Revealed: the hardest and easiest places in Greater Manchester to pass your driving test

Pass rates at driving test centres across Greater Manchester vary considerably, data analysis has shown.

On average 1.6 million people take a driving test each year across Britain.

Our sister title NationalWorld has been taking a look at the latest data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on how many people pass or fail at each test centre.

What does the data show for Greater Manchester?

The figures show that for the period between April 2020 and September 2021 the hardest place in Greater Manchester to pass a driving test was Rochdale.

At the centre there 1,899 tests out of 4,898 taken were successful, giving a pass rate of 38.8%.

This made it the fourth-toughest place to pass in the North West and the 30th most difficult centre in GB.

After that came Bury with a pass rate of 39.6% (1,300 passes from 3,286 tests).

West Didsbury was next with a pass rate of 45.8% (3,898 passes from 8,510 tests taken), followed by Cheetham Hill where 48.9% of tests taken were successful (6,651 tests taken with 3,251 passed).

At the other end of the scale the easiest place to get on the road in Greater Manchester was Hyde, with a pass rate of 58.7%.

Of the 5,002 tests taken there in the time period considered, 2,936 ended happily for the driver under scrutiny.

The second-easiest place to pass was Bolton, with 3,882 passes out of 6,754 tests taken, giving a rate of 57.5%.

What else do I need to know about the data?

The coronavirus pandemic severely hampered the number of tests carried out. In the 12 months to March 2021, just under 440,000 tests were conducted, with half of drivers (217,000) passing, according to the DVSA data.

The most recent figures available for this year, covering the six months from April to September 2021, shows a big increase in the volume of tests carried out.

Some 700,000 tests were completed, again with about half (350,000) of drivers passing.

What did the DVSA say about the data?

A DVSA spokesperson said: “DVSA’s priority is to help everyone through a lifetime of safe driving.

“The driver testing and training regime tests candidates’ ability to drive safely and responsibly as well as making sure they know the theory behind safe driving.

“All candidates are assessed to the same standard and the result of their test is entirely dependent on their performance on the day.”