More people than ever are passing their driving test with a perfect score

More than 20,000 people passed their driving test at the first attempt while scoring zero faults, new figures have revealed.

The number of motorists achieving a 'perfect score' in 2023-24 is a new record, according to data released by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

The Guardian reports that the 20,000 figure is the highest since records were first published in 2007-08.

Back then, only around 1 in 200 people passed with flying colours — last year’s number-crunching showed an improvement to 1 in 43.

The number of flawless first-attempt tests has also risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020-21, it jumped from 1.4% to 1.9%, increasing again to 2.3% in 2023-24.

Some individual test centres have seen a huge increase in zero-fault first-attempt passes, reveals The Guardian. In Barrow-in-Furness, the flawless pass rate is almost 12%, up from just 1% in 2019.

In Arbroath and Montrose, north-east Scotland, perfect test scores have risen from 7% and 5% in 2019-20, to 15% and 12% respectively last year.

The figures come as the DVSA still battles to reduce the enormous driving test backlog following the pandemic. Learners are currently waiting around five months to take a test.

It seems many may be using the extra time to hone their driving skills to improve their chances of success at the first time of asking.

Increasing numbers of new drivers are also taking tests in automatic cars. Around a quarter of all practical driving tests were for automatics last year, double the number from 2019-20 and four times higher than a decade ago.

However, figures show that the number of first-time passes is lower for automatic cars at 43%, compared with 48% of all drivers when manual models are included.