MOT pass rates

MOT pass rates by postcode area

Name: MOT pass rates by postcode area, 2025
Creator: VetTheCar
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

How often cars passed their MOT first time in 118 postcode areas of Great Britain in 2025, from 32,619,595 DVSA MOT tests. The age-adjusted rate shows how each area compares once the age of the cars tested is taken out.

MOT data updated 17 September 2026

Great Britain pass rate (n=32,619,595)72.3%

Postcode areas118

Highest: Ilford (n=143,452)79.9%

Lowest: Kirkcaldy (n=184,105)63.7%

By nation

Each postcode area is counted under the nation that holds most of its postcodes. Some areas cross a border (SY and CH take in parts of Wales), so these are not nation totals.
Postcode areas	Areas	Pass rate	Tests (n)	Average age
Areas mainly in England	97	72.7%	28,475,011	10.6 years
Areas mainly in Scotland	16	69.7%	2,571,468	9.1 years
Areas mainly in Wales	5	68.9%	1,571,031	10.5 years

Every postcode area

First-time MOT pass rate in 2025, highest first. Great Britain: 72.3%.
#	Area	Pass rate	Tests (n)	Age-adjusted	Average age
1	Ilford IG	79.9%	143,452	78.8%	9.8
2	Romford RM	79.2%	265,972	78.6%	10.1
3	Southall UB	79.0%	199,915	79.4%	10.7
4	Bromley BR	79.0%	118,640	77.1%	9.4
5	Sutton SM	78.9%	73,461	79.6%	11.1
6	Kingston upon Thames KT	78.5%	272,199	77.9%	10.2
7	North West London NW	78.4%	215,912	76.9%	9.6
8	Twickenham TW	78.4%	239,510	77.9%	10.3
9	Slough SL	78.4%	232,636	78.8%	10.8
10	Harrow HA	78.3%	196,956	78.3%	10.5
11	Enfield EN	78.1%	191,601	77.6%	10.3
12	Croydon CR	77.7%	222,486	77.4%	10.4
13	Dartford DA	77.7%	239,879	76.7%	10.0
14	East London E	77.4%	261,627	77.1%	10.4
15	West London W	77.3%	86,436	76.2%	10.0
16	South West London SW	77.1%	140,786	76.4%	10.1
17	Southend-on-Sea SS	76.7%	284,977	77.0%	10.7
18	North London N	76.7%	219,839	77.2%	10.9
19	Birmingham B	76.0%	1,023,543	76.5%	10.7
20	St Albans AL	75.9%	144,844	74.8%	9.9
21	Chelmsford CM	75.6%	391,861	74.8%	10.1
22	Blackburn BB	75.6%	284,493	75.7%	10.4
23	South East London SE	75.4%	256,100	75.8%	10.9
24	Hemel Hempstead HP	75.2%	314,607	75.3%	10.5
25	Sheffield S	75.2%	737,891	75.5%	10.5
26	Bolton BL	75.0%	251,245	73.6%	9.8
27	Coventry CV	74.9%	482,024	75.0%	10.5
28	Derby DE	74.8%	450,843	74.7%	10.3
29	Reading RG	74.8%	497,346	74.8%	10.5
30	Luton LU	74.8%	216,144	75.9%	11.0
31	Dumfries DG	74.4%	76,675	73.9%	10.1
32	Rochester ME	74.3%	348,655	74.7%	10.7
33	Oldham OL	74.2%	225,361	73.4%	10.0
34	Milton Keynes MK	74.2%	343,443	73.9%	10.3
35	Leicester LE	74.2%	579,839	74.8%	10.7
36	Wolverhampton WV	74.1%	220,661	74.1%	10.4
37	Stevenage SG	74.1%	238,400	73.8%	10.4
38	Bradford BD	74.0%	291,233	74.9%	10.8
39	Redhill RH	74.0%	338,436	74.5%	10.8
40	Watford WD	73.9%	129,542	72.0%	9.6
41	Dudley DY	73.8%	221,384	74.5%	10.8
42	Liverpool L	73.8%	358,626	73.2%	10.1
