Peterborough driving test centre
The pass rate, how long you'll wait for a test, and the other centres nearby.
Peterborough's pass rate is the highest it has been since 2008, the first year DVSA has figures for it.
Quick answers
- Where is it? Second Drove, Fengate, Peterborough, PE1 5XA. Directions
- What's the pass rate? 53% overall (manual 55%, automatic 48%), compared with the 50% national average.
- How long is the wait? If you book now, expect about 3½ months. Check gov.uk for the real earliest date.
- Is it hard to pass? About average: it's around the middle of Britain's 276 bigger test centres.
- What's nearby? None within half an hour. The nearest is Kettering, about a 41 minute drive away.
Waiting times
Over the last 12 months, the typical wait here averaged about 2 months, up from about 1½ months in the 12 months before. Waits here have been rising, so yours could be longer.
The wait here has been shorter than Britain's typical wait in six of the last eight years.
Before the pandemic, from May 2019 to February 2020, the typical wait here averaged about 1½ months.
| Year | Peterborough | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 months | 1½ months |
| 2020 | 2 months | 2½ months |
| 2021 | 4 months | 4 months |
| 2022 | 1½ months | 2½ months |
| 2023 | 1 month | 2½ months |
| 2024 | 1 month | 2 months |
| 2025 | 1½ months | 2½ months |
| 2026 | 2 months | 2½ months |
2019 starts in May and 2026 runs to September.
See how waits have changed across Britain in our report on driving test waiting times.
Other test centres nearby
No other test centre is within half an hour's drive of Peterborough. The nearest is Kettering, about a 41 minute drive away. Its pass rate is 49% and its typical wait about 1 month.
| Test centre | Driving time | Pass rate | Typical wait | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Manual | Automatic | |||
| Kettering 30 miles by road | 41 minutes | 49.1% | 52.0% | 41.0% | 1 month |
Driving times are without traffic.
Pass rate over the years
In the 12 months to March 2026, Peterborough's pass rate was 53%, compared with 50% across Great Britain. It has been above Britain's pass rate for the last two years.
The automatic pass rate here was lower than manual, as it is almost everywhere: 48%, compared with 55%. That gap is about the same as at most centres. Its automatic pass rate is around the middle of the 267 centres that ran 100 or more automatic tests. 31% of tests here were in automatic cars, compared with 29% across Great Britain.
Men had a higher pass rate than women here: 55%, compared with 51%. That's a wider gap than across Great Britain, where men's pass rate was 51% and women's 49%.
| Year | Tests | Pass rate | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Manual | Automatic | |||
| 2025 to 2026 | 10,551 | 52.8% | 55.1% | 47.6% | 113th of 276 |
| 2024 to 2025 | 11,021 | 50.2% | 52.1% | 45.2% | 125th of 275 |
| 2023 to 2024 | 10,467 | 47.2% | 48.5% | 43.1% | 178th of 277 |
| 2022 to 2023 | 8,874 | 49.4% | 50.3% | 45.8% | 137th of 271 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 9,089 | 51.6% | 52.9% | 45.0% | 123rd of 280 |
Each year runs from April to March.
Compare every centre in our report on driving test pass rates.
Before your test
In the weeks before your test, ask your instructor to take you round the roads near the centre, and practise the faults learners make most often. If you're still looking for an instructor, see who teaches in Peterborough.
Frequently asked questions
What's the pass rate for automatic cars at Peterborough?
48% in the 12 months to March 2026, compared with Britain's automatic pass rate of 45%.
How can I get a test sooner at Peterborough?
Check gov.uk often: tests other people cancel come back up there.
How busy is Peterborough test centre?
It ran 10,551 car tests in the 12 months to March 2026. Only 56 of Britain's 311 test centres ran more.
Can I move my test from Peterborough to another centre?
Yes. You can move it to any centre with a free date, on gov.uk. Before you do, check your instructor can take you there, and bear in mind it's harder to pass on roads you don't know. The nearest other centre is Kettering, about a 41 minute drive away.
Figures from DVSA: pass rates for the 12 months to March 2026, waits for September 2026, published 14 October 2026. Driving times by road, from OpenRouteService. How we worked these out.