South Uist driving test centre
C/O Tourist office, Lochboisdale, South Uist, HS8 5TH
Drive the 5 routes around South Uist before test day →
Key facts
- South Uist's pass rate was 55.6% in 2009/10 from 18 tests, 5.6 points above the national average of 50.0%.
Almost nothing is published about South Uist. The last pass rate on record is 55.6 per cent, from 18 tests in 2009/10, and there is no waiting time and no recent figure of any kind. Do not plan around numbers that old. What the roads show is a test with very little town in it: two thirds of the roads around the centre are national limit and the other third is 30 mph, there are no traffic signals and no roundabouts anywhere in the area, and there is not a single school within reach of the practice loops on this page. Barra and Benbecula both publish current figures and both sit within about half an hour by road and ferry.
Drive the South Uist test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 34 km in all, with 0 roundabouts and 46 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of South Uist; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around South Uist from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 34 km · 46 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.
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Two thirds of the roads around this centre are national limit and the other third is 30 mph. There is nothing in between — no 20 zone, no 40 stretch — so the drive is a straightforward alternation between open road and the slower run through a settlement, and the marking follows that. On the open sections the examiner wants to see proper progress: a car that is up to a speed suited to what you can see, not one held at 45 because the road feels narrow.
There is no road furniture to speak of. No traffic signals anywhere in the area, no roundabouts, no mini-roundabouts and no level crossings. No schools either, which is unusual enough to be worth saying — there is no school run to plan around and no 20 mph zone that appears at four in the afternoon.
The loops are short and the turning is light. A 9.8 kilometre loop asks for eight right turns and six left, a 7.2 kilometre loop asks for six and two, and the shortest, at 5 kilometres, asks for four and six. Across the whole set of five loops and 34.1 kilometres, no loop asks for more than eight turns in either direction.
No street names are recorded on any of the loops, which tells you the shape of the place: the driving is on the road between the townships rather than through a network of named streets. There is no dual carriageway.
Pass rate at South Uist, 2007/08 to 2009/10
Share of car tests passed each April-to-March year. Dashed line: Great Britain average for 2025/26.
Month by month, 2009/10
No monthly data yet.
By year and gender
| Year | Tests | Pass rate | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009/10 | 18 | 55.6% | 55.6% | 55.6% |
| 2008/09 | 21 | 57.1% | 71.4% | 50.0% |
| 2007/08 | 26 | 57.7% | 68.4% | 28.6% |
Scotland average 49.3% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at South Uist
Median weeks between booking and taking the test, for tests taken each month. Dashed line: GB median for August 2026.
Not enough data to draw a chart.
Tell me when the wait at South Uist drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at South Uist
The centre operates from the tourist office at Lochboisdale, HS8 5TH. Car tests only. GOV.UK says DVSA will make arrangements for you at this test centre if you have a disability, so ring ahead and tell them what you need.
There is no railway anywhere on the islands and no parking is published for the site. Lochboisdale is a small ferry village; leave the car clear of the pier traffic and of any passing place, and walk the last part.
No waiting time is published here at all, and neither is a recent pass rate. That is what happens at a centre running a handful of tests a year: DVSA has too little to report. It also means the diary can look very different from one month to the next, so check what the booking system offers rather than assuming anything, and check it more than once.
Barra is 24.6 kilometres away, passes 60 per cent and was waiting 11.1 weeks. Benbecula Island is 35.1 kilometres at 72.9 per cent and 10.6 weeks — the highest pass rate and the shortest wait of the three, though getting there is its own undertaking. Both publish current figures, which is worth something when you are trying to plan. Booking and cancelling is on GOV.UK only.
What DVSA publishes about South Uist
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- car
- 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.
Learner reports from South Uist
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 South Uist.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
C/O Tourist office, LochboisdaleSouth Uist HS8 5TH
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- BarraIsle of Barra · HS9 5XD · 25 km60.0%+10.0 vs GB11.1 wkswait
- Benbecula IslandHS7 5LA · 35 km72.9%+22.9 vs GB10.6 wkswait
Questions learners ask about South Uist
- Is South Uist an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 55.6% of car tests were passed there in 2009/10, 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.
- Where is South Uist driving test centre?
- South Uist test centre is at C/O Tourist office, Lochboisdale, South Uist, HS8 5TH. 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 South Uist do a year?
- 18 car tests were conducted at South Uist in 2009/10, of which 10 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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