Warrington driving test centre
Warrington Borough Council Orford Day Centre, Festival Avenue, WA2 9EP
Drive the 5 routes around Warrington before test day →
Key facts
- Warrington's pass rate was 55.5% in 2025/26 from 7,550 tests, 5.5 points above the national average of 50.0%.
- That puts it 10 of 31 centres in North West (North West average 49.0%), one of the higher pass rates in the region, 6.5 points above it.
- The rate has been stable since 2021/22, moving between 53.1% (2022/23) and 57.3% (2021/22).
- On waiting times, learners who took a test in August 2026 had waited a median of 10.6 weeks since booking; the first week with 10% or more of slots still free was 20.4 weeks ahead.
- A year earlier (August 2025) the median wait was 15 weeks, so waits have shortened by about 4.4 weeks.
- 28.2% 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.
Warrington passes a clearly higher share of its candidates than St Helens, Widnes or Atherton, the three nearest centres to it, and the rate has held steady for years. That is not because the test is a quiet one. Sixty-six per cent of the roads tagged around the centre are 20 mph, 112 sets of traffic signals sit within two and a half kilometres, and every one of the practice loops on this page has roundabouts on it, nine on the longest. The centre works out of the Orford Day Centre on Festival Avenue, a council building rather than a DVSA unit of its own, on a residential estate north-east of the town. Four level crossings sit in the area as well.
Drive the Warrington test routes before test day
5 loops from the centre, 53 km in all, with 30 roundabouts and 138 marked turns. Generated from the road network within 2.5 km of Warrington; not DVSA’s own routes, but the same roads.
Drive it before test day
Drive all 5 loops around Warrington from your phone before you ever sit in the car: every roundabout, every junction, in the order you will meet them.
- 5 routes · 53 km · 138 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
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- Route 1 · via Blackbrook Avenue13.5 km loop with 9 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Delph Lane.13.5 km · 27 turns · 9 roundabouts
- Route 2 · via Poplars Avenue11.4 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 13 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Capesthorne Road.11.4 km · 33 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 3 · via Capesthorne Road9.8 km loop with 7 roundabouts, 14 right turns, 5 left turns and a stretch of Poplars Avenue.9.8 km · 26 turns · 7 roundabouts
- Route 4 · via Long Lane8.2 km loop with 5 roundabouts, 11 right turns, 12 left turns and a stretch of Hilden Road.8.2 km · 28 turns · 5 roundabouts
- Route 5 · via Winwick Road9.9 km loop with 2 roundabouts, 9 right turns, 13 left turns and a stretch of Long Lane.9.9 km · 24 turns · 2 roundabouts
The same access also opens the four test manoeuvres and eight roundabout scenarios: the two things a route drive cannot teach you.
Warrington is a new town and it drives like one. Eight named roundabouts sit in the area, among them Winwick Interchange, Padgate, Cockhedge Green and Kingsway, with twenty-four mini-roundabouts behind them. Every practice loop on this page has roundabouts on it and the longest, at 13.5 km, has nine. There is no version of this test that avoids them.
Right turns are the other load. The loops carry thirteen, thirteen, fourteen, eleven and nine of them, mostly on roads busy enough that the gap has to be taken rather than waited for. Winwick Road and Long Lane account for a fair share, and with 112 sets of traffic signals inside two and a half kilometres, many of those turns come with a filter to read or an advanced stop line to hold behind.
The speed profile is the unusual part. Sixty-six per cent of the roads tagged nearby are 20 mph and only twenty-seven per cent are 30. The estate roads around Orford Green, Capesthorne Road, Blackbrook Avenue and Poplars Avenue sit almost entirely in 20 zones, so the drop out of a 30 has to happen at the sign rather than a hundred metres after it.
Four level crossings sit in the area, more than most centres have, so a loop may well put you over one. Stop well short if the lights come on and do not move off until the road beyond the rails is clear.
Manoeuvres go on the estate roads, where kerbs run long and straight and one side is parked heavily enough to make a pull-up on the right realistic. Delph Lane and the roads off it give the quieter end of the area.
