Driving Tests
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many practical driving tests have been completed at a) Darlington, b) Middlesbrough, c) Northallerton, d) Hartlepool and e) England in each of the last two years, broken down by quarters.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) publishes data on GOV.UK, in report DRT122A, for the number of practical driving tests conducted at all driving test centres, including at Darlington, Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Hartlepool. The data in report DRT122A is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2025. The table below shows the number of practical driving tests conducted in England for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years by quarter.
Financial Year | Quarter | England |
2023-24 | Q1 | 378,463 |
2023-24 | Q2 | 376,062 |
2023-24 | Q3 | 455,193 |
2023-24 | Q4 | 494,651 |
2024-25 | Q1 | 410,819 |
2024-25 | Q2 | 392,465 |
2024-25 | Q3 | 398,047 |
2024-25 | Q4 | 407,945 |
The tables below show the number of additional driving examiners recruited for Darlington, Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Hartlepool and England for 2024 -2025 and 2025-2026 quarterly.
This data includes those who are in training to be a driving examiner. A driving examiner is a paid DVSA employee from the point at which they start their training. The data below shows those who are qualified and who are working at DTCs doing tests.
Test Centre | 2024-2025 | ||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
Darlington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Middlesbrough | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Northallerton | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Hartlepool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
England | 44 | 45 | 60.76 | 89.38 | 239.14 |
Test Centre | 2025-2026 | ||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
Darlington | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Middlesbrough | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Northallerton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Hartlepool | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
England | 81 | 115.57 | 110.38 | 108.73 | 415.68 |
The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent driving examiners employed at the below test centres as of 1 April 2026.
Driving test centre | Full time equivalent driving examiners |
Darlington | 8.57 |
Middlesbrough | 5.95 |
Northallerton | 3 |
Hartlepool | 5.62 |
The table below shows the average waiting time for a car practical driving test in May 2026.
Driving test centre | Average waiting time in May 2026 (weeks) based on the national average waiting time metric of when a minimum of 10% of test slots are available |
Darlington | 13 |
Hartlepool | 16.75 |
Middlesbrough | 22.75 |
Northallerton | 15.5 |
England | 22.3 |
National (GB) | 21.8 |
The DVSA also records national median waiting time data (the time between the first test booking and test taken) for car practical driving tests. The national median waiting time for a car practical driving test in May 2026 was 9.7 weeks. The median waiting time data is currently not available broken down by driving test centre.
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