Preston driving test centre
Chain Caul Road, Preston, PR2 2PD
Drive the 5 routes around Preston before test day →
Key facts
- Preston's pass rate was 56.3% in 2025/26 from 9,194 tests, 6.3 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 8 of 31 centres in North West (North West average 49.0%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 7.3 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 53.7% (2024/25) and 61.1% (2022/23).
- Male candidates passed at 58.2% and female candidates at 54%, a gap of 4.2 points.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 18.4 weeks since booking (longer than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 24 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 15.9 weeks, so waits have grown by about 2.5 weeks.
Preston asks for more driving than most centres. The practice loops on this page run from 8.2 up to 17.7 kilometres, and four of the five are 13 kilometres or more, which is a long way to hold your concentration. Faults on a route that length tend to arrive late, when technique is fine but attention has slipped. The centre is on Chain Caul Road in the docks west of the city, so the first minutes are quiet before the routes turn inland. From there it is 20 mph territory: close to seven tenths of the roads mapped within 2.5 km carry a 20 limit, with 69 signalled junctions and five level crossings in the same radius. Preston has one of the higher pass rates in the North West and has held it for years, but the wait is long.
Drive the Preston test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 69 km in all, with 21 roundabouts and 125 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Preston; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Preston from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 69 km · 125 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 Holme Road15.3 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 14 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Port Way.15.3 km · 30 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Golden Way17.7 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of John Horrocks Way.17.7 km · 29 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Blackpool Road13.0 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 11 left turns and a stretch of Tulketh Road.13.0 km · 26 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Holme Road14.8 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Port Way.14.8 km · 30 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Pedders Lane8.2 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 3 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Wallend Road.8.2 km · 10 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 length of the routes is the first thing to plan for. One loop runs to 17.7 kilometres and another to 14.8, which is a lot of continuous driving, and the faults that appear late in a Preston test are concentration faults rather than technique. Practise driving for a full forty minutes without a reset.
The driving itself is mostly slow. Close to seven tenths of the roads mapped within 2.5 km of the centre are 20 mph, which is a high share even by northern city standards, and 69 signalled junctions sit in the same radius. Liverpool Road, Strand Road, Watery Lane and Pedders Lane carry the busier part of that: 20 and 30 mph roads with parked cars, side turnings close together and pedestrians who cross wherever they like.
Five level crossings are mapped in the area. That is unusual, and it makes stopping properly at one a live part of the test rather than a theoretical one. Stop behind the line, wait for the barriers to lift fully, and do not roll forward.
Roundabouts are present without dominating. Seven are named nearby, including Tulketh Brow, Corporation Street, Broad Oak, Admiral Way and Greencroft, and nine mini-roundabouts sit alongside them. The loops take in between three and seven each.
Chain Caul Way, Navigation Way and Port Way make up the dock end, where the roads are wide and quiet and the temptation is to relax. Manoeuvres are more often set on the residential streets inland, off Whinfield Lane and Pedders Way, where kerbs are straight and parking is steady on one side.
Waiting time for a test at Preston
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 | 18.4 | 24 | 41 | 36.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 18.4 | 24 | 30 | 36.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 14.6 | 24 | 27 | 34.1% |
| May 2026 | 15.6 | 24 | 26 | 38.9% |
| Apr 2026 | 16.1 | 24 | 32 | 36.2% |
| Mar 2026 | 13.1 | 23 | 41 | 35.6% |
Pass rate at Preston, 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 | 9,194 | 56.3% | 58.2% | 54.0% |
| 2024/25 | 11,380 | 53.7% | 54.2% | 53.1% |
| 2023/24 | 11,115 | 56.7% | 57.7% | 55.4% |
| 2022/23 | 9,704 | 61.1% | 63.3% | 58.7% |
| 2021/22 | 8,062 | 56.9% | 61.3% | 52.5% |
| 2020/21 | 2,421 | 59.9% | 63.0% | 57.0% |
| 2019/20 | 7,518 | 54.6% | 58.4% | 51.1% |
| 2018/19 | 7,560 | 55.2% | 58.9% | 51.9% |
North West average 49% · GB 50%
Tell me when the wait at Preston drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Preston
The centre is on Chain Caul Road, in the redeveloped dock area on the west side of Preston. The roads out there are wide and modern and the units look much alike, so allow a couple of minutes to find the right one rather than the right street.
GOV.UK confirms that you can access this test centre if you use a wheelchair, which is published for only some centres and worth knowing in advance. The centre runs car tests and ADI part 2 and part 3. There are no motorcycle, lorry or bus tests here.
Preston Riverside station is only a few hundred metres away, though most candidates still arrive by car with an instructor. Nothing is published about parking or the waiting room, so plan on the usual: a drop at the door and a space found on a nearby road.
The wait here has been running well above the national median, so if you have a slot, treat it as valuable and move it only if you have to. Arrive about ten minutes early. The examiner checks your licence, takes the signed declaration that the car is insured, and does the eyesight check outside on the dock road before you get in. Booking, moving and cancelling all go through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Preston
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.
Other tests at Preston
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 Preston
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 Preston.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Chain Caul RoadPreston PR2 2PD
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- ChorleyPR6 0BT · 14 km52.8%+2.8 vs GB12 wkswait
- Blackburn with DarwenDarwen · BB3 0DB · 19 km46.6%-3.4 vs GB8.6 wkswait
- BlackpoolFylde · FY4 2DP · 19 km51.8%+1.8 vs GB8.9 wkswait
- Southport (Liverpool)Southport · PR8 1HE · 21 km56.5%+6.5 vs GB16.9 wkswait
- Atherton (Manchester)Manchester · M46 0SU · 30 km44.3%-5.7 vs GB15.3 wkswait
- Bolton (Manchester)Bolton · BL3 2AW · 31 km51.8%+1.8 vs GB16.2 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Preston
- Is Preston an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 56.3% 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 Preston?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Preston was 18.4 weeks, and you had to look about 24 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 Preston driving test centre?
- Preston test centre is at Chain Caul Road, Preston, PR2 2PD. 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 Preston do a year?
- 9,194 car tests were conducted at Preston in 2025/26, of which 5,174 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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