Pass rate at Warrington, 2011/12 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 | 7,550 | 55.5% | 55.7% | 55.4% |
| 2024/25 | 6,124 | 55.3% | 58.2% | 52.2% |
| 2023/24 | 6,105 | 53.1% | 55.2% | 50.9% |
| 2022/23 | 5,538 | 53.1% | 55.8% | 50.6% |
| 2021/22 | 5,060 | 57.3% | 60.8% | 54.3% |
| 2020/21 | 1,603 | 61.8% | 65.5% | 58.8% |
| 2019/20 | 5,080 | 54.0% | 58.9% | 49.7% |
| 2018/19 | 5,428 | 53.4% | 58.6% | 49.1% |
North West average 49% · GB 50%
Waiting time for a test at Warrington
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 | 10.6 | 20.4 | 41 | 28.2% |
| Jul 2026 | 10.6 | 19 | 42 | 24.3% |
| Jun 2026 | 13.9 | 20 | 35 | 22.9% |
| May 2026 | 13.4 | 21.5 | 36 | 30.2% |
| Apr 2026 | 14.1 | 22 | 32 | 30.5% |
| Mar 2026 | 17.6 | 21.8 | 26 | 40.6% |
Tell me when the wait at Warrington drops
One email when DVSA’s monthly figure falls, or goes under the number of weeks you choose. No newsletter.
Test day at Warrington
The centre operates out of Warrington Borough Council's Orford Day Centre on Festival Avenue. It is a shared building rather than a standalone DVSA unit, so once you are on site follow the signs for the driving test centre instead of looking for a separate entrance off the road.
Car tests are conducted here along with ADI part 3. Nothing is published about wheelchair access or other arrangements, which matters more than usual in a shared building, so ring the centre in advance if you need step-free entry or anything agreed beforehand.
Parking is not published either. A council building on a residential estate normally has a car park, though it is shared with everything else happening there, and that is typical rather than confirmed. Arrive with time to look, and expect to use Festival Avenue or the streets around it if the site is full.
Padgate station is a mile and a half away, a proper walk rather than a stroll, so most candidates arrive with an instructor or are dropped off.
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. Tests are booked, moved and cancelled only through GOV.UK.
What DVSA publishes about Warrington
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
- Not published. Ring DVSA before the day rather than assuming.
Learner reports from Warrington
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 Warrington.
- 1Junctions - observation
- 2Mirrors - change direction
- 3Junctions - turning right
- 4Response to signs - traffic lights
- 5Control - steering
- 6Move off - safely
Getting there
Warrington Borough Council Orford Day Centre, Festival AvenueWarrington WA2 9EP
Directions in Google Maps · Check centre notes on GOV.UK
Nearby centres
- St Helens (Liverpool)Liverpool · WA9 1NS · 11 km40.9%-9.1 vs GB6.6 wkswait
- Widnes (Liverpool)Widnes · WA8 8PT · 14 km42.7%-7.3 vs GB6.9 wkswait
- Atherton (Manchester)Manchester · M46 0SU · 14 km44.3%-5.7 vs GB15.3 wkswait
- NorthwichCW8 4BU · 17 km57.6%+7.6 vs GB19.1 wkswait
- Sale (Manchester)Sale · M33 7ER · 17 km51.4%+1.4 vs GB15.4 wkswait
- Bolton (Manchester)Bolton · BL3 2AW · 20 km51.8%+1.8 vs GB16.2 wkswait
Questions learners ask about Warrington
- Is Warrington an easy test centre?
- By the numbers, yes: 55.5% of car tests were passed there in 2025/26, against 50.0% nationally. Pass rates reflect the local roads and who takes tests there as much as the examiners, so treat it as a guide, not a guarantee.
- How long is the wait for a driving test at Warrington?
- In August 2026 the median gap between booking and sitting a test at Warrington was 10.6 weeks, and you had to look about 20.4 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 Warrington driving test centre?
- Warrington test centre is at Warrington Borough Council Orford Day Centre, Festival Avenue, WA2 9EP. 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 Warrington do a year?
- 7,550 car tests were conducted at Warrington in 2025/26, of which 4,193 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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