Stoke on Trent driving test centre
DVSA name: Stoke on Trent (Cobridge) · 8 Elder Road, Cobridge, Stoke-On-Trent, ST6 2HE
Drive the 5 routes around Stoke on Trent before test day →
Key facts
- Stoke on Trent's pass rate was 40.6% in 2025/26 from 8,413 tests, 9.4 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 22 of 26 centres in West Midlands (West Midlands average 46.2%), one of the lower pass rates in the region, 5.6 points below it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 4.7 points, from 35.9% to 40.6%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 10.4 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 22 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 18.2 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 7.8 weeks.
- 21.6% 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.
Stoke on Trent (Cobridge) has one of the lowest pass rates in the country: 40.6 per cent, 289th of 302 centres, and nine points under the national average. It is worth knowing that before you book, and worth knowing too that the rate has risen nearly five points since 2021, and that the wait has halved in a year, from over twenty weeks to about ten.
The reason it is hard is not exotic. Cobridge sits between Burslem and Hanley in the middle of the six towns, and 88 per cent of the roads around the centre are 30 mph. It is town driving, all of it, with junction after junction and almost nowhere to settle.
Drive the Stoke on Trent test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 54 km in all, with 26 roundabouts and 126 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Stoke on Trent; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Stoke on Trent from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 54 km · 126 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 Festival Way12.4 km loop with 8 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 6 left turns and a stretch of Waterloo Road.12.4 km · 24 turns · 8 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Leek New Road10.2 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 16 left turns and a stretch of Moorland Road.10.2 km · 31 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Waterloo Road10.9 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of Sneyd Hill.10.9 km · 29 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Hanley Road11.4 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of High Lane.11.4 km · 21 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Leek New Road9.4 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Waterloo Road.9.4 km · 21 turns · 6 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Waterloo Road is the road this centre is built around. It runs from Cobridge up to Burslem and down to Hanley, it is on two of the five practice loops, and it carries buses, parked cars, side turnings and traffic lights in a continuous string. If you can drive Waterloo Road well, most of the rest of a Stoke test follows.
The numbers explain the pressure. There are 77 sets of traffic signals in the area, eight large roundabouts and nine mini ones. Waterloo Roundabout, Porthill Roundabout, Wolstanton Junction, Joiners Square Roundabout and Bottleslow Roundabout are the big ones, several of them multi-lane and busy with through traffic. Almost all of this happens at 30 mph, which is 88 per cent of the roads here; only 8 per cent are 20 and hardly anything is faster.
Nile Street, Elder Road, Davison Street, Ashburton Street, Portland Street and Century Street are the terraced streets, narrow and parked on both sides. Streets like these are where meeting traffic and hill starts come up, and the longer loops use Sneyd Hill and High Lane on the way out to the edge of the built-up area.
Two more things to allow for. There is one level crossing inside the area the routes cover, and there are 41 schools, so the streets between Cobridge and Burslem fill with children twice a day. Both are ordinary hazards, and both are the kind that catch a candidate who has stopped scanning.
Pass rate at Stoke on Trent, 2010/11 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 | 8,413 | 40.6% | 41.4% | 39.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6,450 | 38.8% | 39.1% | 38.4% |
| 2023/24 | 5,139 | 39.4% | 41.2% | 37.5% |
| 2022/23 | 4,502 | 41.1% | 44.4% | 37.8% |
| 2021/22 | 4,409 | 35.9% | 39.4% | 32.6% |
| 2020/21 | 1,456 | 37.8% | 39.3% | 36.5% |
| 2019/20 | 6,240 | 36.4% | 41.5% | 32.1% |
| 2018/19 | 6,123 | 37.6% | 43.4% | 33.0% |
West Midlands average 46.2% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Stoke on Trent
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 | 10.4 | 22 | 40 | 21.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 10.4 | 20 | 42 | 21.4% |
| Jun 2026 | 9.9 | 20.6 | 39 | 17.7% |
| May 2026 | 8 | 22.8 | 45 | 20.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 5.4 | 22.3 | 58 | 17.5% |
| Mar 2026 | 5 | 24 | 59 | 18.2% |
Tell me when the wait at Stoke on Trent drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Stoke on Trent
The centre is at 8 Elder Road in Cobridge, between Burslem and Hanley. Cobridge Park sits on the same road, which makes the turning easier to find than the building. This is an ordinary residential street, not a business park, so there is no signed visitor entrance to aim at.
Car tests, ADI part 2 and ADI part 3 are conducted here. There is no motorcycle testing at Cobridge; the other Stoke centre at Newcastle under Lyme takes the on road module.
On access, DVSA prints nothing for this centre. That is worth noticing rather than shrugging at, because the Newcastle under Lyme centre a few miles away does carry the standard wheelchair statement. The silence here is a gap in what is published, not a confirmation either way, so ring the centre before the day if you need step free access.
Parking is not published. On a street like Elder Road the usual arrangement is a handful of spaces and then the kerb, and the kerb fills as slots change over. Arrive early enough to park without rushing. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Stoke on Trent
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
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Stoke on Trent
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 Stoke on Trent.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
8 Elder Road, CobridgeStoke-On-Trent ST6 2HE
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- Stoke on Trent (Newcastle under Lyme)Stoke-On-Trent · ST4 6PQ · 5.2 km41.6%-8.4 vs GB17.6 wkswait
- CreweCW2 7LL · 18 km43.8%-6.2 vs GB16 wkswait
- MacclesfieldSK10 1JQ · 25 km51.9%+1.9 vs GB21.4 wkswait
- StaffordST16 2RF · 26 km45.8%-4.2 vs GB17.7 wkswait
- BuxtonSK17 9DS · 30 km58.7%+8.7 vs GB15 wkswait
- NorthwichCW8 4BU · 33 km57.6%+7.6 vs GB19.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Stoke on Trent
- Is Stoke on Trent an easy test centre?
- Its 40.6% 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 Stoke on Trent?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Stoke on Trent was 10.4 weeks, and you had to look about 22 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 Stoke on Trent driving test centre?
- Stoke on Trent test centre is at 8 Elder Road, Cobridge, Stoke-On-Trent, ST6 2HE. 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 Stoke on Trent do a year?
- 8,413 car tests were conducted at Stoke on Trent in 2025/26, of which 3,413 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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