DRIVING ME MAD: London named a UK hotspot for unqualified learner drivers

Impatient motorists are likely to be tearing their hair out in six particular postcode areas in London – W1A, E7, E12, SE17, E13 and E6 – as a new study has revealed they’re UK hotspots for inexperienced and unqualified learner drivers, according to new research from Collingwood Insurance Services.

Collingwood compared the latest DVLA data on full and provisional licence holders per postcode area, revealing the UK places that are home to the most learners.

In the central London postcode area of W1A, over half (55%) of local motorists don’t have full driving licences – which is around three times the UK average (18%).

It’s a similar story in E7 (Forest Gate), where 51% of licence holders only have a provisional licence, E12 (50%), SE17 (50%), E13 (49%) and E6 (49%).

The GU13 postcode area in Fleet near Guildford came out on top though, as a huge two thirds (68%) of motorists have not yet passed their driving test yet.
In B4 in Birmingham, a district covering the northeast area and Corporation Street, just over six in ten (63%) local drivers don’t have their full licence.

Of the top twenty postcode areas with the highest percentage of learner drivers five are in Birmingham, two are in Leeds, and postcodes in Teesside, Wirral, Sheffield and Coventry also make the list.

Previous research by Collingwood found that it’s statistically much harder to pass your driving test in Birmingham and London, which could explain the high number of motorists yet to get their full licences here.
In London’s E7 area, the closest test centre of Wanstead also has a lower-than-average pass rate of 40% – the UK’s average is 55%.

In the B4 postcode district, the nearest test centre – King’s Heath – has a pass rate of 43%.
Meanwhile, B19’s local test centre, Kingstanding, has the sixth lowest pass rate in the country (38%).

The Areas with the Most Qualified Drivers
Meanwhile, the Somerset village of Hinton St. George, can be considered to have the most ‘qualified’ driving population, as 96% of motorists here have a full licence.

Hinton St George’s closest driving test centre, Yeovil, also has a higher-than-average pass rate of 68%.
Overall, the top ten postcodes with the most qualified drivers are scattered across the country, from Worcester (WR07) to Richmond (DL11). But one thing that these places have in common is that they are all rural.

In the LA20 postcode area, just one in twenty (5%) drivers are unqualified, and its closest test centre, Barrow-in-Furness, also has an above-average pass rate of 64%.

Liz Laidler, Head of Learner Driver Products at Collingwood Insurance Services UK Ltd, said:
“It’s perhaps unsurprising that our research uncovered that you’ll find more learner drivers on the roads in areas where it’s statistically much trickier to pass your test – and where the roads may be much busier and more complex to drive on.

We’d urge any learner drivers who are wanting to speed up their learning experience to invest in learner driver insurance, which can help you get valuable driving practise in friends and families’ cars outside of regular lessons.”