Driving test centre where barely a third of learners pass to shut down for a year
It’s an L of an relief for nervous learner drivers – because one of Britain’s toughest test centres is to close for a year.
Barely a third of candidates pass at Kingstanding, according to a decade of results crunched last year by probability calculator Marmalade.
But now the Birdbrook Road site is having a refit and will be replaced for 12 months by a temporary test centre at Streetly Sports and Community Centre in Foley Road East.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has been given the go-ahead by Walsall Council planners to make the change.
The temporary closure might come as a welcome boost to drivers taking their tests in the coming months as Kingstanding’s pass rate was given as just 37.43 per cent in last year’s study.
One driving school wrote on its website: “One of the reasons for this lower pass rate is there are a lot of dual carriageways that change from 40mph to 30mph and back again.
“Taking your driving test here may feature busy city roads or even rural country roads.”
The temporary centre at Streetly will operate from 7am to 5pm on weekdays and host an average of 35 tests per day.
In its application, the DVSA said: “The DVSA needs a temporary car testing centre within the locality while Kingstanding is being refurbished to meet the driving test need and is part of the Government agenda to reduce driving test waiting times.
“Tests would start and finish on site, with the practical element of the test being conducted on the public highway. It is proposed that a total of five examiners will operate from the site on any given testing day.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and multiple extended lockdown periods has resulted in unprecedented demand and wait times for tests. Temporary relocation of Kingstanding DTC has capacity to continue offer tests to meet local demand and support the local area.
“The proposed centre will have five permanent driving instructors, therefore the impact of the vehicle movements to the highway network will be minimal.
“There are no immediate residential neighbours, and the use will not result in any impact on residential amenity. No noise impact is anticipated.
“The proposed facility makes an efficient use of land and will provide local employment. The proposed facility within the area will help DVSA to continue to meet local and national demand for vehicle licence tests while Kingstanding is being renovated.”
