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The MoT Files: Postcodes where you're most likely to pass ... and fail

Dan Powell, Managing Editor
Fri, 06 Oct 2017

One of the most surprising aspects to come out of The MoT Files is the amount of regional variations. You might not expect where you live to have an impact on whether your car passes or fails - but it does.

Cars that are MoT'd in the extremities tend to perform worse than areas that are further inland, with the lowest rates in the country made up with coastal postcodes. Harsher conditions appear to equate to a lower pass rate, with the lowest two postcodes - Kirkcaldy and Dundee - both covering Scottish coastal towns. It's a similar story for Plymouth, Truro and Exeter in England.

The south east of England - particularly in and around London - dominates the other end of the table. If you have your MoT carried in Romford (RM), there's roughly a 73 per cent chance that you'll pass. The most common fault - as with most areas - is lighting and signalling. That covers items like blown bulbs, which may only become apparent when your car is MoT'd (especially with defects that aren't immediately obvious like number plate bulbs or brake lights).

In Kirkcaldy (KY), every other car fails its MoT and you are 12 per cent less likely to pass your first MoT than you are in the rest of the UK. Almost a quarter of cars fail on suspension, while MoT failure for brake problems are twice as likely in Kirkcaldy than the rest of the country. Dacia has the lowest failure rate, but only 160 were tested (compared to more than 26,000 Vauxhalls) and even then it's still 18 per cent higher than elsewhere.

Birmingham carries out more MoT tests than any other postcode area - and by some way, too. In the period that our data focuses on (2016), there were 813,767 tests carried out, significantly more than the second highest, Sheffield, with 599,041. Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands carries out the lowest number of tests, with 23,497.

Some postcode areas appear to favour particular makes. In Milton Keynes (MK), for instance, Aston Martin has the highest pass rate of any manufacturer and an unusually high number of MoT tests. This anomaly can be attributed to the fact that the firm's servicing and restoration centre is based in Newport Pagnell (MK16) and so it sees a greater number of Aston Martins than anywhere else.

Pass Rate by Postcode

Postcode Area	Name	Number of Tests	Pass Rate
AB	Aberdeen	249,407	66.2%
BA	Bath	278,966	66.3%
B	Birmingham	936,004	72.8%
BB	Blackburn	260,303	72.3%
FY	Blackpool	133,650	67.5%
BL	Bolton	230,238	72.6%
BH	Bournemouth	333,556	66.6%
BD	Bradford	273,391	70.8%
BN	Brighton	386,485	66.3%
BS	Bristol	559,968	65.3%
BR	Bromley	119,105	76.8%
CB	Cambridge	217,551	70.5%
CT	Canterbury	240,995	69.1%
CF	Cardiff	505,404	67.4%
CA	Carlisle	186,358	70.3%
CM	Chelmsford	375,186	74.8%
CH	Chester	348,261	69.5%
TS	Cleveland	285,947	68.4%
CO	Colchester	243,165	70.8%
CV	Coventry	454,746	72.7%
CW	Crewe	187,963	70.9%
CR	Croydon	211,324	75.1%
DL	Darlington	180,533	68.5%
DA	Dartford	229,736	75.0%
DE	Derby	419,544	72.5%
DN	Doncaster	410,748	71.0%
DT	Dorchester	122,446	65.8%
DY	Dudley	213,409	70.0%
DG	Dumfries	75,975	71.8%
DD	Dundee	131,559	63.0%
DH	Durham	151,112	71.9%
E	East London	243,454	74.3%
EH	Edinburgh	396,193	68.6%
EN	Enfield	184,417	77.0%
EX	Exeter	357,048	63.9%
FK	Falkirk	139,352	68.7%
TD	Galashiels	60,067	69.5%
G	Glasgow	501,636	70.3%
GL	Gloucester	392,369	67.3%
GU	Guildford	418,579	70.7%
HX	Halifax	79,523	69.2%
HG	Harrogate	83,412	71.4%
HA	Harrow	180,514	73.5%
HP	Hemel Hempstead	299,484	73.3%
HR	Hereford	119,956	70.5%
HD	Huddersfield	124,964	69.9%
HU	Hull	212,373	67.0%
IG	Ilford	132,213	75.4%
IV	Inverness	136,338	68.4%
IP	Ipswich	369,958	69.2%
KA	Kilmarnock	174,872	70.5%
KT	Kingston upon Thames	265,455	75.8%
KY	Kirkcaldy	179,313	61.3%
KW	Kirkwall	26,856	68.8%
LA	Lancaster	174,267	68.6%
LS	Leeds	339,025	68.8%
LE	Leicester	555,682	71.9%
ZE	Lerwick	11,873	65.9%
LN	Lincoln	181,919	67.7%
L	Liverpool	334,336	72.5%
LD	Llandrindod Wells	27,309	63.9%
LL	Llandudno	305,849	70.2%
LU	Luton	201,006	71.8%
M	Manchester	450,640	69.9%
MK	Milton Keynes	315,778	70.6%
ML	Motherwell	162,683	69.9%
NE	Newcastle upon Tyne	521,744	71.1%
NP	Newport	273,825	67.3%
N	North London	208,906	72.4%
NW	North West London	206,082	75.5%
NN	Northampton	402,856	68.3%
NR	Norwich	434,939	69.5%
NG	Nottingham	584,842	68.4%
OL	Oldham	210,363	71.5%
HS	Outer Hebrides	14,164	70.3%
OX	Oxford	350,731	70.2%
PA	Paisley	146,085	68.2%
PH	Perth	93,479	67.9%
PE	Peterborough	577,648	70.4%
PL	Plymouth	328,206	62.0%
PO	Portsmouth	453,847	66.6%
PR	Preston	286,525	70.9%
RG	Reading	477,530	72.6%
RH	Redhill	320,388	72.9%
ME	Rochester	341,466	71.5%
RM	Romford	250,370	75.8%
SP	Salisbury	152,927	66.3%
S	Sheffield	705,723	73.1%
SY	Shrewsbury	214,019	69.2%
SL	Slough	218,123	75.7%
SE	South East London	256,884	74.1%
SW	South West London	158,979	73.3%
UB	Southall	174,781	73.6%
SO	Southampton	388,198	70.4%
SS	Southend-on-Sea	284,886	75.3%
AL	St Albans	138,799	74.4%
SG	Stevenage	225,884	72.5%
SK	Stockport	316,545	71.1%
ST	Stoke-on-Trent	345,958	69.1%
SR	Sunderland	106,979	68.7%
SM	Sutton	73,140	74.9%
SA	Swansea	399,331	67.4%
SN	Swindon	274,871	69.4%
TA	Taunton	202,561	66.3%
TF	Telford	115,027	68.1%
TN	Tonbridge	419,253	69.8%
TQ	Torquay	163,844	64.4%
TR	Truro	191,602	62.8%
TW	Twickenham	229,362	76.1%
WF	Wakefield	283,204	72.4%
WS	Walsall	231,483	69.4%
WA	Warrington	328,644	72.3%
WD	Watford	132,642	72.2%
W	West London	88,119	75.8%
WN	Wigan	143,606	69.4%
WV	Wolverhampton	206,764	70.8%
WR	Worcester	183,693	70.7%
YO	York	302,344	67.9%