Driving tests harder in Wales

The DSA was today being questioned by an AM to why it appeared harder to pass driving tests in North Wales apposed to other parts of the country.

There is a significant difference in the pass rate figures from Wales in comparison to the rest of the welsh county.

The pass rate in Rhyl, Denbighshire, is 35%, compared to 63% in Lampeter and Ceredigion. It also showed that waiting times also varied and pupils had to wait longer here.

Don Bartley, who runs Acorn School of Motoring in Mold, said: “Every instructor around here will tell you that the pass rate is very low and we’re all worried about it.

“None of us know the reason why but for example this morning I took a girl for a test in Chester because she’d failed twice in Mold and she sailed through.”

Mr Bartley also said that the waiting list was higher in Mold, which he believed was due to a closure of a test centre in Wrexham last year.

Stella Carrington, of the Independent Driving Centre in Rhyl, said: “Rhyl’s also been classed a deprived area – I don’t know whether that might have something to do with it.”