Newton Abbot driving test centre
Vander House, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4YQ
Drive the 5 routes around Newton Abbot before test day →
Key facts
- Newton Abbot's pass rate was 53.8% in 2025/26 from 6,591 tests, 3.8 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 8 of 21 centres in South West (South West average 51.7%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 2.1 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 5.8 points, from 48% to 53.8%.
- Male candidates passed at 56.1% and female candidates at 51.3%, a gap of 4.8 points.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 6.8 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 20.6 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 9.9 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 3.1 weeks.
Every roundabout around Newton Abbot has a name, and your instructor will use them. Aller Cross, Ogwell Cross, Balls Corner, Dyrons, Westgolds, Churchills and Ware Barton are the ones that come up, and the practice loops on this page take in as many as nine of them in under thirteen kilometres. Learn the names and the shapes together, because the instruction on the day will be an exit number, not a street name.
Away from the roundabouts this is a 30 mph town. Almost nine in ten tagged roads within a couple of miles carry a 30, with very little 20, so there is less speed-limit hunting than at most centres and more steady judgement at junctions. The pass rate has climbed since 2021 and now sits above both the national and the South West averages.
Drive the Newton Abbot test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 58 km in all, with 31 roundabouts and 140 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Newton Abbot; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Newton Abbot 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 · 140 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 Shaldon Road12.5 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 17 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Torquay Road.12.5 km · 32 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via South Devon Highway10.6 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Torquay Road.10.6 km · 28 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Oakland Road10.8 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 15 right turns, 17 left turns and a stretch of Torquay Road.10.8 km · 36 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via St Marychurch Road12.7 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Newton Road.12.7 km · 21 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Shaldon Road11.8 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of South Devon Highway.11.8 km · 23 turns · 7 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Torquay Road carries most of the practice loops on this page, and the roundabouts along it are where the test is decided. Four of the five loops include at least four roundabouts and the busiest has nine. They come in series, so the exit of one is the approach to the next and there is no time to reset between them. Position early, hold your lane round, and signal on the exit rather than after it.
The limits are simple by comparison. Almost nine in ten roads in the area are 30 mph, so once you are off the roundabouts the speed rarely changes. What does change is the gradient. This is Devon, and Buckland Brake and the climbs out of the town mean hill starts and downhill approaches on the same loop.
There is one exception to the 30 mph picture, and it is a large one. A small share of the roads nearby carry 70 mph limits, and one of the loops includes a stretch of the South Devon Highway. Joining fast traffic from a slip road, holding a lane at speed and coming back down to a 30 in the length of an off-slip is a different skill from anything else on the route, and it is worth a lesson of its own.
Two level crossings and twenty schools sit within the same radius. The crossings are unlikely on a short loop but possible on a long one. The schools are the more predictable hazard: from mid afternoon the residential 30s fill with parked cars and children, and Kingskerswell Road and Shaldon Road get slower than the limit suggests.
Pass rate at Newton Abbot, 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 | 6,591 | 53.8% | 56.1% | 51.3% |
| 2024/25 | 6,263 | 51.9% | 55.1% | 48.7% |
| 2023/24 | 7,094 | 50.1% | 51.7% | 48.6% |
| 2022/23 | 5,997 | 50.8% | 55.2% | 46.6% |
| 2021/22 | 6,717 | 48.0% | 49.1% | 47.0% |
| 2020/21 | 1,908 | 52.9% | 56.4% | 49.4% |
| 2019/20 | 5,662 | 49.0% | 53.4% | 44.9% |
| 2018/19 | 5,358 | 49.5% | 54.1% | 45.5% |
South West average 51.7% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Newton Abbot
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 | 6.8 | 20.6 | 49 | 18.4% |
| Jul 2026 | 6.8 | 16.8 | 50 | 23.6% |
| Jun 2026 | 6.1 | 19.2 | 54 | 20.6% |
| May 2026 | 6.3 | 24 | 54 | 20.5% |
| Apr 2026 | 6.6 | 24 | 51 | 19.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 5 | 24 | 60 | 12.8% |
Tell me when the wait at Newton Abbot drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Newton Abbot
The centre is Vander House on Brunel Road, on the industrial estate to the north of the town. It is an ordinary business unit, so look for the building name rather than a DVSA frontage.
Newton Abbot station is about 300 metres away, which makes arriving by train practical if you are not coming in the lesson car. Most candidates still arrive with an instructor, but if you are coming by train the walk is short.
DVSA's record for this centre lists car tests and ADI part 3, and nothing else. It publishes nothing about parking, waiting facilities or accessibility. For a unit of this kind, parking is usually shared with the neighbouring businesses and can be tight during the working day, which is typical rather than confirmed. If you need step-free access or a wheelchair-accessible entrance, ring the centre before your test rather than turning up and hoping.
Waits here were around seven weeks in July 2026, well below the national median and roughly half what they were a year earlier. That makes moving a test more realistic than at most centres, though it is still done only through GOV.UK.
Arrive about ten minutes before your slot. The estate is quieter mid-morning than at either end of the working day.
What DVSA publishes about Newton Abbot
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 3
- Wheelchair access
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Other tests at Newton Abbot
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 Newton Abbot
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 Newton Abbot.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Vander House, Brunel RoadNewton Abbot TQ12 4YQ
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- ExeterEX2 8FS · 20 km46.8%-3.2 vs GB7.6 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Newton Abbot
- Is Newton Abbot an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 53.8% 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 Newton Abbot?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Newton Abbot was 6.8 weeks, and you had to look about 20.6 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 Newton Abbot driving test centre?
- Newton Abbot test centre is at Vander House, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4YQ. 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 Newton Abbot do a year?
- 6,591 car tests were conducted at Newton Abbot in 2025/26, of which 3,547 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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