Driving test waiting times in South East, August 2026

30 test centres in South East, shortest wait first. For tests taken in August 2026 the median learner here had booked 10 weeks earlier, against 11.9 weeks across Great Britain. The shortest wait in the region was High Wycombe at 4.6 weeks. 1 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	High Wycombe	South East	4.6 wks	9	29.3%	51.5%
2	Chichester	South East	4.7 wks	19.6	14.2%	61.6%
3	Aylesbury	South East	5 wks	18.4	34.6%	49.3%
4	Oxford (Cowley)	South East	5 wks	24	20.9%	50.6%
5	Canterbury	South East	5.3 wks	18.6	19.2%	45.8%
6	Slough (London)	South East	6 wks	24	49.2%	50.8%
7	Ashford (Kent)	South East	6.3 wks	18.4	15.7%	46.2%
8	Herne Bay	South East	7 wks	15.2	15%	55.9%
9	Winchester	South East	7.1 wks	24	28.4%	52.2%
10	Folkestone	South East	7.9 wks	11.4	13.2%	42.4%
11	Newport (Isle Of Wight)	South East	8.9 wks	8	21.4%	54.1%
12	Guildford	South East	9.6 wks	13.8	27.3%	57.1%
13	Gillingham	South East	9.9 wks	23.8	40.8%	56.4%
14	Maidstone	South East	10 wks	22.2	21.5%	60.2%
15	Redhill Aerodrome	South East	10 wks	24	30.2%	53.9%
16	Tunbridge Wells	South East	10 wks	24	23.3%	64.5%
17	Crawley	South East	10.4 wks	24	29.6%	42.7%
18	Sevenoaks	South East	10.4 wks	14	40.5%	59%
19	Portsmouth	South East	13 wks	19.2	35.7%	52.8%
20	Southampton (Maybush)	South East	13.1 wks	20.4	37.3%	50.3%
21	Eastbourne	South East	13.7 wks	24	29%	55.4%
22	Reading	South East	13.9 wks	24	34.6%	55.4%
23	Bletchley	South East	14.6 wks	24	34.3%	51.5%
24	Burgess Hill	South East	14.9 wks	24	44.1%	45.5%
25	Chertsey (London)	South East	15.6 wks	24	45.9%	52.9%
26	Farnborough	South East	16 wks	24	47.2%	59.7%
27	Hastings (Ore)	South East	17.1 wks	14	39.4%	52.4%
28	Banbury	South East	18.1 wks	24	34.9%	41.3%
29	Basingstoke	South East	19.6 wks	13.2	43.7%	56.8%
30	Lee On The Solent	South East	20 wks	24	47.3%	63.2%

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 South East test centre directory.