Driver and rider tests and instructor statistics: supplementary tables (Annual 2011/2012)

This publication provides further detailed breakdowns of the number of car and motorcycle tests conducted in Great Britain in 2011/12. These tables are to compliment the ones released in June 2012. They provide breakdowns by age, gender and number of pass attempts.

The test and instructor statistics are derived from data held by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), which administers the driving test and training schemes in Great Britain.

A complete back series to 2007/08 (for car tests) and 2009/10 (for motorcycle tests) will be released in the 2012/13 quarter 1 publication, due out in August. The tables will then be updated annually in the future.

Key points:
• Roughly 47 per cent of practical car tests in 2011/12 were taken by people aged 20 or under. Candidates aged 17 dominate even within this group as they accounted for 20 per cent of all tests in 2011/12. As the age band increases, the band accounts for progressively smaller proportions of all tests. Only 12 per cent of tests during the year were undertaken by candidates aged 36 or over.
• As well as accounting for the highest proportion of test candidates, 17-year olds also had the highest pass rate at 56 per cent in 2011/12.
• At almost every age, male candidates had a higher pass rate than female candidates. The difference tends to be greater for older age groups. Male candidates aged 17 had a 2.9 percentage point higher pass rate than female candidates of the same age.
• Of all the test passes achieved in 2011/12, 45 per cent occurred on the candidate’s first attempt.
• Module 1 motorcycle test passes show a similar age pattern to that of cars, with the highest pass rate being 17-year old males and the pass rate generally decreasing with age. Males aged 17 had a 79 per cent pass rate in Module 1 tests in 2011/12; this is considerably higher than the corresponding 58 per cent pass rate for 17-year old females.
• Module 2 motorcycle pass rates appear less related to age than Module 1 pass rates. In 2011/12, 17-year olds had a pass rate of 63 per cent. The pass rate was slightly lower for 18-year olds before rising to 65 to 66 per cent for 19- and 20-year olds and remaining between 68 to 71 per cent for candidates in the 20s, 30s and 40s.