Turn evidence into useful practice

Look at the skills behind the faults.

Choose a test centre to explore recorded fault categories. These counts can help structure a conversation about observation, control and planning alongside your own lesson feedback.

Understand the count

A single test can record several faults, including more than one type. Counts are not numbers of failed tests or your chance of committing a fault. The attachment does not supply matching test denominators for a fault-rate calculation.

Keep the dates visible

We use explicitly labelled January and February 2026 rows in DVSA’s July 2026 response. Later and unlabelled repeated blocks are excluded. A centre may have only one of these months; missing observations are not zero.

Practise the full syllabus

Use the figures alongside feedback from a qualified instructor. A recorded category does not identify a test route, exact junction or guaranteed manoeuvre. Historical category names are retained, including legacy labels.

Reset

313 unambiguously matched statistical centres. The source contains 314 named centre records; unmatched names remain in the downloadable data.

Sunderland: January 2026 and February 2026

Sorted by serious-fault count, then dangerous-fault count. The driving-fault column is a separate severity category.

Published fault categorySeriousDangerousDriving faults
Mirrors - change direction27367210
Junctions - observation17030292
Response to signs - traffic lights1151132
Response to signs - road markings96273
Move off - safely908664
Reverse park - Observatons852115
Response to signs - traffic signs82068
Reverse park - Control793360
Junctions - turning right78574
Use of speed730310
Maintain progess - speed700809
Positioning - normal driving675201
Move off - control606671
Control - steering4122569
Clearance / obstructions3813257
Following distance310256
Reverse right - Observation30037
Maintain progress - undue hesitation230393
Signals - correctly230205
Mirrors - change speed220217
Judgement - meeting21076
Positioning - lane discipline203113
Mirrors - signalling200448
Control - gears170251
Awareness/planning13198
Taxi/Forward Park obs12112
Judgement - crossing1016
Signals - necessary100115
Pedestrian crossing8210
Signals - timed80133
Control - parking brake7054
Eyesight700
Junctions - approach speed70120
Position - normal stops70183
Vehicle checks70287
Response to signs - other road users6136
Reverse right - Control5031
Junctions - turning left3016
Control - Footbrake2281
Judgement - overtaking217
Taxi/Forward Park cont2186
Ancillary controls0021
Control - accelerator0010
Control - balance000
Control - clutch0026
Control Stop - Promptness0015
Controlled stop - Control000
ECO Driving000
Highway Code000
Junctions - cutting corners0033
Precautions006
Response to signs - traffic controllers000
Reverse left - Control000
Reverse left - Observation000
Turn in road - Control000
Turn in road - Observations000

Source and reproducible data

DVSA FOI response 2606-112694 and Annex H, published 1 July 2026. Our download preserves the source categories, per-month counts, original-file checksum and exclusions. Crown copyright information is reused under the default Open Government Licence; no individual test or candidate records are included.