drivingsorted.
England · practical testing

Colchester
Driving test centre.

Official results, the context behind them and a practical way to plan your next step.

Find local tuition Compare this centre Official centre information
50.6%
All-car pass rate · 2025/26
7,756
Tests taken · 2025/26
12.4 weeks
Median completed wait
23.6 weeks
Forward availability measure

Results: official source tables. Waiting measures: August 2026, DRT122F. Missing values are not zero. Definitions and limitations.

Plan the practicalities

Address and visiting information

  • Agree readiness and test-day car use with your instructor.
  • Check the current venue address, facilities and offered services.
  • Use the correct official booking service for your nation.
  • Check any support or adjustments before the appointment.

Published address: Grange Way, Colchester, CO2 8HF Official instructions and service notes: This test centre provides these types of tests: car, ADI part 2, ADI part 3. You can access this test centre if you use a wheelchair.

Services in the published venue record: car · ADI part 2 · ADI part 3

Venue information dated 2026-09-12. Read the venue source These services and the historical results above refer to different dates.

Check the official venue

A centre’s statistical name may not identify the latest building. Any address must be checked against your booking confirmation.

The wider picture

Pass rates over time

Compare the same test group across published periods.

View annual results and test counts
Period Tests Passes Pass rate
2020/21 1,274 699 54.9%
2021/22 8,634 3,993 46.2%
2022/23 10,122 4,462 44.1%
2023/24 9,923 4,616 46.5%
2024/25 9,977 4,788 48.0%
2025/26 7,756 3,925 50.6%

Candidate mix and repeated attempts affect these figures. The highest rate does not identify the easiest test for you.

Where can you move your car test?

Explore permitted moves

DVSA publishes these destinations for Colchester. Your original booked centre may also be an option. The booking service confirms the choices available for your booking.

DVSA permitted destination list · checked 2026-09-29. These are directed permission relationships, not a straight-line nearest-centre calculation or live appointments.

Two different measures

Understand the wait.

A completed wait describes past test takers. The availability measure describes the published booking outlook at that time.

Explore the last 12 published months
Last 12 published months
Month Median completed wait Forward availability Completed within 7 weeks Completed after 21 weeks
September 2025 16.1 weeks 24.0 weeks 25.6% 26.9%
October 2025 14.8 weeks 24.0 weeks 30.6% 30.6%
November 2025 12.4 weeks 24.0 weeks 35.7% 31.4%
December 2025 11.7 weeks 19.6 weeks 36.5% 27.9%
January 2026 12.5 weeks 24.0 weeks 34.7% 29.4%
February 2026 18.3 weeks 19.5 weeks 27.3% 42.8%
March 2026 16.3 weeks 24.0 weeks 29.6% 39.6%
April 2026 9.6 weeks 24.0 weeks 42.8% 27.4%
May 2026 8.1 weeks 24.0 weeks 47.3% 33.0%
June 2026 9.4 weeks 22.8 weeks 38.7% 25.5%
July 2026 12.4 weeks 22.5 weeks 34.9% 24.0%
August 2026 12.4 weeks 23.6 weeks 49.1% 21.8%
This is not a live appointment search. The forward measure concerns when at least 10% of weekly appointments are available in the published snapshot. It is not the earliest slot. Use the official booking service for current appointments.
Automatic transmission

A separate candidate group.

Automatic pass rate · 2025/26
43.5%
Automatic tests
2,207

Automatic-only outcomes use a different group of tests from the all-car rate. They do not establish which transmission is easier for you. Source: DRT122E.

Choosing manual or automatic

First-attempt results

These figures describe people recorded as taking their first car test. They are a different test group from the all-attempt results above.

First-attempt pass rate

51.1%

2025/26 · 2,098 passes from 4,102 tests.

First tests with zero faults

145

Published count for 2025/26. A zero-fault test is a separate measure from passing.

Use the right comparison

A centre’s candidate mix, experience and repeated attempts affect its overall rate. Neither figure measures an individual instructor’s performance or predicts your result.

Assess your readiness
First-attempt history and source definitions
PeriodFirst attemptsPassesPass rateZero-fault first tests
2020/2178842654.1%15
2021/224,0161,80945.0%79
2022/234,4642,00845.0%125
2023/244,5002,11347.0%188
2024/254,8112,26447.1%200
2025/264,1022,09851.1%145

Suppressed values remain unavailable. DVSA notes that licence-number changes can affect first-attempt identification. Single-examiner centres may be withheld from centre-level tables; published national totals include additional withheld records.

Read DRT122C and its notes

Source: DVSA DRT122C, total columns. These are source figures, not an inferred first-time pass rate.

When DVSA cancelled tests

383 cancellations were recorded for 2025/26. The table records the date DVSA cancelled a booking, which can differ from the intended test date.

Published reasonCancellations
Leave92
Disputes0
Acts of nature25
Medical absences266
Pandemic0

“Acts of nature” covers adverse weather and bad light. Medical absences refer to examiners. The counts cover all DVSA cancellations, including advance notice; they do not count learners cancelling and cannot be read as the probability of your appointment being cancelled.

Published monthly cancellation counts
Recorded monthTotal cancellations
April 202525
May 20257
June 202514
July 202552
August 202510
September 202529
October 202536
November 20259
December 202538
January 2026132
February 202627
March 20264

Only months present in the source appear. Missing rows are not filled with zero.

Source: DVSA DRT122B and full cancellation definitions. Plan booking and changes.

Recorded driving faults: what to practise

Source months: January 2026 and February 2026. These are fault counts from tests at this centre, grouped by the examiner’s recorded category. Start a discussion with your instructor about the skills behind the figures.

Eight categories with the most recorded serious faults in the included months
Source categorySerious faultsDangerous faultsDriving faults
Junctions - observation10813241
Junctions - turning right63247
Response to signs - road markings51039
Response to signs - traffic signs46035
Mirrors - change direction454102
Use of speed411138
Positioning - normal driving410194
Move off - safely360376

A test can contain multiple faults. These counts are not failed-test totals, fault rates or a prediction of your result. Learn the full syllabus; this is not a list of test routes or shortcuts.

Explore every fault category at this centreUse feedback to plan your next lessonsPlan practice

Source: DVSA FOI 2606-112694, Annex H, released July 2026. Only clearly labelled January–February rows are included; later or unlabelled blocks are excluded. Category names are retained from the source and may include legacy labels.

Build a realistic budget

Include lessons, official fees and test-day car use.

Check your readiness

Use a structured conversation with your instructor.

Plan travel and conditions

Official road, public transport and weather sources.

Suggest a correction to this record. For a booking issue, contact the official test authority.

Other centres in the region

All centres

These are regional comparisons, not a list of permitted booking transfers or the closest centres by travel time.