Sunderland driving test centre
River Bank Road, North Hylton Road Industrial Estate, Sunderland, SR5 3JJ
Drive the 5 routes around Sunderland before test day →
Key facts
- Sunderland's pass rate was 51.1% in 2025/26 from 10,436 tests, in line with the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 5 of 11 centres in North East (North East average 48.4%), a mid-table pass rates in the region, 2.7 points above it.
- Since 2021/22 the pass rate has risen by 5.8 points, from 45.3% to 51.1%.
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 8.9 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 18.4 weeks ahead.
- 25.1% 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.
Sunderland's test centre is on Riverbank Road, inside an industrial estate on the north bank of the Wear. Nothing about the setting looks like a driving test. It is lorries, yards and wide service roads. But the position is the point, because it puts Wessington Way within a minute of the door.
That road defines the test. It is fast, it has roundabouts along it, and the practice loops on this page use it to move between Castletown, Hylton and Pallion. There are 26 roundabout manoeuvres across the five loops, most approached at speed rather than crawled up to, and then residential streets where the limit is a fraction of that. Just under three fifths of the roads in the area are 30 mph, but almost a tenth are 70.
Drive the Sunderland test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 48 km in all, with 26 roundabouts and 122 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Sunderland; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Sunderland from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 48 km · 122 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 Washington Road11.8 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 10 right turns, 14 left turns and a stretch of St Luke's Road.11.8 km · 31 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via North Hylton Road10.4 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 7 right turns, 10 left turns and a stretch of St Luke's Road.10.4 km · 26 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Washington Road11.8 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 4 left turns and a stretch of Paul Watson Way.11.8 km · 22 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Rhodesia Road6.5 km loop with 1 roundabout, 14 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Rotherfield Road.6.5 km · 24 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 5 · via Wessington Way7.2 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 8 left turns and a stretch of Castletown Way.7.2 km · 19 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.
Wessington Way is the road that sets the standard. It runs west from the centre, it is fast, and the loops join and leave it repeatedly. Two skills get tested on it. The first is joining at a speed that matches the traffic already there rather than emerging slowly and hoping. The second is coming off it, because the limit drops sharply as you leave and speed carried into the next section is one of the most common faults at this kind of centre.
Castletown Way, North Hylton Road, Paul Watson Way and St Luke's Road carry most of the remaining roundabout work, and on St Luke's Road and Paul Watson Way several arrive in quick succession, so the same decision comes at you two or three times in a row. The Broadway, Saint Michael's Way and the Pallion New Road junctions are the named ones your instructor will use.
The estate driving sits on Rhodesia Road, Rutherglen Road, Wembley Road, Radlett Road, Cowies Way and Rotherfield Road. These are quiet, uniform residential streets, usually with parking down one side, and they are the natural place for a bay park, a reverse or a pull-up on the right. Washington Road connects them back to the main roads. Thirty-seven schools sit within a couple of miles of the centre, so an afternoon slot means finding those streets busier than a morning one would.
Right turns outnumber left turns across the loops, and a good number are right turns from or onto a road carrying real speed. That combination, turning across traffic moving at 40 or more, is the one to rehearse before a Sunderland test.
Pass rate at Sunderland, 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 | 10,436 | 51.1% | 51.2% | 51.1% |
| 2024/25 | 9,084 | 47.1% | 47.8% | 46.4% |
| 2023/24 | 10,814 | 45.8% | 46.0% | 45.6% |
| 2022/23 | 9,608 | 46.7% | 49.3% | 44.3% |
| 2021/22 | 4,929 | 45.3% | 47.5% | 43.2% |
| 2020/21 | 1,761 | 47.6% | 51.0% | 44.6% |
| 2019/20 | 6,314 | 44.1% | 47.8% | 40.9% |
| 2018/19 | 6,216 | 42.9% | 46.0% | 39.9% |
North East average 48.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Sunderland
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 | 8.9 | 18.4 | 43 | 25.1% |
| Jul 2026 | 8.9 | 18.8 | 43 | 27.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 9.1 | 23.4 | 42 | 25.6% |
| May 2026 | 9.4 | 21 | 42 | 25.6% |
| Apr 2026 | 10.6 | 24 | 41 | 30.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 11.7 | 24 | 40 | 29.3% |
Tell me when the wait at Sunderland drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Sunderland
The centre is on Riverbank Road in the North Hylton Road Industrial Estate. Coming from the city you follow the main road west and turn off at Castletown Way. It is a working estate rather than a street, so use the road name and postcode instead of looking for a building you would recognise.
There is parking on site for candidates, and male, female and accessible toilets. Wheelchair users have ramp access into the building. The centre runs car tests and ADI part 2 and part 3.
The estate roads are the first hazard of the day. Articulated lorries reverse into yards across the carriageway, slowly and without warning. Approaching the centre and leaving it, expect to be held up by something large and to need patience rather than a gap. Examiners see this daily and will not fault you for waiting. They will fault you for trying to squeeze past.
Pallion station is about a kilometre away, but most candidates arrive by car. If you are being dropped off, allow extra time in the morning peak.
Booking here is currently easier than at most centres. Waits are below the national median and have fallen by a large margin over the past year, with about a fifth of slots in the booking window still unbooked, so a cancellation is realistic.
What DVSA publishes about Sunderland
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.
Learner reports from Sunderland
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 Sunderland.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
River Bank Road, North Hylton Road Industrial EstateSunderland SR5 3JJ
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- GatesheadNE11 9HU · 15 km37.5%-12.5 vs GB7.1 wkswait
- GosforthNewcastle Upon Tyne · NE3 5HB · 18 km48.4%-1.6 vs GB16.3 wkswait
- DurhamMeadowfield · DH7 8XL · 23 km53.2%+3.2 vs GB15.7 wkswait
- BlythNE24 3BA · 23 km50.9%+0.9 vs GB13.5 wkswait
- HartlepoolTS25 1TZ · 31 km51.0%+1.0 vs GB13.4 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Sunderland
- Is Sunderland an easy test centre?
- It is close to the national average: 51.1% of tests were passed in 2025/26 against 50.0% across Great Britain.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Sunderland?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Sunderland was 8.9 weeks, and you had to look about 18.4 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 Sunderland driving test centre?
- Sunderland test centre is at River Bank Road, North Hylton Road Industrial Estate, Sunderland, SR5 3JJ. 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 Sunderland do a year?
- 10,436 car tests were conducted at Sunderland in 2025/26, of which 5,338 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.
Drive Sunderland’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month · or £14.99 once for 90 days
Try free