Driving test waiting times in East of England, August 2026

24 test centres in East of England, shortest wait first. For tests taken in August 2026 the median learner here had booked 11 weeks earlier, against 11.9 weeks across Great Britain. The shortest wait in the region was Brentwood (London) at 3.6 weeks. 3 of them sat at 20 weeks or more, close to the 24-week limit of the booking window.

All regions East Midlands East of England London North East North West Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and The Humber

#	Test centre	Region	Median wait	Weeks to free slots	Still free	Pass rate
1	Brentwood (London)	East of England	3.6 wks	24	26.6%	48.5%
2	Basildon	East of England	4.8 wks	24	27.3%	49.1%
3	St Albans	East of England	6.7 wks	24	29.9%	50.7%
4	Stevenage	East of England	6.7 wks	24	30.6%	55.3%
5	Tilbury	East of England	7.1 wks	24	30%	50.4%
6	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	7.5 wks	24	35.6%	47%
7	Ipswich	East of England	8 wks	22.8	21%	62.3%
8	Loughton (London)	East of England	9.4 wks	24	34.3%	47%
9	Norwich (Peachman Way)	East of England	10.1 wks	24	31.3%	61.7%
10	Luton	East of England	10.3 wks	20	47.5%	39.2%
11	Bishops Stortford	East of England	10.4 wks	24	26.3%	51.3%
12	Borehamwood (London)	East of England	10.9 wks	24	30.2%	50.8%
13	Bury St Edmunds	East of England	11.1 wks	23.4	28.3%	46.2%
14	Colchester	East of England	12.4 wks	23.6	21.8%	50.6%
15	Lowestoft (Mobbs Way)	East of England	14.1 wks	22.4	34.5%	43.3%
16	Clacton-on- Sea	East of England	14.2 wks	21.4	22.5%	48.2%
17	Kings Lynn	East of England	15.4 wks	24	40.7%	51.9%
18	Watford	East of England	15.4 wks	24	42.5%	46.2%
19	Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road)	East of England	16.6 wks	24	56.6%	49.9%
20	Chelmsford (Hanbury Road)	East of England	17 wks	24	48.8%	55.4%
21	Peterborough	East of England	17 wks	24	37.1%	52.8%
22	Cambridge (Brookmount Court)	East of England	20.1 wks	19.8	52.1%	53.8%
23	Letchworth	East of England	25 wks	24	43%	57.5%
24	Bedford	East of England	27.1 wks	24	34.5%	53.7%

Reading the waiting time numbers

DVSA opens the booking window 24 weeks ahead. The median wait counts back from the test date to the day it was booked, so a 20-week median means most people at that centre took whatever date they could get when they first looked. A low “weeks to free slots” figure with a long median usually means slots are opening up now after a long backlog, and it is worth checking again.

Tests are booked only at GOV.UK. Cancellation-finder apps that log in on your behalf breach DVSA’s terms and can get a booking cancelled; the honest route is to check the official site in the morning, when cancelled slots tend to be released.

A centre a little further out is often months quicker, so it is worth comparing against neighbouring regions on the national waiting time table. Addresses and route notes for these centres are in the East of England test centre directory.