People who attempt to pass their driving test in Macclesfield, are on average, travelling the longest distance to get there.

That is according to a new report, which has analysed more than six million journeys made for a driving test in the UK over the past four years, has revealed how far learner drivers are travelling in Cheshire.

The data, compiled by learner driver insurers Marmalade, has been conducted to find out how distances travelled for a driving test are changing and if learners are looking further afield for a test. The report has analysed all tests taken by every learner driver in Cheshire.

The data which was uncovered through multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests over a six-month period revealed learners in Cheshire are currently travelling an average of 8.47 miles for a test - that's 31% less than the national average of 12.33 miles.

A car drives on The Silk Road, Macclesfield. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

Macclesfield is above that average, with wannabe drivers having to travel 9.86 miles to get to Macclesfield's Green Street test centre.

Of course, this figure does not just include residents of the Macclesfield area, with new drivers from Knutsford, Wilmslow and beyond heading to Macclesfield as their closest test centre.

Meanwhile, county forecasts based on the annual rate of growth to date of 4.04% reveal the distance travelled could rise to 11.17 miles by 2030.

Here are the average distances travelled to reach test centres in Cheshire in 2023, with some exceeding the average:

Driving Test Centre

Northwich - 6.97 miles

Widnes - 8.51 miles

Crewe - 8.54 miles

Macclesfield - 9.86 miles

Nationwide, the predictions show learners could travel 24.49 miles on average across the UK by 2030. 

Commenting on the data, driving instructor Mark Steeples from Pass Mark School of Driving said: 

"I find it pretty astonishing that learners could end up having to travel around 25 miles for a test. I'm amazed at the year-on-year increase in distance travelled for a test, but I suppose it shows the desperation that people have in wanting to learn how to drive and they'll go to any means necessary to do it."

The 2023 records also revealed that one learner travelled from Exeter, all the way to Shetland, an eye-watering 647-mile journey for a test. While 34,614 learners made a trip of more than 100 miles for a test.

Mark commented on how he'd had enquiries from people wanting to travel further afield for a test: 

"I've had enquiries from people who want to learn and get into a test around 50 miles away from me. Why go to an area that you don't know? It's hard enough doing a test anyway, you have a lifetime to drive on the UK roads, but don't pick the day of your driving test to do that. 

"A lot of instructors just teach test routes in the local area, but that means that most learners won't be prepared for any test route and the potential impacts of driving in a new place."

Elsewhere, new GOV.uk DVSA data has revealed how the current pass rate for drivers at Macclesfield Driving Test Centre, is changing.

Between March 2023 and March 2024, Macclesfield Driving test centre had a pass rate of 49.8 per cent.

That is above the national average of the same period, which was 47.9 per cent. (Macclesfield has an 0.9 per cent higher pass rate for that time.)

Looking further back, the Macclesfield pass rate from March 2022 to March 2023 was 44.3 per cent.

From March 2021 to March 2022, a period of time which contained eight major changes to the Highway Code and dealt with a large post-COVID backlog of tests, the pastorate in Macclesfield was 50.4 per cent.

From March 2020 to March 2021, the Macclesfield passrate was 49.4 per cent.

And in the last pre-pandemic data, the Macclesfield pastorate from March 2019 to March 2020 was 49.9 per cent.

So with the latest 49.8 per cent figures, Macclesfield is just 0.1 per cent away from the pass rate of pre-pandemic levels.

Macclesfield Driving Test Centre is located at Unit 4, Bailey Court, Green Street, Macclesfield, SK10 1JQ.