Newport driving test centre
DVSA name: Newport (Isle Of Wight) · Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport, PO30 5WB
Drive the 5 routes around Newport before test day →
Key facts
- Newport's pass rate was 54.1% in 2025/26 from 3,616 tests, 4.1 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 13 of 30 centres in South East (South East average 52.9%), a mid-table pass rates in the region.
- Since 2016/17 the pass rate has fallen by 2.1 points, from 56.2% to 54.1%.
- 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 8 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 13.2 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 4.3 weeks.
- 21.4% 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.
Newport is the only place on the Isle of Wight where you can take a car test, and the nearest alternatives are all across the Solent. That changes the calculation: a failed test here means another Newport slot, not a drive to a quieter centre. It is also a busy area to learn in. Thirty-five signal junctions, thirteen mini-roundabouts and eighteen schools sit inside the area the practice loops on this page cover, with roughly three quarters of the roads at 30 mph. Against that, the wait is shorter than the national median and about a third of the slots in the booking window were still free this summer, so an earlier date is realistic if you keep looking.
Drive the Newport test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 50 km in all, with 18 roundabouts and 105 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Newport; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Newport from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 50 km · 105 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 Medina Way12.5 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Noke Common Road.12.5 km · 20 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via North Fairlee Road12.2 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Fairlee Road.12.2 km · 25 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Dodnor Lane8.1 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Medina Way.8.1 km · 22 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Dodnor Lane8.6 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Parkhurst Road.8.6 km · 19 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Stag Lane9.0 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Horsebridge Hill.9.0 km · 19 turns · 3 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
The traffic light count is what marks Newport out. Thirty-five signal junctions sit inside the area the loops cover, more than you would expect for a town this size, and thirteen mini-roundabouts on top of them. Medina Way and St Georges Way carry the through traffic and hold most of the signals. The roundabouts at Staplers Road and Long Lane are the two large conventional ones.
Around three quarters of the roads here are 30 mph, with a sixteen per cent slice at 20 and very little above 40. So this is not a test where the limit keeps changing under you. It is a test where you are stopping, starting and choosing lanes, over and over, in traffic.
Parkhurst Road and Horsebridge Hill run north out of town and are the closest thing to open driving on a short route. Forest Road heads west. Dodnor Lane and Monks Brook are the industrial side near the centre, quiet enough for manoeuvres and used for them.
Eighteen schools sit in the area the loops cover, which is a lot for a town this size. A mid-afternoon appointment in term time will put you into a school run somewhere, most likely on the residential roads. Clissold Road, Standen Avenue, Furrlongs, Holyrood Street and Mill Lane are the sort of ground that means: parking on both sides, short sightlines, and someone waiting for you to make up your mind.
Pass rate at Newport, 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 | 3,616 | 54.1% | 54.4% | 53.9% |
| 2024/25 | 3,875 | 52.4% | 52.6% | 52.2% |
| 2023/24 | 3,855 | 49.1% | 50.3% | 47.5% |
| 2022/23 | 3,412 | 50.5% | 50.5% | 50.4% |
| 2016/17 | 2,998 | 56.2% | 60.7% | 52.6% |
| 2015/16 | 2,452 | 57.0% | 61.4% | 52.9% |
| 2014/15 | 2,236 | 59.4% | 61.4% | 57.5% |
| 2013/14 | 2,166 | 60.8% | 63.7% | 58.2% |
South East average 52.9% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Newport
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 | 8 | 44 | 21.4% |
| Jul 2026 | 8.9 | 12.5 | 45 | 24.5% |
| Jun 2026 | 6.6 | 9.2 | 51 | 20.2% |
| May 2026 | 10.4 | 19.5 | 39 | 23.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 11.4 | 24 | 35 | 28.4% |
| Mar 2026 | 10.1 | 24 | 42 | 27.3% |
Tell me when the wait at Newport drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Newport
The centre is in the Innovation Centre on St Cross Business Park, on the north side of Newport. It is a shared office building on an estate rather than a standalone DVSA unit, so the approach and the parking are business-park roads: wide, quiet, and easy to arrive at early, which is the best thing about it.
Two published details matter. This centre cannot be accessed if you use a wheelchair, so raise access with DVSA at the booking stage. And motorcycle module 2 tests no longer run here. They moved to the Rookley site in late May 2026. What is left at Newport is car tests and instructor part 3 tests. Booking, changing and cancelling all go through GOV.UK.
There is no railway station near the centre and the business park sits away from the town, so allow more time than the distance suggests if you are not being driven in. Most candidates are dropped at the door by an instructor. However you arrive, get there early enough to sit for a few minutes, because the first junctions off the estate come quickly.
What DVSA publishes about Newport
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
- DVSA states you cannot access this centre in a wheelchair. Ring DVSA before booking to arrange an alternative.
- On the day
- From Week Commencing 25.05.2026 All Mod2 bike tests will move from Newport (IOW) to Rookley LGV. Prichetts Way. Rookley, Ventor, PO38 3NG. Newport (IOW) will no longer conduct bike tests from this date.
Other tests at Newport
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 Newport
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 Newport.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, NewportNewport PO30 5WB
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Lee On The SolentLee on the Solent · PO13 9JY · 13 km63.2%+13.2 vs GB20 wkswait
- PortsmouthPO6 4SH · 21 km52.8%+2.8 vs GB13 wkswait
- Southampton (Maybush)Southampton · SO16 9FP · 27 km50.3%+0.3 vs GB13.1 wkswait
- WinchesterSO23 9SY · 38 km52.2%+2.2 vs GB7.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Newport
- Is Newport an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 54.1% 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 Newport?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Newport was 8.9 weeks, and you had to look about 8 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 Newport driving test centre?
- Newport test centre is at Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport, PO30 5WB. 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 Newport do a year?
- 3,616 car tests were conducted at Newport in 2025/26, of which 1,958 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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