Driving theory test pass rates ‘hit record low’: Learners now have just a 44.2% chance of success

Driving theory test pass rates are at their “lowest point in history”, according to a new report.

The chance of learners passing their theory exam has fallen by a third since 2007/08 from 65.4 per cent to just 44.2 per cent in 2022/23, according to the latest DVSA figures.

Analysis of the agency’s data by the AA Driving School also found huge differences in pass rates by region, with the test center where learners had the most success seeing almost three-quarters pass, while the worst saw almost three fourth failed.

The average passing rate for the driving theory test was typically between 60 and 65 percent in the late 2000s, although changes introduced a decade ago saw pass rates plummet to around 50 percent.

These include an increase in questions, the withdrawal of translators and – perhaps with the greatest impact – the decision to stop publishing new theory test questions online or in practice papers.

But the new analysis also shows that where you take the theory exam can also affect your chances of passing.

The exam center with the highest pass rate was in Aviemore, Scotland, where 73.5% of learners passed.

In fact, of the top 10 places with the highest theory pass rates, all are north of the border with a mix of mainland and Scottish islands, including Barra, Harris and Mull.

In contrast, new drivers who sat their theory test in Hornsey, Yorkshire, had an average pass rate of just 23.6 per cent.

Test centers in England dominate the rankings for lowest success, with Brodick on the Isle of Aran and Porthmadog in Wales the only exceptions in the bottom ten.

Although the variation in practical exam pass rates may in part be due to routes having different levels of difficulty due to the complexity of the roads, it is more difficult to explain why some exam centers have much worse pass rates than others.

The analysis comes as the AA Driving School launches its own theory test app to tackle the problem, which provides learners with flashcards to facilitate learning and inform them of exam pass levels.

Camilla Benitz, managing director of the AA Driving School, said: “The theory test pass rate rose briefly during the pandemic when fewer people took it, but is now lower than ever.

“Learners face enough challenges as it is now with the backlog of driving tests. We don’t want the theory test to be another hurdle for them, so we’ve created our new app.”

Would you pass the theory test today?

Benitz says the difficulty of the theory exam today is such that one in five believe they would fail if they had to take it again.

According to two surveys of almost 13,000 drivers conducted over the summer, drivers’ biggest concerns are around road signs and stopping distances.

The majority (90 per cent) of license holders admitted to encountering road signs they did not understand, with a quarter (26 per cent) saying they did so very often or sometimes. Only one in ten say they never come across road signs the meaning of which they do not know.

Knowing the stopping distance was also a problem – the fewer drivers know the correct answer, the faster the car goes.

At 20 mph (in dry conditions), more than a third of drivers (38 percent) correctly said that the stopping distance would be between 11 and 20 meters.

That dropped to 31 percent at 30 mph; 28 percent at 40 mph; 24 percent at 50 mph, 24 percent at 60 mph, and finally just 23 percent at 70 mph.

Worryingly, a significant proportion of drivers underestimate the stopping distance at 70mph by almost half, with almost one in ten (9 per cent) saying it is less than 50m when it actually takes 96m.

The theory test was introduced in 1996 and replaced the road rules questions during the practical test.

Taking the theory test costs learners £23.