Merthyr Tydfil driving test centre
Merthyr Industrial Park, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 4DR
Drive the 5 routes around Merthyr Tydfil before test day →
Key facts
- Merthyr Tydfil's pass rate was 51.2% in 2025/26 from 4,446 tests, in line with the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 14 of 21 centres in Wales (Wales average 52.4%), a mid-table pass rates in the region.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 7.1 points, from 58.3% to 51.2%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 8.9 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 14.4 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 12.9 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 4 weeks.
Merthyr Tydfil is a 20 mph town now. 70 per cent of the roads tagged within two and a half kilometres of the centre carry that limit, which is what the Welsh default introduced in September 2023 did to a town of terraced streets. Only 12 per cent are still 30. The other thing the profile shows is roundabouts: the longest of the practice loops on this page takes in fourteen roundabout entries in fourteen kilometres, and the shortest still has six. The centre is on Merthyr Industrial Park at Pentrebach, with the station a few minutes' walk away and dual carriageway in the area. The pass rate is close to the national average but has fallen a long way since 2021.
Drive the Merthyr Tydfil test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 58 km in all, with 45 roundabouts and 125 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Merthyr Tydfil; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Merthyr Tydfil from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 58 km · 125 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 Merthyr Road14.3 km loop with 14 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Rhydfach.14.3 km · 33 turns · 14 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Merthyr Road12.6 km loop with 10 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Ynysygored Cottages.12.6 km · 28 turns · 10 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Merthyr Road11.7 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of School Road.11.7 km · 23 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Merthyr Road10.6 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Duffryn Fawr.10.6 km · 24 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Merthyr Road8.6 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Merthyr Road.8.6 km · 17 turns · 6 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Two things define the driving here. The first is the 20 mph limit. 70 per cent of the roads in the area carry it, so most of a test is spent holding a speed that feels slow in any car with a bit of pull to it. The fault this produces is rarely a big overspeed. It is a slow drift upwards on the straight sections between junctions, which the examiner sees building long before you do.
The second is roundabouts. The area has only two mini-roundabouts tagged, but the practice loops on this page pick up six, six, nine, ten and fourteen roundabout entries across the five routes. Abercanaid and Leo's are among the named ones. That is a lot of give-way decisions in one test, and they arrive at a low approach speed where the temptation is to roll through rather than stop and look properly.
The loops keep returning to the same few through routes. Merthyr Road, Dyffryn Road and Glantaff Road carry a large share of the length, with Bridge Street and Chapel Street in the older part where the streets are narrow and parked on both sides.
Above the 20 zones the area thins out quickly: 9 per cent is 40 mph, 6 per cent is 70, and there is dual carriageway within the radius. A route can go from a residential 20 to a fast slip road inside a couple of minutes, and the mirror work has to change with it rather than after it.
Manoeuvres are usually asked for on the residential streets off School Road and Ash Road.
Pass rate at Merthyr Tydfil, 2010/11 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 | 4,446 | 51.2% | 51.5% | 50.7% |
| 2024/25 | 3,703 | 53.5% | 55.8% | 50.9% |
| 2023/24 | 3,365 | 49.8% | 52.2% | 47.3% |
| 2022/23 | 3,231 | 52.6% | 55.3% | 49.9% |
| 2021/22 | 3,273 | 58.3% | 61.9% | 54.9% |
| 2020/21 | 768 | 56.9% | 59.4% | 54.5% |
| 2019/20 | 3,826 | 52.0% | 55.7% | 48.7% |
| 2018/19 | 4,563 | 52.9% | 58.2% | 48.4% |
Wales average 52.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Merthyr Tydfil
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 | 8.9 | 14.4 | 41 | 7.8% |
| Jul 2026 | 8.9 | 11.5 | 43 | 10.6% |
| Jun 2026 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 48 | 11.9% |
| May 2026 | 5.3 | 10.5 | 61 | 14.1% |
| Apr 2026 | 5 | 11.3 | 60 | 13% |
| Mar 2026 | 5.3 | 7.2 | 57 | 16.6% |
Tell me when the wait at Merthyr Tydfil drops
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Test day at Merthyr Tydfil
The centre is on Merthyr Industrial Park at Pentrebach, south of the town. Industrial estate units like this one are usually a single-storey block with bays outside, which is typical rather than published, so allow a few minutes to find it on the estate instead of expecting a frontage on the main road.
Pentre-bach station is under a kilometre away, close enough to walk. That is unusual for an estate centre and worth knowing if your instructor cannot bring you.
GOV.UK does not publish an accessibility line for this centre. If you use a wheelchair or need an adjustment, ring DVSA in advance. The tests held here are car, motorcycle module 2 on the road and ADI part 3.
Arrive about ten minutes before your slot. The examiner calls your name, checks the licence and asks you to sign the declaration that the car is insured for the test. The eyesight check is done on the estate before you set off.
Waits here are shorter than the national median, and nearly half the slots in the booking window were unbooked in the most recent month. If the date you are offered does not suit, checking again for a cancellation is worth the effort. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled through GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Merthyr Tydfil
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 2 (on-road)ADI part 3
- Wheelchair access
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Other tests at Merthyr Tydfil
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 Merthyr Tydfil
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 Merthyr Tydfil.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Merthyr Industrial Park, PentrebachMerthyr Tydfil CF48 4DR
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- LlantrisantCF72 8YR · 22 km54.0%+4.0 vs GB8.6 wkswait
- Cardiff (Llanishen)Cardiff · CF14 5GF · 25 km46.5%-3.5 vs GB11.1 wkswait
- BreconLD3 7RT · 25 km58.7%+8.7 vs GB6.9 wkswait
- AbergavennyNP7 5HT · 26 km64.2%+14.2 vs GB5.9 wkswait
- BridgendCF31 4AD · 28 km53.3%+3.3 vs GB5.7 wkswait
- Newport (Gwent)Newport · NP19 4XH · 31 km48.9%-1.1 vs GB6.2 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Merthyr Tydfil
- Is Merthyr Tydfil an easy test centre?
- It is close to the national average: 51.2% of tests were passed in 2025/26 against 50.0% across Great Britain.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Merthyr Tydfil?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Merthyr Tydfil was 8.9 weeks, and you had to look about 14.4 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 Merthyr Tydfil driving test centre?
- Merthyr Tydfil test centre is at Merthyr Industrial Park, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 4DR. 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 Merthyr Tydfil do a year?
- 4,446 car tests were conducted at Merthyr Tydfil in 2025/26, of which 2,275 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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