Wakefield driving test centre
Mothers Way, Silkwood Park, Ossett, WF5 9TR
Drive the 5 routes around Wakefield before test day →
Key facts
- Wakefield's pass rate was 45.4% in 2025/26 from 11,653 tests, 4.6 points below the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 23 of 27 centres in Yorkshire and The Humber (Yorkshire and The Humber average 50.4%), one of the lower pass rates in the region, 5 points below it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 45.4% (2025/26) and 50.1% (2022/23).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 7.6 weeks since booking (shorter than the national median of 11.9 weeks); the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 9.8 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 9.6 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 2 weeks.
The Wakefield test centre is not in Wakefield. It is on Mothers Way at Silkwood Park in Ossett, a business estate off the A638 between the two towns, and the routes work outwards from there rather than into a city.
What stands out on the practice loops on this page is the number of right turns. There are around a third more of them than there are left turns, so the test keeps asking you to cross oncoming traffic rather than tuck in with it. Roundabouts matter less here than at most centres, though Albert Drive is one of the roundabout roads nearby. The rest is Ossett, Horbury, Flanshaw and the villages between. Wakefield has one of the lower pass rates in Yorkshire, several points under the national average.
Drive the Wakefield test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 62 km in all, with 20 roundabouts and 118 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Wakefield; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Wakefield from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 62 km · 118 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 Park Mill Lane11.3 km loop with 1 roundabout, 15 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Wakefield Road.11.3 km · 25 turns · 1 roundabout
- Route 2 · via Wakefield Road12.7 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 8 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Broadway.12.7 km · 19 turns · 6 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Batley Road12.4 km loop with 3 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 9 left turns and a stretch of Park Mill Lane.12.4 km · 24 turns · 3 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Wakefield Road12.5 km loop with 4 roundabouts, 12 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Park Mill Lane.12.5 km · 28 turns · 4 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Albert Drive13.0 km loop with 6 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 7 left turns and a stretch of Wakefield Road.13.0 km · 22 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.
Right turns are the signature of this centre. The practice loops on this page contain far more of them than left turns, and they come in every variety: out of a side road onto a main road, across a dual-lane carriageway, and from a main road into a narrow residential street where the gap you need is behind you as much as in front. The skill being tested is position and patience rather than speed. Sit straight, keep the wheels ahead, and take the gap you have judged rather than the one that has just closed.
The A638 and Wakefield Road carry the fast half. These are wide roads with a higher limit and traffic that moves, and the loops join and leave them repeatedly. Albert Drive adds a cluster of roundabouts near the centre, so the first few minutes of a test can be roundabout, dual-lane road, roundabout again before you have found a rhythm.
Park Mill Lane, Batley Road and Horbury Road are the older through-routes. They are narrower, they climb and fall, and parked cars mean meeting oncoming traffic is routine rather than occasional.
Manoeuvres are usually asked for around Flanshaw Lane, Flanshaw Way and Queens Drive, and on the estate roads off them. These are ordinary residential streets with parking on one side and enough length to do a reverse properly. The loops run between seven and eight miles, which is long enough that the examiner can fit in both the fast roads and the estates without hurrying either.
Pass rate at Wakefield, 2009/10 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 | 11,653 | 45.4% | 46.6% | 44.0% |
| 2024/25 | 7,650 | 46.7% | 49.1% | 44.3% |
| 2023/24 | 8,875 | 48.2% | 51.1% | 45.3% |
| 2022/23 | 5,909 | 50.1% | 53.6% | 47.0% |
| 2021/22 | 5,925 | 47.0% | 49.3% | 44.8% |
| 2020/21 | 1,990 | 44.1% | 47.6% | 41.1% |
| 2019/20 | 7,560 | 43.5% | 47.5% | 40.0% |
| 2018/19 | 7,420 | 46.4% | 48.2% | 44.6% |
Yorkshire and The Humber average 50.4% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Wakefield
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 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 44 | 10.4% |
| Jul 2026 | 7.6 | 14.5 | 49 | 10.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 8.3 | 15.6 | 46 | 9.8% |
| May 2026 | 5.7 | 15.8 | 55 | 16.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 5.4 | 16.5 | 57 | 21.1% |
| Mar 2026 | 5 | 17 | 57 | 21% |
Tell me when the wait at Wakefield drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Wakefield
The centre is on Mothers Way at Silkwood Park, and the postcode on your booking does not always drop a sat-nav at the right building. Some instructors use the neighbouring postcode instead. If you are driving yourself, look at the estate on a map first, because Silkwood Park is large and the units look alike.
There is candidate parking beside the building, ramp access for wheelchair users and male, female and accessible toilets. Being on a business estate, the surroundings are quiet on a weekday morning and busier at lunchtime, which is worth knowing if your test starts near midday.
The examiner collects you from the waiting area, checks your licence and asks you to sign the insurance declaration, then does the eyesight check outside before you get into the car. Car tests, motorcycle modules 1 and 2 and ADI part 3 are all conducted here.
The estate is not well served by trains, so almost everyone arrives by car, and tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK. The drive begins on the wide estate roads of Silkwood Park before joining the main road, which gives you a minute to settle that most centres do not.
What DVSA publishes about Wakefield
Taken from the GOV.UK test centre finder, checked 3 September 2026. Where DVSA says nothing, this site says nothing.
- Tests conducted here
- carmotorcycle module 1 (off-road)motorcycle module 2 (on-road)ADI part 3
- Wheelchair access
- DVSA states you can access this centre in a wheelchair.
Other tests at Wakefield
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 Wakefield
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 Wakefield.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Mothers Way, Silkwood ParkOssett WF5 9TR
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- HeckmondwikeWF16 0AS · 8.7 km45.8%-4.2 vs GB10.1 wkswait
- Leeds (Fearnville)Leeds · LS9 6NL · 14 km51.8%+1.8 vs GB9.6 wkswait
- PontefractCastleford · WF10 5HW · 14 km46.9%-3.1 vs GB13.9 wkswait
- Leeds (Colton Mill)Leeds · LS15 9JN · 14 km51.8%+1.8 vs GB8.4 wkswait
- BarnsleyS75 2DH · 15 km58.5%+8.5 vs GB5.4 wkswait
- HuddersfieldHD2 1HJ · 15 km49.2%-0.8 vs GB11.1 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Wakefield
- Is Wakefield an easy test centre?
- Its 45.4% 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 Wakefield?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Wakefield was 7.6 weeks, and you had to look about 9.8 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 Wakefield driving test centre?
- Wakefield test centre is at Mothers Way, Silkwood Park, Ossett, WF5 9TR. 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 Wakefield do a year?
- 11,653 car tests were conducted at Wakefield in 2025/26, of which 5,291 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 Wakefield’s 5 test routes in 3D3 days free, then £9.99/month · or £14.99 once for 90 days
Try free