This series presents information on the number of practical driving and riding test undertaken and the number of approved driving instructors (ADIs) in Great Britain.

All of the statistics are derived from data held by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) which administers the driving test scheme in Great Britain.

Browse statistical releases within this series

• Driving and riding tests and instructors statistical releases

Browse statistical tables within this series

• Driving and riding tests and instructors statistical tables

Notes and guidance

All the statistics are extracted from DSA’s Testing and Registration System (TARS) and the Road Safety Information System (RSIS). Further information is available in the Notes and Definitions (PDF – 51 KB) document.

Data included

The first official statistics in this series were release in February 2012. This release and the following supplementary release included included driving and riding test numbers and pass rates by gender and month plus Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) test results, the number of ADIs on the register and information about the number of instructor certificates and compulsory basic training sites. These tables are updated quarterly.

A set of tables containing a more detailed breakdown of test candidates by age are released annually.

Supporting data

Additional data tables are released on data.gov.uk. These tables have been released separately as they are official statistics.

• Additional driving and riding test data on the ethnicity of candidates. Ethnicity information is voluntarily provided by test candidates and over 70 per cent of candidates do not provide any ethnicity information at all. The data are therefore subject to self-selection and self-reporting biases and it is likely that the figures do not accurately represent the true ethnicity breakdown of test candidates. The data are being provided for information only and are not classified as an Official Statistic.

Data are also available for individual test centres. This information is available at:

• DSA operational statistics

Technical information

• Driving and Riding Tests and Instructors: Notes and Definitions

National Statistics

These statistics are not designated as National Statistics.

• Statement of administrative sources: DSA Testing and Registration System (TARS) and Road Safety Information System (RSIS) (PDF – 34 KB)

Links to external websites

• Driving Standards Agency
• Driver and Vehicle Agency (Northern Ireland)

Pre-release access lists

These lists detail the post-holders that are given pre-release access for up to 24 hours prior to release.

• Pre-release access list (PDF – 12 KB)

For further information contact

vehicles.stats@dft.gsi.gov.uk

020 7944 3077