Wellingborough

Situated in Glamis Hall just off Goldsmith Road, Wellingborough test centre is a 10 minute drive from the centre of Wellingborough. With the vicinity of numerous A roads like the A509, learners heading here for their test won’t have much difficulty in getting there. Though the centre doesn’t look like much on the outside, it has tested the mettle of hundreds of learners for years. If you want to give yourself the best chance possible of passing, we’d recommend getting to know Wellingborough properly. You can do so by reading our test centre guide below—we’ve included directionspass ratestest routes and much more!


Address

Glamis Hall Goldsmith Road Wellingborough Northamptonshire NN8 3RU

Tests Offered at Wellingborough

  • Car

Parking

Please park in the nearest bay to the entrance and report to the entrance lobby. Do not arrive more than 10 mins prior to your appointment time. Access is only available to candidates taking test, you will not be allowed to practic

Toilets

No toilets available at this centre

Disabled Access

Check the book your driving test service for availability.

How To Get There

If you’re trying to get to Wellingborough test centre from the town centre, you’ve got a few turns to take. Start off on St.Johns Street then turn onto Westfield Drive and then Brickhill Road. You need to keep on driving until you reach Burns Road, then, finally, turn onto Goldsmith Road. Trust us, it’s easier than it sounds! If you’re coming in from further afield, there are plenty of A roads like the A509, A45 and A6, which make the test centre centre accessible for learners scattered across Northamptonshire. If you’ve never travelled to Wellingborough test centre before, be sure to use these directions with your sat nav.

A Bit More About Wellingborough

The main purpose of the driving test is to determine whether or not a learner driver is fully ready to take to the roads unsupervised. As such, driving examiners try to incorporate a variety of road types and features into the test in order to gauge a learner’s driving ability. You’ll start out on mainly residential roads near Wellingborough test centre. It can get quite cramped due to parked vehicles, so be mindful of your road positioning—especially when meeting oncoming traffic. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for pedestrians and changes in speed limit due to the proximity of nearby schools. 

Things will start to speed up as the examiner takes you on busy A roads like the A509. The route will likely include a small fraction of the many roundabouts scattered around the local area, not to mention some of the tricky junctions you’ll have covered in your driving lessons.

Interested in learning more about Wellingborough? Check out these handy resources:

Wellingborough Test Route

Been searching far and wide for your Wellingborough test route? You might as well give up now! The DVSA doesn’t publish its test routes anymore. They realised that learners were spending too much time trying to memorise the routes, instead of focusing on building up their driving experience and confidence. By getting rid of routes, they made sure that tests would be as unpredictable as real life driving. Of course, there are a couple of things that can make your route less mysterious. For starters, you can get a sneak peek of what to expect by watching videos of Wellingborough test routes on YouTube. Next, if you’re taking lessons with a local ADI, you’ll get first hand experience of the roads most likely to crop up on your test.

Wellingborough Test Pass Rates

Odds are, throughout your learning journey, you’ve had friends and family telling you exactly how they did on their driving test. You’ll have heard all about first time passes and people breezing through their test like it was nothing. All of this can make you start to wonder: what are my chances of passing? Fortunately, we’re here to give you a helping hand!

If you head on over to our blog, you can look at how factors like agelocation and transmission can affect your chances of passing. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to keep things simple, we’ll give you a quick rundown. Learners in the UK have a 45.9% chance of passing their test. As for those taking the plunge at Wellingborough test centre, check out its pass rates from the last five years in the table below…

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
55.5% 60.5% 59.3% 61.0% 60.8%

Well, well, well! Wellingborough’s pass rates sure have been impressive in the last few years! They’ve been well over the national average, which is no mean feat. Of course, we’d like to emphasise here that you shouldn’t use pass rates as a definitive marker of your success. Even if your test centre had a 99% pass rate, that’s not to say that you’ll definitely pass. It’s all down to how much work you put in during your lessons and how well you perform on the day. So, work hard and it will pay off!

What If I Can’t Go To Wellingborough?

If you’ve decided that Wellingborough test centre is no longer a good option for you, or you’re trying to cast your net wider to get your hands on a particular test date, there are plenty of other test centres around Northamptonshire. Your closest local options are Kettering and Northampton.

What To Expect On The Day

Though it might have seemed an age away when you first booked your driving test, in no time at all it will have creeped up on you. Don’t be too concerned if you’re feeling nervous—it happens to almost all learner drivers. The best way to overcome this is by discussing how far you’ve come with your instructor. If that doesn’t do the trick, have a look at our guide on how to prepare for the driving test. The more you know, the less nervous you’ll feel.

Now, before you bolt out of your house on the day of your test, be sure to triple check that you have your provisional licence. If you don’t bring it with you, your test will be cancelled and you won’t receive a refund. You also need to get to Wellingborough test centre 10 minutes before your test is due to start.

Your test will follow this basic format:

  • An eyesight test, where you’ll need to read a number plate from a distance of 20 metres
  • Two “show me, tell me” questions covering vehicle safety and maintenance
  • Twenty minutes of general driving, where you’ll be guided by the examiner, and will also need to perform one of the following manoeuvres:
  • Twenty minutes of independent driving, during which you’ll either follow sat nav directions or sign posts to reach a set destination

You can finally let out a sigh of relief once you’ve parked back up at Wellingborough test centre and turned off the ignition. You’ve only got to wait a few minutes to get your result. Try to be patient—the examiner needs to finish totting up any driving test faults you may have accumulated. Whatever your result is, you’ll receive a breakdown of your faults on a physical feedback sheet or over email via the driving test app.

But What If I Fail?

It doesn’t matter what test you take, there’s always the possibility of failure—even when we put in 100% effort. Though it might not feel like it at the time, failing your driving test can actually be a good thing. It can push you to work harder on your weaker areas and it also gives you a proper glimpse into what happens in a driving test. Once you know how it works first hand, it doesn’t seem as scary the next time around.

If you know that you need to work on a few key areas, why not try a refresher course? You’ll be able to work with a local ADI to iron out your bad habits and give yourself a confidence boost. You can even add on a fast-track practical test so that you’re not waiting around long. To get the ball rolling, give us a call on 0333 123 4949, or contact us online.

Improve Your Chances With PassMeFast

When it comes to learning to drive, it’s important that you pick the right driving school. If you’re not careful, you could end up having to stick with weekly lessons that don’t give you enough time to truly delve into the driving skills needed to pass the test—extending your learning journey by months, or even years! Or, you could end up having to take a full week off work to take your lessons! With PassMeFast, however, the ball is entirely in your court. We’ll match you up with a local ADI and it will then be up to you to determine the intensity of your lessons (between two to five hours). You’ll fit lessons in around your schedule and build up your experience on the roads around Northamptonshire until you’re raring to go for the practical!

Want to take the first step on your learning journey? Head on over to our course prices to get a better look at our crash course packages. If you’re looking for more in-depth information, our driving courses rundown should do the trick. Once you’ve got your eyes on a course, give us a ring on 0333 123 4949, or book online.

If you’ve had lessons in the past, it can be difficult trying to gauge how many more hours you’ll need to become test-ready. If this is the case for you, call us and one of our sales advisors will walk you through your options. Alternatively, you can give our course recommender a whirl and find your ideal course in just a few minutes!