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Learning to Drive in Southampton

The national average driving lessons required to pass the practical driving test is 47 hours with a driving instructor and an additional 22 hours of private practice with a family or friend are recommended.

Southampton’s Driving Test pass rate compared to other cities across the UK is slightly higher than the national average sitting at 51.9%.

The test centres in Southampton are Maybush which has a pass rate of 42.0%, Winchester at 51.1%, Lee on the Solent at 64.8% and Portsmouth at 49.7%.

The nearest additional driving test centres for Southampton are in Newport with 50.3%, Salisbury with 55.7% and Basingstoke which has a higher pass rate of 61.4%.

Southampton Practical Driving Test Centres

  • Basingstoke, (Southampton), Brighton Hill Centre, Basingstoke RG22 4LR
  • Lee on the Solent, (Southampton), The Richard Sainsbury Building, Daedalus Argus Gate Daedalus Drive, Lee on the Solent PO13 13 9JY
  • Maybush, (Southampton), (wheelchair accessible), Green Lane, Maybush, Southampton SO16 9FP
  • Newport, Isle of Wight, (Southampton), Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport, Newport PO30 5WB
  • Portsmouth, (Southampton), Opposite Fort Southwick, James Callaghan Drive, Portsmouth PO17 6AR
  • Salisbury, (Southampton), Rougemont Close, Salisbury, SP1 1LY
  • Winchester, (Southampton), (wheelchair accessible), Christchurch, Winchester, SO23 9SY

Southampton Theory Test Centres

  • Fareham, (Southampton), Ground Floor, Thackery House, 189 – 199 West Street, Fareham PO16 0EN
  • Newport, Isle of Wight, (Southampton), Ground Floor, 48 Lugley Street, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 5HD
  • Portsmouth, (Southampton), Ground Floor Annex, Enterprise House, Isambard Brunel Road, Portsmouth PO1 2RX
  • Southampton, (Southampton), South Suite, Second Floor, Anglo City House, 2 – 6 Shirley Road, Southampton SO15 3EU

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Southampton  – did you know?

  1. Jane Austin liven in Southampton with her family after her father passed. She celebrated her 18th birthday at the Dolphin Hotel and wrote “Sense and Sensibility” while living in the city.
  2. Four days before hitting an iceberg, the Titanic sales calmly out of Southampton port with 3,327 passengers on board.
  3. Comedian and actor, Benny Hill was born in Southampton. Famous though the 70s and early 80s the actor was cancelled from television in 1989 for his sexist humour and salacious sketches.
  4. Roughly 1.5 million tourists pass through Southampton each year on board more than 450 cruise ships.
  5. Southampton has been a site for human activity since the Stone Age. Strangely, the house known as Kanute’s Palace in Southampton, with the same name as the Anglo Saxon King Kanute of the mid 1000s has no connection to the Anglo Saxon King.
  6. Southampton only became recognised as a city very recently. In 1929 it applied for city status and was turned down by King George V. In 1964 it treid again and was awarded city status.
  7. The famous spitfire made its first flight from Southampton in 1936 as a prototype. The early model moved into production and 310 were ordered by the Air Ministry from the Supermarine factory in Woolston, Southampton.
  8. By the end of the war, 8,000 spitfires had been made in Southampton. Sadly, their inventor R J Mitchel, dies before seeing his designs go into production.
  9. In 2007, the Wellington Arms in Southampton tried to declare itself as the consulate of the Kingdom of Redonda in the Caribbean in an effort to wriggle out of the smoking ban imposed on public houses that summer. Sadly, they were unsuccessful.
  10. The Viking Kanute was crowned as King of England in Southampton in 1016.