St Albans driving test centre
Beauver House, 6 Bricket Road, St Albans, AL1 3JX
Drive the 5 routes around St Albans before test day →
Key facts
- St Albans's pass rate was 50.7% in 2025/26 from 7,336 tests, in line with the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 12 of 24 centres in East of England (East of England average 51.4%), a mid-table pass rates in the region.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 4.8 points, from 45.9% to 50.7%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 6.7 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 12.6 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 5.9 weeks.
- 29.9% 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.
What makes St Albans awkward is the number of turns. The practice loops on this page are short, between 8.9 and 12.6 kilometres, but one of them contains seventeen right turns and another thirteen, and they hold only two to five roundabouts between them. This is a test of junction work rather than of open driving. The area helps that along with 38 mini-roundabouts and 64 signalled junctions mapped within 2.5 km of Bricket Road, and with 48 schools in the same radius, more than almost any centre of this size. The pass rate sits in line with the national average and has risen since 2021. The wait has come down by roughly nine weeks in a year.
Drive the St Albans test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 49 km in all, with 15 roundabouts and 125 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of St Albans; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around St Albans 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 · 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
One payment, no renewal. Or £9.99 a month with a 3-day free trial. Cancel any time.
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- Route 1 · via Holywell Hill9.3 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 17 right turns, 14 left turns and a stretch of Hatfield Road.9.3 km · 33 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Cottonmill Lane12.6 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Sandpit Lane.12.6 km · 29 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Hatfield Road8.9 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Dellfield.8.9 km · 27 turns · 2 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Batchwood Drive9.1 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 6 right turns, 3 left turns and a stretch of King Harry Lane.9.1 km · 14 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Sandpit Lane9.2 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Holywell Hill.9.2 km · 22 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 routes leave into city-centre traffic almost immediately. Victoria Street and St Peter's Street carry the busiest part, with signals close together, buses, loading and pedestrians crossing where they like. Hatfield Road and London Road then take you out towards the residential ring. Around half of the roads mapped within 2.5 km are 30 limits and roughly a third are 20, so the transitions between them are constant and the sign is often behind a parked van.
Mini-roundabouts are the local speciality. There are 38 of them in that radius, far more than the seven conventional roundabouts recorded nearby, and they are usually reached from a road with parked cars on both sides. Approach slowly enough to see the give-way to your right, signal for the exit, and do not cut the circle.
Sandpit Lane, Marlborough Road and Upper Marlborough Road are the residential arteries, narrow enough in places to need a proper decision about who gives way. Batchwood Drive, Griffiths Way and King Harry Lane are the faster edge, where the limits rise and a few roads nearby run at 60 or 70, though the loops themselves stay urban.
With 48 schools inside 2.5 km, the time of your slot matters more here than at most centres. A test starting at half past three puts you into the school run somewhere.
Manoeuvres are usually asked for on the quieter streets off Charmouth Road and Fair Cross Way, where the kerbs run straight and there is enough parking on one side for a pull-up on the right.
Pass rate at St Albans, 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 | 7,336 | 50.7% | 51.9% | 49.2% |
| 2024/25 | 6,881 | 48.4% | 49.2% | 47.5% |
| 2023/24 | 6,826 | 44.1% | 45.3% | 42.7% |
| 2022/23 | 5,320 | 44.0% | 45.3% | 42.6% |
| 2021/22 | 6,017 | 45.9% | 46.5% | 45.3% |
| 2020/21 | 1,779 | 47.9% | 49.5% | 46.3% |
| 2019/20 | 6,949 | 41.8% | 43.5% | 40.2% |
| 2018/19 | 7,456 | 43.8% | 46.8% | 41.0% |
East of England average 51.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at St Albans
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 | 6.7 | 24 | 55 | 29.9% |
| Jul 2026 | 6.7 | 24 | 50 | 29.9% |
| Jun 2026 | 9.7 | 24 | 45 | 26.3% |
| May 2026 | 6 | 24 | 54 | 26.9% |
| Apr 2026 | 15 | 20.5 | 42 | 43.6% |
| Mar 2026 | 14.7 | 18.6 | 41 | 40% |
Tell me when the wait at St Albans drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at St Albans
The centre is at Beauver House on Bricket Road, in the middle of St Albans rather than on an estate at the edge of it. St Albans City station is about 600 metres away, so a train and a walk works, and plenty of candidates arrive that way.
GOV.UK publishes that you can access this centre if you use a wheelchair. The tests taken here are car and ADI part 3; there are no motorcycle, lorry or bus tests.
Parking is the usual problem with a central location and nothing is published about it. City-centre streets around here are metered or restricted, so the normal arrangement is a drop at the door with the instructor parking in a nearby car park. That is typical of centres in this kind of position rather than confirmed for this one, so build in the time.
Arrive about ten minutes before your slot rather than half an hour. 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, reading a plate on a parked car. Booking, moving and cancelling are done only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about St Albans
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 3
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at St Albans
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 St Albans
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 St Albans.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Beauver House, 6 Bricket RoadSt Albans AL1 3JX
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- WatfordWD25 8HU · 9.9 km46.2%-3.8 vs GB15.4 wkswait
- Borehamwood (London)Borehamwood · WD6 2BT · 13 km50.8%+0.8 vs GB10.9 wkswait
- LutonLU1 5BT · 15 km39.2%-10.8 vs GB10.3 wkswait
- Barnet (London)Barnet · EN5 1AD · 16 km49.9%-0.1 vs GB21.1 wkswait
- Mill Hill (London)Mill Hill · NW7 2DQ · 17 km51.4%+1.4 vs GB14.7 wkswait
- Pinner (London)Pinner · HA5 2DZ · 18 km49.7%-0.3 vs GB23.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about St Albans
- Is St Albans an easy test centre?
- It is close to the national average: 50.7% of tests were passed in 2025/26 against 50.0% across Great Britain.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at St Albans?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at St Albans was 6.7 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 St Albans driving test centre?
- St Albans test centre is at Beauver House, 6 Bricket Road, St Albans, AL1 3JX. 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 St Albans do a year?
- 7,336 car tests were conducted at St Albans in 2025/26, of which 3,721 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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