 | 80.0% | 84.2% | 72.7% |
| 2018/19 | 22 | 86.4% | 76.9% | – |
| 2017/18 | 21 | 71.4% | 71.4% | 71.4% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Mallaig
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | 10.9 | 15.5 | 0 | 0% |
| Jun 2026 | 14.4 | 20 | 20 | 20% |
| May 2026 | – | 24 | – | – |
| Apr 2026 | 21.6 | 24 | 20 | 60% |
| Mar 2026 | 4.9 | 24 | 80 | 20% |
| Feb 2026 | – | 24 | – | – |
Tell me when the wait at Mallaig drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Mallaig
Tests are conducted from the Mallaig and Morar Community Centre at West Bay, PH41 4PX. 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.
Mallaig station is 0.1 kilometres away, which makes this one of the easiest centres in the Highlands to reach without a car — useful if your instructor is meeting you rather than driving you up.
Parking is not published for the site. The community centre sits close to the harbour, where the bays fill with ferry traffic and, in summer, with visitors, so allow a few minutes more than the walk needs.
The waiting figures are unusually good for this coast. The median was 10.9 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, shorter than the national 11.9 and down from 17.8 a year earlier. The first week with a tenth of its slots still free was 15.5 weeks ahead, so the diary is fuller than the median suggests, but neither number is alarming by Highland standards.
Kyle of Lochalsh is 31.2 kilometres away, passes 57.4 per cent and was waiting 14.1 weeks. Isle of Skye (Broadford) is 25.9 kilometres at 51.5 per cent. On both counts you are better off here. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Mallaig
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 Mallaig
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 Mallaig.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Mallaig and Morar Community Centre, West BayMallaig PH41 4PX
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Isle of Skye (Broadford)Broadford · IV49 9AQ · 26 km51.5%+1.5 vs GB–wait
- Kyle of LochalshIV40 8BP · 31 km57.4%+7.4 vs GB14.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Mallaig
- Is Mallaig an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 64.2% 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 Mallaig?
- In July 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Mallaig was 10.9 weeks, and you had to look about 15.5 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 Mallaig driving test centre?
- Mallaig test centre is at Mallaig and Morar Community Centre, West Bay, PH41 4PX. 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 Mallaig do a year?
- 53 car tests were conducted at Mallaig in 2025/26, of which 34 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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