Southend-on-Sea driving test centre
The Tickfield Centre, Tickfield Industrial Estate, Tickfield Ave, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6LL
Drive the 5 routes around Southend-on-Sea before test day →
Key facts
- Southend-on-Sea's pass rate was 47% in 2025/26 from 7,526 tests, 3 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 20 of 24 centres in East of England (East of England average 51.4%), one of the lower pass rates in the region, 4.4 points below it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has fallen by 6.7 points, from 53.7% to 47%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 7.5 weeks since booking (shorter 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 14.4 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 6.9 weeks.
- 35.6% of the standard slots in the booking window were still unbooked in August 2026, which usually means a cancellation or new date is realistic here.
Southend is a junction test. The mapping within 2.5 km of the Tickfield Centre holds 79 signalled junctions, fifteen mini-roundabouts and eight named roundabouts, so the driving arrives in short pieces with a decision at the end of each one. The practice loops on this page run between 9.8 and 11.9 kilometres and carry five to eleven roundabouts apiece. Most of what you drive is a 30 limit, with about a fifth of the mapped roads at 40, so the speed changes are frequent rather than dramatic. The pass rate has fallen since 2021 and now sits a few points under the national average, which puts Southend in the lower third of centres in the country. The wait, at least, is shorter than most.
Drive the Southend-on-Sea test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 55 km in all, with 37 roundabouts and 132 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Southend-on-Sea; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Southend-on-Sea from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 55 km · 132 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.
- Route 1 · via Eastern Avenue11.9 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 15 left turns and a stretch of Bournemouth Park Road.11.9 km · 31 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Eastern Avenue9.8 km loop with 11 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of East Street.9.8 km · 23 turns · 11 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Manners Way11.6 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Eastern Avenue.11.6 km · 22 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Victoria Avenue10.0 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 16 left turns and a stretch of Eastern Avenue.10.0 km · 29 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Victoria Avenue11.5 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of East Street.11.5 km · 27 turns · 5 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Victoria Avenue and Eastern Avenue carry the fast half of the test. These are the wide approach roads into Southend, mostly 30 with stretches at 40, and they connect the named roundabouts: Eastern Avenue, Sutton Road, Fossetts Way, Cherry Orchard Way and Harp House among them. Lane choice on the approach is what gets marked here, because the lanes are marked early and the exit comes up quickly once you are round.
The town side is different driving altogether. East Street, Bournemouth Park Road, Priory Crescent and Southchurch Avenue are older and narrower, with side turnings close together, parked cars and buses pulling out. The 79 signalled junctions mapped within 2.5 km are concentrated in this half, and it is where amber gambles and blocked yellow boxes turn into faults.
Fifteen mini-roundabouts sit in the same radius. They are the trap at Southend as at most Essex centres: signal for the exit you are taking, give way to the right even when nothing is coming, and keep off the painted circle.
There are 27 schools within 2.5 km, so a mid-morning or mid-afternoon slot puts you into a school run somewhere on the route. One level crossing is mapped in the area as well, and if you meet it, stop behind the line and wait for the barriers to lift properly.
Manoeuvres are usually set on the quieter residential roads off Manners Way and Penhurst Avenue, where the kerbs run straight and there is enough parking on one side for a pull-up on the right to be worth asking for.
Pass rate at Southend-on-Sea, 2012/13 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 | 7,526 | 47.0% | 46.6% | 47.5% |
| 2024/25 | 4,797 | 48.1% | 51.5% | 44.7% |
| 2023/24 | 4,573 | 48.6% | 53.0% | 44.1% |
| 2022/23 | 4,307 | 51.1% | 54.0% | 48.4% |
| 2021/22 | 4,581 | 53.7% | 57.2% | 50.6% |
| 2020/21 | 1,201 | 55.8% | 56.4% | 55.3% |
| 2019/20 | 6,306 | 47.6% | 50.6% | 45.1% |
| 2018/19 | 6,825 | 45.6% | 48.3% | 43.4% |
East of England average 51.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Southend-on-Sea
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 | 7.5 | 24 | 36 | 35.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 7.5 | 24 | 49 | 27.9% |
| Jun 2026 | 11 | 24 | 42 | 22.5% |
| May 2026 | 7.6 | 24 | 49 | 24.6% |
| Apr 2026 | 7.7 | 24 | 48 | 24.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 14.3 | 24 | 30 | 29.9% |
Tell me when the wait at Southend-on-Sea drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Southend-on-Sea
The centre is on the Tickfield Industrial Estate off Tickfield Avenue, north of the town centre. It is a unit on an estate rather than a building with its own frontage, so look for the number and give yourself a minute to find it. Prittlewell station is about 300 metres away, which is closer than most centres manage, so arriving by train is realistic here.
GOV.UK lists car tests only at this centre. There are no motorcycle, lorry or instructor tests, and nothing is published about step-free access or facilities. If you need to know what the entrance is like before the day, ring and ask rather than assume.
Parking is not published either. An industrial estate normally has room on the service roads, which is typical of this kind of unit rather than confirmed for this one, so plan on being dropped at the door with the car parked nearby.
Arrive about ten minutes before your slot. The examiner calls you by name, checks your licence and asks you to sign the declaration that the car is insured for the test. The eyesight check is done outside on the estate before you get in. Booking, moving and cancelling all go through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Southend-on-Sea
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. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Southend-on-Sea
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 Southend-on-Sea.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
The Tickfield Centre, Tickfield Industrial Estate, Tickfield AveSouthend-on-Sea SS2 6LL
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- BasildonSS14 3JS · 16 km49.1%-0.9 vs GB4.8 wkswait
- GillinghamME8 0EZ · 22 km56.4%+6.4 vs GB9.9 wkswait
- TilburyRM18 7AE · 27 km50.4%+0.4 vs GB7.1 wkswait
- Chelmsford (Hanbury Road)Chelmsford · CM1 2PZ · 27 km55.4%+5.4 vs GB17 wkswait
- Brentwood (London)Brentwood · CM14 5JN · 29 km48.5%-1.5 vs GB3.6 wkswait
- Hornchurch (London)Romford · RM12 6JX · 34 km46.3%-3.7 vs GB23 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Southend-on-Sea
- Is Southend-on-Sea an easy test centre?
- Its 47% pass rate in 2025/26 is below the 50.0% national average. Busy urban roads and complex junctions usually explain lower rates; knowing the local routes closes most of that gap.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Southend-on-Sea?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Southend-on-Sea was 7.5 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 Southend-on-Sea driving test centre?
- Southend-on-Sea test centre is at The Tickfield Centre, Tickfield Industrial Estate, Tickfield Ave, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6LL. 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 Southend-on-Sea do a year?
- 7,526 car tests were conducted at Southend-on-Sea in 2025/26, of which 3,537 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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