Revealed: Which centre in Fife is best to pass your driving test

Figures published by car specialist AMT reveal a big difference in the success rates of the two main centres in Fife.

Kirkcaldy’s pass rate over a ten year average stands at 36 per cent – compared to Dunfermline on 20 per cent.

The Lang Toun was rated 111th out of 219 centres, with Tunbridge Wells top on 71 per cent, and Ashford in Middlesex on just six per cent.

It also rated much higher than Dundee (19 per cent), centres across Glasgow (30 per cent), and also Edinburgh where the pass rate was 28 per cent (Musselburgh).

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Ian Wright, AMT’s general manager, 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 information came from the Department for Transport statistics which lists instructor applicants’ pass rates for every UK test centre over the past ten years.

The Approved Driving Instructor part three test assesses the instructional abilities of a person who wants to become an instructor, and is, crucially, the final examination before they’re able to work as one. It can only be taken once all other tests have been passed.

AMT took the Part 3 Test pass rates for every year of the past decade for each of the country’s 219 DVSA test centres.

It then calculated an average for the 10-year period, which revealed how consistent the divisions in standards are.