Kent driving test centres ranked by pass rates as Tunbridge Wells comes out on top with Erith lowest in the UK

It's a day in the memory which can send shivers running down anyone's spine.

The nerve-jangling moment arriving at the centre, the leg shaking on the clutch at the first roundabout and the brake-stamping emergency stop signal – no wonder so many people fail their driving test.

Tunbridge Wells had the highest pass rate in Kent. Picture: iStock
Tunbridge Wells had the highest pass rate in Kent. Picture: iStock

But which test centres in Kent are the easiest to pass your test at – and by easiest this means the centre with the county's highest pass rate.

New statistics released show between April 2020 and 2021 there were 10,207 driving tests held in Kent – Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Gillingham, Herne Bay and Folkestone – and the neighbouring south east London centres at Belvedere, Erith, Bromley and Sidcup.

The figures show Tunbridge Wells has the highest pass rate in Kent with 61.8% of all 931 learners taking their test passing – making it the easiest place in the county to pass your test.

The data published the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not show how many average attempts an individual takes and is based on total number of tests held at centres in 2020/21.

Maidstone, which had the fewest number of tests at 726 with a rate of 58%, was just behind Gillingham's pass rate of 58.7% from its 1,149 tests.

The driving test pass rates at Kent's centres in 2020/21
The driving test pass rates at Kent's centres in 2020/21
A driving test can be one of the hardest and most stressful days for many
A driving test can be one of the hardest and most stressful days for many

Meanwhile, Kent's busiest centre last year was Herne Bay which saw a mammoth 1,425 tests carried out with exactly half of all drivers passing their test.

At Folkestone, the pass rate was under half with just 48.6% of the 1,028 tests resulting in a pass.

However, two centres in London boroughs bordering Kent posted the lowest rates in the entire UK – officially making it the hardest place to pass the test in the country.

Learner drivers in Erith and Belvedere had the lowest pass rates in the entire country while at Folkestone and Herne Bay approximately half of all tests resulted in fails. Picture: Chris Hepburn /Getty Images/ iStockphoto
Learner drivers in Erith and Belvedere had the lowest pass rates in the entire country while at Folkestone and Herne Bay approximately half of all tests resulted in fails. Picture: Chris Hepburn /Getty Images/ iStockphoto

Erith, near Dartford, took the crown for the toughest test with just 29.1% of the 943 tests resulting in a pass.

At the nearby Belvedere test centre this was just marginally better with 1,089 tests taking place and 31.3% getting a pass.

Sidcup had the highest pass rate of any London centre with 56.3% from 1,617 tests and Bromley came in with 53.6% passes from the 1,299 tests undertaken.

The easiest place in the country was recorded as Yeovil with a pass rate of 67.4% followed by Dorchester in second with 66.7%, according to research carried out by A-Plan insurance.

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