Driver and rider testing and instructor statistics: April 2023 to March 2024
Published 19 June 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/driver-and-rider-testing-and-instructor-statistics-april-2023-to-march-2024/driver-and-rider-testing-and-instructor-statistics-april-2023-to-march-2024
About this release
This statistical release is published by the Department for Transport (DfT), based on data produced by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), on the numbers and pass rates for driving and riding theory and practical tests conducted in Great Britain.
These are official statistics. For more information, see the background notes section in this release.
The driver and rider tests and instructors collection provides further detail of the key findings presented in this statistical release, including detailed data tables and operational data by test centre.
In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, we regularly review the contents of our statistical releases. For this series we have introduced more concise commentary, focusing coverage on the number of practical driving tests undertaken. This does not affect the production nor availability of the underlying statistical datasets of Driving test statistics (DRT) and Driving instructor statistics (INS), on which this release is based and these continue to be published as normal in the driver and rider tests and instructors collection page. If users would like to provide feedback on this then please contact vehicle statistics.
Headline figures
Comparing tests in Great Britain in January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) with January to March 2023 (Quarter 4):
- 666,000 car theory tests were conducted, up 12%
- the car theory test pass rate was 46.0%, up 1.0 percentage points
- 561,000 car practical tests were conducted, up 25%
- the car practical test pass rate was 47.0%, down 1.1 percentage points
Cars (category B): overview
Theory
In January to March 2024 (Quarter 4), 666,000 car theory tests were conducted in Great Britain, an increase of 12% on January to March 2023 (Quarter 4). The total pass rate was 46.0%, with 48.3% of females passing compared to 44.2% of males. The total pass rate for January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) was up 1.0 percentage points from the same quarter of the previous year.
Table 1: Car theory tests by gender, Great Britain, January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) and January to March 2023 (Quarter 4) (DRT1201)
| Metric and time period | Total | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests Conducted: Jan to Mar 2024 | 666,128 | 288,304 | 377,813 |
| Tests Passed: Jan to Mar 2024 | 306,088 | 139,122 | 166,959 |
| Pass Rate (%): Jan to Mar 2024 | 46.0% | 48.3% | 44.2% |
| Tests Conducted: Jan to Mar 2023 | 595,260 | 254,609 | 330,632 |
| Tests Passed: Jan to Mar 2023 | 267,534 | 123,423 | 144,099 |
| Pass Rate (%): Jan to Mar 2023 | 44.9% | 46.6% | 43.6% |
| Tests Conducted (%): Annual change | +12% | +9% | +14% |
| Tests Passed (%): Annual change | +14% | +13% | +16% |
| Pass Rate (percentage points): Annual change | +1.0 | +1.6 | +0.6 |
Total test figures may be higher than the sum of male and female tests in cases where a candidate’s gender has not been recorded as either male or female.
Figure 1: Car theory tests conducted and pass rates, Great Britain, quarterly, January to March 2014 (Quarter 4) onwards (DRT1101)
Figure 1 shows the number of car theory tests conducted and pass rate for each financial quarter since January to March 2014 (Quarter 4). Following a peak in numbers in April to June 2021 (Quarter 1), the number of tests conducted has been fairly consistent. The pass rate has shown some variability across the previous quarters.
Practical
Statistics on car practical tests conducted in Great Britain are also published as a faster indicator to monitor transport activity on a timelier basis for topical issues relating to transport.
In January to March 2024 (Quarter 4), 561,000 car practical tests were conducted in Great Britain, an increase of 25% on January to March 2023 (Quarter 4). The total pass rate was 47.0%, with 45.6% of females passing compared to 48.2% of males. The total pass rate for January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) was down 1.1 percentage points from the same quarter of the previous year.
Table 2: Car practical tests by gender, Great Britain, January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) and January to March 2023 (Quarter 4) (DRT1201)
| Metric and time period | Total | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests Conducted: Jan to Mar 2024 | 560,544 | 253,213 | 307,329 |
| Tests Passed: Jan to Mar 2024 | 263,456 | 115,442 | 148,012 |
| Pass Rate (%): Jan to Mar 2024 | 47.0% | 45.6% | 48.2% |
| Tests Conducted: Jan to Mar 2023 | 446,907 | 209,224 | 237,586 |
| Tests Passed: Jan to Mar 2023 | 215,076 | 96,930 | 118,104 |
| Pass Rate (%): Jan to Mar 2023 | 48.1% | 46.3% | 49.7% |
| Tests Conducted (%): Annual change | +25% | +21% | +29% |
| Tests Passed (%): Annual change | +22% | +19% | +25% |
| Pass Rate (percentage points): Annual change | -1.1 | -0.7 | -1.5 |
Total test figures may be higher than the sum of male and female tests in cases where a candidate’s gender has not been recorded as either male or female.
Figure 2: Car practical tests conducted and pass rates, Great Britain, quarterly, January to March 2014 (Quarter 4) onwards (DRT1101)
Figure 2 shows the number of car practical tests conducted and the pass rate for each financial quarter since January to March 2014 (Quarter 4). Tests conducted in January to March 2024 (Quarter 4) reached their highest point across these figures since they began in April to June 2007 (Quarter 1). The pass rate was at its lowest since January to March 2020 (Quarter 4).
The large rise in tests conducted in the most recent quarters can largely be attributed to efforts by DVSA to further reduce driving test waiting times. This has seen DVSA suspending non-testing duties for its staff who are qualified to conduct driving tests, from October 2023 to March 2024, to maximise the number of examiners available to conduct tests. This has led to a rapid up-lift in the number of tests conducted recently.
Publication of monthly data
Some statistics on tests conducted in Great Britain are also published as faster indicators to monitor transport activity on a timelier basis for topical issues relating to transport.
The test types currently included are:
- LGV practical on-road
- Car practical (including forward bookings)
Official Statistics
These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list.
Next release
Driving and rider testing statistics are published 4 times a year. Future update schedules can be accessed via the DfT statistical publications schedule.
For further information about the data used in this release, please see our notes and definitions.
To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X at DfTstats.
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