Orkney driving test centre

ScotlandAbout 7 weeks

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

Driving Test Centre Orkney (Kirkwall)

Kirkwall Auction Mart Hatston Industrial Estate

KW15 1FL

57.4%

2025/26 pass rate · all attempts

7.4 percentage points above average

Out of every 100 car tests at Orkney last year, about 57 passed (7.4 points above the 50.0% UK average).

DVSA DRT122A · OGL v3
First-time pass

51.3%

0.7 points above the national first-attempt average.

Reported wait

7 weeks

Reported in July 2026 (DRT122F); this centre median is not a booking promise.

This centre in numbers

3

263 published tests in April 2025 - March 2026 · 57.4% overall pass rate

A note on Orkney's figures

Some detail is withheld in the published figures for Orkney, so we have kept comparisons out of the headline.

The pass rate was 57.4% from 263 tests in April 2025 - March 2026.

A good place to sit it

57.4% of tests here end in a pass, about 3 people a week.

Fault snapshot

Move off - safely

This was the most commonly recorded fault here in April 2025 - March 2026. It is a useful place to start a conversation, not a prediction for your test.

Recorded
180
marks
Rate
68.4
marks per 100 tests

Before the day, take a calm look at the parts of moving off that feel least settled: observations, control and choosing a safe gap. Your instructor can help you practise the bits that need another go.

Explore the full fault breakdown

National pass rates also move with the calendar - see UK seasonality.

Across the region

Scotland centres by current pass rate.

  • Inveraray90% · 20 tests
  • Isle of Skye (Portree)85.7% · 21 tests
  • Thurso84.6% · 26 tests
  • Benbecula Island82.4% · 17 tests
  • Duns81% · 21 tests
  • Golspie80% · 20 tests
  • Stranraer77.5% · 80 tests
  • Orkney57.4%

Centres with under 100 tests are thin samples.

Pass rate · last 12 months

Overall, male and female monthly rates for this centre. Gaps bridge months with no tests.

Men and women breakdown

Men and women here

Men have the higher published pass rate here in April 2025 - March 2026; no wider explanation is inferred from these figures. On 263 tests the difference is small enough to move year to year.

Axis starts at 51%.

How faults are marked

Every mark is serious, dangerous, or a driving (minor) fault. Shown per 100 tests.

  • Serious · 87.8
  • Dangerous · 2.3
  • Driving · 630.8

Faults that end tests

Top categories by total marks in April 2025 - March 2026. Colour shows severity mix within each bar.

  • Move off - safely180
  • Maintain progress - undue hesitation140
  • Control - steering130
  • Maintain progress - speed127
  • Junctions - observation100
  • Move off - control95
  • Control - gears85
  • Mirrors - change direction83
Serious Dangerous Driving

Named categories

Counts per 100 tests.

Top 10 fault categories
FaultSerious / 100Dangerous / 100Driving / 100All / 100
Move off - safely6.10.062.468.4
Maintain progress - undue hesitation5.70.047.553.2
Control - steering8.40.041.149.4
Maintain progress - speed1.50.046.848.3
Junctions - observation12.21.124.738.0
Move off - control3.80.032.336.1
Control - gears1.90.030.432.3
Mirrors - change direction0.80.030.831.6
Reverse park - Control3.40.025.929.3
Position - normal stops0.80.022.122.8
About these figures
Fault categories are self-reported by DVSA examiners; a single test can record more than one fault, so these describe examiner records, not route difficulty.

More about this centre

Waiting time, automatic and first-attempt detail, and DVSA-initiated cancellations - only the slices this centre publishes.

Waiting time

Median wait and slot availability as of July 2026.

Slots still bookable

22.0%

As of July 2026

Weeks to 10%+ availability

16 weeks

DRT122F · July 2026

Overtime slots added

0

Automatic transmission

30 automatic tests in April 2025 - March 2026.

Pass rate

40.0%

30 automatic tests

Male

54.5%

11 tests

Female

31.6%

19 tests

First-time passes

First attempts in April 2025 - March 2026. Cleaner than the all-attempt rate when published.

Faultless passes

4

Zero-fault first-time passes

First vs overall

+6.1 pts

All-attempt rate vs first-attempt rate

DVSA cancellations

About 10.5% of tests attempted here. DVSA-initiated, not learner no-shows.

Tests cancelled

31

DRT122B · April 2025 - March 2026

  • Acts of nature20
  • Leave11

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