Middlesbrough driving test centre
Maxwell Road, Cleveland, Middlesbrough, TS3 8TE
Drive the 5 routes around Middlesbrough before test day →
Key facts
- Middlesbrough's pass rate was 47.7% in 2025/26 from 8,854 tests, 2.3 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 9 of 11 centres in North East (North East average 48.4%), one of the lower pass rates in the region.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 4.9 points, from 52.6% to 47.7%.
- 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 23.6 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 19.3 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 5 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.
Middlesbrough tests east of the town, in the belt of estates and works between Cargo Fleet Lane and the river. That gives the drive a character you do not get at many centres: Dockside Road, Smith's Dock Road and Shepherdson Way are industrial roads, wide, fast in places and shared with lorries turning into yards. Two level crossings sit inside the area the loops use, which is unusual, and eight of the junctions are full-size roundabouts rather than the painted kind. The pass rate is 47.7 per cent, below the national average and ninth of the eleven centres in the North East, and it has slipped about five points in four years. Hartlepool and Northallerton both pass higher on shorter waits.
Drive the Middlesbrough test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 52 km in all, with 19 roundabouts and 99 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Middlesbrough; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Middlesbrough from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 52 km · 99 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 Longlands Road10.1 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Dockside Road.10.1 km · 19 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Cargo Fleet Lane10.1 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Sotherby Road.10.1 km · 24 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Cargo Fleet Lane10.2 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Sotherby Road.10.2 km · 18 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Cargo Fleet Lane11.5 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Shepherdson Way.11.5 km · 19 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Cargo Fleet Lane10.4 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Longlands Road.10.4 km · 19 turns · 4 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The roundabouts here are real ones. Marton Road, the Marton Road Interchange, Belle Vue, Longlands Road, Heath Road, The Avenue, Shepherdson Way and the one on Cargo Fleet Lane are all full-size, multi-lane in places, and they carry through traffic rather than estate traffic. Lane discipline on the approach is the thing to practise. Only five junctions in the area are mini-roundabouts, so the small painted ones are a minor part of the picture.
Two thirds of the roads around the centre are 30 mph and 8 per cent are 50, which is a high share for a town centre and comes from the dock and industrial roads. Sotherby Road and Dockside Road are where that speed appears. They are open, often empty, and easy to under-drive; hesitancy and driving well below the limit are marked as faults just as speeding is.
Maxwell Road at the door and Old Station Road nearby are ordinary residential streets and the usual ground for manoeuvres, along with the roads off Longlands Road and The Greenway. Middlesbrough Road and Telford Road link the estates to the industrial side.
Two level crossings sit inside the area the loops cover. If you meet one, treat it as a stop: nothing on the crossing, and no moving off until the road beyond is clear. There are 30 schools in the area, and the estates east of Cargo Fleet Lane get busy on foot at the start and end of the school day.
Pass rate at Middlesbrough, 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 | 8,854 | 47.7% | 48.3% | 47.0% |
| 2024/25 | 8,952 | 48.3% | 48.9% | 47.5% |
| 2023/24 | 8,865 | 51.0% | 52.0% | 50.0% |
| 2022/23 | 10,130 | 49.7% | 51.3% | 47.9% |
| 2021/22 | 8,346 | 52.6% | 54.8% | 50.3% |
| 2020/21 | 2,803 | 52.2% | 54.2% | 50.2% |
| 2019/20 | 8,981 | 51.0% | 54.6% | 47.4% |
| 2018/19 | 9,855 | 49.3% | 52.0% | 46.7% |
North East average 48.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Middlesbrough
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 | 23.6 | 39 | 34.3% |
| Jul 2026 | 14.3 | 21.3 | 37 | 36.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 11.9 | 20.2 | 39 | 33.3% |
| May 2026 | 13 | 22.8 | 37 | 38.4% |
| Apr 2026 | 10.3 | 23.5 | 44 | 31.2% |
| Mar 2026 | 14.7 | 24 | 38 | 35.3% |
Tell me when the wait at Middlesbrough drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Middlesbrough
The centre is on Maxwell Road in Thorntree, out among the estates east of the town centre rather than in Middlesbrough proper. The nearest station is South Bank, about a mile and a half away on foot, and Middlesbrough's own station is further back in town, so nearly everyone arrives by car with an instructor.
Car tests, ADI part 2 and ADI part 3 are conducted here. There are no motorcycle tests, which makes the site calmer between slots than the multi purpose centres elsewhere in the region.
DVSA confirms you can get into this centre if you use a wheelchair.
Parking for candidates is not published for this site. What is typical of a centre on a road like this one is a small number of bays plus on street space nearby, which goes early on a busy morning. Give yourself the time to park badly and walk, rather than arriving with two minutes to spare.
The examiner will call you by name, check your licence and ask you to sign the declaration that the car is insured for the test. The eyesight check happens outside before you get in. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Middlesbrough
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
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Learner reports from Middlesbrough
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 Middlesbrough.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Maxwell Road, ClevelandMiddlesbrough TS3 8TE
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- HartlepoolTS25 1TZ · 12 km51.0%+1.0 vs GB13.4 wkswait
- DarlingtonDL1 4PW · 22 km47.1%-2.9 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- NorthallertonDL6 1NU · 30 km60.4%+10.4 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- DurhamMeadowfield · DH7 8XL · 33 km53.2%+3.2 vs GB15.7 wkswait
- WhitbyYO22 4ET · 39 km56.7%+6.7 vs GB19 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Middlesbrough
- Is Middlesbrough an easy test centre?
- Its 47.7% 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 Middlesbrough?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Middlesbrough was 14.3 weeks, and you had to look about 23.6 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 Middlesbrough driving test centre?
- Middlesbrough test centre is at Maxwell Road, Cleveland, Middlesbrough, TS3 8TE. 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 Middlesbrough do a year?
- 8,854 car tests were conducted at Middlesbrough in 2025/26, of which 4,221 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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