Orkney driving test centre
The Kirkwall Auction Mart, Hatston Industrial Estate, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1FL
Drive the 5 routes around Orkney before test day →
Key facts
- Orkney's pass rate was 55.9% in 2025/26 from 320 tests, 5.9 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 38 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 6.6 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 11.7 points, from 67.6% to 55.9%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 6.9 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 20.6 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 9.4 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 2.5 weeks.
There is not one set of traffic signals on the practice loops on this page. Nor a single give-way junction marked anywhere across 48.9 kilometres. What joins the roads in Kirkwall is roundabouts — six named, five mini-roundabouts, and every loop carrying at least one. The other oddity is speed: 56 per cent of the distance is at 30 mph and 44 per cent at 15, on the harbour and industrial estate roads, so a great deal of this test is driven very slowly and very precisely. Orkney passes 55.9 per cent, 90th of the 302 centres ranked, down 11.7 points since 2021/22. The wait is 6.9 weeks, shorter than most of Britain.
Drive the Orkney test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 49 km in all, with 17 roundabouts and 75 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Orkney; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Orkney from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 49 km · 75 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 Grainshore Road9.6 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Ayre Road.9.6 km · 22 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Grainshore Road9.8 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of Pickaquoy Road.9.8 km · 11 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Carness Road11.5 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Glaitness Road.11.5 km · 14 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Grainshore Road8.7 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 5 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Ayre Road.8.7 km · 14 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Grainshore Road9.3 km loop with 1 roundabout, 5 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Sunnybank Road.9.3 km · 14 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.
Two things stand out. The first is that nothing on the set is signalled: no traffic lights, no signalled crossings, and no marked give-way junctions across 48.9 kilometres. The second is the speed split — 56 per cent of the distance at 30 mph and 44 per cent at 15, on the harbour, pier and industrial-estate roads around Hatston. Driving well at 15 is harder than it sounds, and it is nearly half of what the examiner sees.
Roundabouts do all the joining. Six are named — Pickaquoy Road, Grainshore Road, Ayre Road, Harbour Street, Hatston Brae and Junction Road — with five mini-roundabouts as well, and one 9.6 kilometre loop takes in six of them. Approach, lane and exit is the repeated skill; there is very little stopping and starting from a line.
The turning is even and moderate: five to eight right turns a loop, five to eight left. That evenness is worth knowing, because it means no loop is dramatically harder than another, and the test is decided on consistency rather than on one difficult manoeuvre.
Ayre Road, Pickaquoy Road, Harbour Street, Grainshore Road, Junction Road, Shore Street, Peerie Sea Loan and Hatston Pier Road carry most of the driving, with the A960, A961, A962, A963 and A965 and the B9053, B9054 and B9148 beyond the town. There is one zebra crossing, 3 schools in the area, no dual carriageway and no level crossings.
Pass rate at Orkney, 2008/09 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 | 320 | 55.9% | 59.0% | 52.8% |
| 2024/25 | 350 | 66.0% | 67.6% | 64.2% |
| 2023/24 | 373 | 60.6% | 55.9% | 64.2% |
| 2022/23 | 302 | 60.9% | 63.5% | 58.2% |
| 2021/22 | 333 | 67.6% | 68.6% | 66.7% |
| 2020/21 | 88 | 71.6% | 73.3% | 69.8% |
| 2019/20 | 311 | 68.5% | 75.4% | 63.0% |
| 2018/19 | 301 | 65.8% | 62.7% | 68.6% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Orkney
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 | 6.9 | 20.6 | 14 | 0% |
| Jul 2026 | 6.9 | 16.3 | 64 | 0% |
| Jun 2026 | 6.7 | 24 | 54 | 0% |
| May 2026 | 7.6 | 24 | 46 | 5.1% |
| Apr 2026 | 9.1 | 24 | 31 | 0% |
| Mar 2026 | 19.4 | 24 | 27 | 46.2% |
Tell me when the wait at Orkney drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Orkney
The centre is at the Kirkwall Auction Mart on the Hatston Industrial Estate, KW15 1FL, north-west of the town. It is a working mart site, so on sale days there is livestock traffic around you before you have even started.
Car tests are conducted here, along with motorcycle module 1 off-road, module 2 on-road, and lorry and bus tests. DVSA will make arrangements for you at this test centre if you have a disability.
There is no railway on Orkney, so everyone arrives by car or with an instructor. Parking is not published; on a mart site there is usually open ground, but follow whatever signs are up on the day.
The wait was a median of 6.9 weeks for tests taken in July 2026, well under the national 11.9, and it has come down from 10 a year earlier. With 22 per cent of standard slots still unbooked, a date here is easier to get than at most centres, even though the first week showing a tenth of its slots free was 16.3 weeks out.
March returned 70.5 per cent and October 50, on about forty-five tests a month. There is no other centre within reach — the nearest is a ferry or a flight away — so the choice here is which date, not which place. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about Orkney
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 1 (off-road)motorcycle module 2 (on-road)lorry and bus
- Wheelchair access
- Not published. DVSA says it will make arrangements for candidates with a disability, which is not the same as step-free access. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Other tests at Orkney
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 Orkney
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 Orkney.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
The Kirkwall Auction Mart, Hatston Industrial Estate, KirkwallOrkney KW15 1FL
Questions learners ask about Orkney
- Is Orkney an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 55.9% 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 Orkney?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Orkney was 6.9 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 Orkney driving test centre?
- Orkney test centre is at The Kirkwall Auction Mart, Hatston Industrial Estate, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1FL. 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 Orkney do a year?
- 320 car tests were conducted at Orkney in 2025/26, of which 179 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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