Peterhead driving test centre
Suite 21, Burnside Business Centre, Burnside Road, Peterhead, AB42 3AW
Drive the 5 routes around Peterhead before test day →
Key facts
- Peterhead's pass rate was 53.2% in 2025/26 from 2,628 tests, 3.2 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 43 of 67 centres in Scotland (Scotland average 49.3%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 3.9 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 13.4 points, from 66.6% to 53.2%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 7.4 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 10.2 weeks ahead.
Peterhead is one of the few smaller Scottish centres where a test can put you on a dual carriageway. The Peterhead Bypass runs along the edge of the town and turns up in most of the practice loops on this page, along with three named roundabouts: Invernettie, Howe of Buchan and the one at West Road. Inside the town the limits drop, with roughly half the local roads at 30 and a third at 20, so a Peterhead drive swings between fast open road and tight residential streets several times over. The centre is a suite in the Burnside Business Centre on Burnside Road. It is busy for the size of the town, and slots here are easier to come by than at most Scottish centres.
Drive the Peterhead test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 59 km in all, with 19 roundabouts and 105 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Peterhead; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Peterhead from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 59 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
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- Route 1 · via Meethill Road12.8 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Station Road.12.8 km · 23 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via South Base Road11.1 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Peterhead Bypass.11.1 km · 26 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via South Road11.5 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Peterhead Bypass.11.5 km · 18 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Peterhead Bypass11.5 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of South Base Road.11.5 km · 19 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Gatehouse Road12.5 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of South Road.12.5 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 bypass is what sets this centre apart. It appears in the descriptions of several of the practice loops on this page, and it brings the things a town-only test never asks for: joining and leaving at speed, lane discipline on a dual carriageway, and reading a roundabout entry while already moving quickly. Invernettie and Howe of Buchan are the two big ones, with a third at West Road, and there are three mini-roundabouts on top of that. Approach speed and lane choice are where the marks go, not the roundabout itself.
Away from the bypass the pattern changes completely. Around half the tagged roads within two and a half kilometres of the centre are 30 mph and a further third are 20, so much of the drive is in residential streets: Meethill Road, Damhead Way and Damhead Road, Matthew Drive, Watson Crescent, Abernethy Road and Gatehouse Road. With nine schools in that radius, a mid-morning or mid-afternoon test can run into a school run, and the 20 zones near them are enforced by signs rather than humps in places, so the limit has to be in your head rather than under your wheels.
South Road, South Base Road, Station Road and Harbour Street carry the traffic to and from the harbour, which means heavier vehicles and more turning movements than the road width suggests. Roughly one road in nine nearby is at the national limit, so a longer loop can also drop you onto the A950 or A982 for a stretch of open Buchan road.
Pass rate at Peterhead, 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 | 2,628 | 53.2% | 52.2% | 54.9% |
| 2024/25 | 1,400 | 57.8% | 57.0% | 59.0% |
| 2023/24 | 1,291 | 60.7% | 61.1% | 60.3% |
| 2022/23 | 1,538 | 59.0% | 59.9% | 57.8% |
| 2021/22 | 1,174 | 66.6% | 66.5% | 66.7% |
| 2020/21 | 332 | 69.6% | 68.3% | 70.8% |
| 2019/20 | 1,057 | 62.5% | 67.0% | 58.7% |
| 2018/19 | 1,022 | 62.6% | 70.8% | 56.2% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Peterhead
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 | 7.4 | 10.2 | 60 | 8% |
| Jul 2026 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 46 | 12% |
| Jun 2026 | 4.8 | 17 | 61 | 5.2% |
| May 2026 | 4.4 | 17.8 | 67 | 7.9% |
| Apr 2026 | 4.4 | 21.3 | 66 | 3.3% |
| Mar 2026 | 3.6 | 22 | 67 | 7.6% |
Tell me when the wait at Peterhead drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Peterhead
The centre is Suite 21 in the Burnside Business Centre on Burnside Road, a modern unit shared with other businesses rather than a standalone DVSA office. There is no railway station in Peterhead, so everyone arrives by road. Parking for candidates is not something DVSA publishes here, so plan on the same approach that works at any business-park unit: arrive with time in hand and take a space that clearly is not reserved for a tenant.
Two things in the official record are worth knowing before you book. The centre takes car tests and motorcycle module 2 tests, and DVSA states that it can be accessed if you use a wheelchair, which is not the case at every centre of this size.
Waits here are short by national standards, a little over seven weeks in the most recent figures, and close to two fifths of the slots in the booking window were still unbooked. If your date slips or you want to move it earlier, this is a centre where checking GOV.UK for a cancellation is worth the effort rather than a long shot.
The eyesight check is done outside before you get in the car, reading a plate at the required distance.
What DVSA publishes about Peterhead
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)
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at Peterhead
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 Peterhead
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 Peterhead.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Suite 21, Burnside Business Centre, Burnside RoadPeterhead AB42 3AW
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- FraserburghAB43 9TN · 26 km64.0%+14.0 vs GB18.1 wkswait
- Aberdeen NorthAberdeen · AB22 8GT · 39 km48.2%-1.8 vs GB15.4 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Peterhead
- Is Peterhead an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 53.2% 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 Peterhead?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Peterhead was 7.4 weeks, and you had to look about 10.2 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 Peterhead driving test centre?
- Peterhead test centre is at Suite 21, Burnside Business Centre, Burnside Road, Peterhead, AB42 3AW. 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 Peterhead do a year?
- 2,628 car tests were conducted at Peterhead in 2025/26, of which 1,399 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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