Revealed: The hardest place to pass the driving instructor test

New research has revealed the hardest – and easiest – places for a would-be driving instructor to pass the instructor test.

The study used official Department for Transport (DfT) statistics for every UK test centre over the past decade. More specifically, it looked at the third part of the approved driving instructor (ADI) test.

It’s the last of three tests a trainee driving instructor must pass to qualify as an ADI. It tests an applicant’s ability to teach pupils.

On average, just six percent of the applicants who took the test at the Ashford (London) test centre passed, making it the toughest test centre in the UK. 

Things are no easier on the other side of London, with just 16 percent of would-be driving instructors passing their test in Sidcup. Two centres in Birmingham and one in Scotland complete the top five.

According to the research by AMT vehicle solutions, you have more chance of passing the test in Tunbridge Wells, where the 10-year pass rate is 71 percent.

AMT’s general manager Ian Wright said: “The fact that instructor pass rates at individual test centres vary by such huge margins will be shocking to many, as it suggests that the standards against which applicants are judged also differ.

“Normally, you would expect test centres’ results to vary around a common figure and for them to even out over time. The fact that these statistics are an average over the past ten years, yet are still so extreme, shows that the differences between centres are more permanent.

“There also appears to be no geographic trend. So are driving instructors in one location more capable than those in another? It’s something that, if I were learning to drive again, knowing this, I’d want to look into it.”

The 10 hardest centres to pass the instructor test

The 10 easiest centres to pass the instructor test