Driving test centres

Northwich driving test centre

Northwich passed 57.6% of car driving tests in April 2025 to March 2026, 7.6 points above the national average. That ranks it 56 of 289 centres with enough tests to compare.

Facts checked against GOV.UK and DVSA sources on 8 September 2026. Sources are listed at the end of this page.

57.6%pass rate
50%national average
3,529tests conducted
56/289national rank

What the numbers mean for you

Of the 3,529 car tests taken at Northwich between April 2025 and March 2026, 2,032 ended in a pass. That is better than the 50% average across every centre in the country, by 7.6 percentage points.

Against the year before, the pass rate rose 2.9 points from 54.7%.

A pass rate is not a difficulty score. It measures who passed, not how hard the routes are. Centres serving mostly well-prepared candidates score higher, and a quiet rural centre with few tests can swing several points on a handful of results. Use it to compare options, not to predict your own result.

Month by month at Northwich

The best month was June 2025 at 62.5%, the weakest September 2025 at 52.9%. Monthly figures bounce around at smaller centres because each month rests on a few hundred tests or fewer.

MonthTestsPassesPass rate
April 202529616856.8%
May 202526014053.8%
June 202529918762.5%
July 202529016055.2%
August 202527916458.8%
September 202531016452.9%
October 202527415757.3%
November 202533918554.6%
December 202527617262.3%
January 202631017556.5%
February 202625114859%
March 202634521261.4%

Getting an earlier test at Northwich

Waiting times are set locally, and the national picture (a 20.2 week average) hides a big spread between centres. Whatever the queue at Northwich, the route to a sooner date is the same: hold a booking, then watch for cancellations.

  1. Book whatever slot Northwich has, even months out. You cannot swap to a cancellation without an existing booking.
  2. Watch the free GOV.UK change service, especially just after 6am when the booking system reopens.
  3. Take an earlier slot when one appears, remembering car tests allow only 2 changes.

The full method, including what the paid cancellation checker apps do and where the scams are, is on our driving test cancellations guide.

Centres of a similar size

The DVSA table carries no locations, so this compares Northwich with centres running a similar number of tests rather than ones close by.

Test centrePass rateTests conducted
Carlisle58.7%3,518
Newport (Isle of Wight)54.1%3,616
High Wycombe51.5%3,534
Scarborough45.1%3,595
Greenock41.7%3,547

Common questions

What is the pass rate at Northwich driving test centre?

Northwich passed 57.6% of car driving tests in April 2025 to March 2026, from 3,529 tests conducted. The national average across all centres over the same period was 50%.

Is Northwich a hard test centre?

Its pass rate is 7.6 points above the national average, so on the DVSA numbers it is an easier centre than most. Pass rates reflect who takes tests there as much as the routes themselves, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise.

How do I get an earlier test at Northwich?

Book any available slot at Northwich first, then watch the free change service on GOV.UK for cancellations. Slots freed by other candidates reappear in the booking calendar within minutes and go quickly, so check early mornings around 6am. Car tests allow only 2 changes, so save them for a date you would genuinely keep.

How many driving tests does Northwich conduct?

3,529 car tests in April 2025 to March 2026, which makes it a mid-sized centre. Busier centres tend to release more cancellation slots, but they also have more people chasing them.

Sources