43	Harrogate HG	73.8%	91,643	71.1%	9.4
44	Durham DH	73.6%	163,346	72.7%	9.8
45	Wakefield WF	73.6%	291,005	73.5%	10.2
46	Warrington WA	73.2%	336,325	71.6%	9.7
47	Newcastle upon Tyne NE	73.1%	549,678	71.9%	9.7
48	Worcester WR	73.0%	191,421	73.7%	10.8
49	Peterborough PE	73.0%	605,810	73.6%	10.7
50	Stockport SK	72.8%	330,005	71.2%	9.8
51	Manchester M	72.8%	493,560	73.6%	10.7
52	Preston PR	72.6%	300,309	72.0%	10.2
53	Crewe CW	72.6%	198,071	71.4%	9.9
54	Guildford GU	72.3%	442,932	72.5%	10.6
55	Tonbridge TN	72.1%	433,089	73.0%	11.0
56	Glasgow G	72.1%	527,018	68.9%	8.8
57	Oxford OX	72.0%	363,921	72.7%	10.8
58	Doncaster DN	72.0%	427,566	72.1%	10.4
59	Hereford HR	71.9%	121,067	73.6%	11.2
60	Leeds LS	71.8%	368,569	71.3%	10.1
61	Carlisle CA	71.8%	194,847	70.4%	9.8
62	Telford TF	71.7%	123,900	72.5%	10.8
63	Walsall WS	71.7%	235,267	71.9%	10.5
64	Cambridge CB	71.6%	230,777	72.4%	10.8
65	Shrewsbury SY	71.6%	219,920	72.4%	10.8
66	Cleveland TS	71.5%	304,275	71.0%	10.0
67	Colchester CO	71.4%	257,612	72.7%	11.1
68	Stoke-on-Trent ST	71.3%	363,690	70.9%	10.2
69	Kirkwall KW	71.3%	27,509	71.0%	10.1
70	Outer Hebrides HS	71.2%	14,643	70.8%	10.0
71	Southampton SO	71.2%	398,392	72.1%	10.9
72	Nottingham NG	71.1%	605,935	71.6%	10.6
73	Galashiels TD	71.0%	62,636	69.3%	9.6
74	Ipswich IP	71.0%	386,690	72.5%	11.1
75	Canterbury CT	71.0%	251,189	72.4%	11.1
76	Inverness IV	71.0%	140,881	68.5%	9.4
77	Swindon SN	70.9%	290,116	71.6%	10.7
78	Lancaster LA	70.8%	177,318	71.2%	10.6
79	Huddersfield HD	70.7%	134,421	69.0%	9.7
80	Kilmarnock KA	70.7%	175,701	67.6%	9.0
81	Northampton NN	70.6%	443,599	70.4%	10.3
82	Motherwell ML	70.6%	163,069	66.8%	8.6
83	Norwich NR	70.6%	446,567	72.3%	11.2
84	Halifax HX	70.5%	81,581	70.5%	10.3
85	York YO	70.4%	310,066	69.7%	10.1
86	Wigan WN	70.3%	152,773	69.7%	10.1
87	Falkirk FK	70.2%	141,802	65.8%	8.8
88	Llandudno LL	70.1%	311,215	71.9%	11.1
89	Edinburgh EH	69.8%	413,131	67.1%	9.2
90	Darlington DL	69.8%	189,267	68.9%	9.9
91	Chester CH	69.6%	364,259	69.4%	10.3
92	Perth PH	69.4%	96,866	66.1%	9.2
93	Sunderland SR	69.4%	109,296	67.9%	9.7
94	Gloucester GL	69.3%	401,178	70.9%	11.1
95	Paisley PA	69.2%	150,332	65.7%	8.9
96	Lerwick ZE	69.0%	12,174	65.6%	8.8
97	Newport NP	69.0%	285,855	69.5%	10.6
98	Hull HU	68.9%	228,739	68.3%	10.1
99	Swansea SA	68.7%	413,267	68.8%	10.5
100	Cardiff CF	68.6%	532,976	68.4%	10.2
101	Bournemouth BH	68.1%	340,520	70.3%	11.4
102	Aberdeen AB	67.9%	250,717	64.6%	9.0
103	Lincoln LN	67.7%	184,976	67.8%	10.4
104	Blackpool FY	67.7%	138,827	68.3%	10.7
105	Portsmouth PO	67.5%	460,665	69.4%	11.3
106	Taunton TA	67.4%	211,358	70.6%	11.7
107	Brighton BN	67.3%	393,459	69.1%	11.2
108	Dorchester DT	66.9%	126,862	71.5%	12.2
109	Bath BA	66.9%	274,545	69.0%	11.3
110	Salisbury SP	66.2%	155,345	68.1%	11.2
111	Bristol BS	66.0%	565,582	67.0%	10.9
112	Torquay TQ	65.7%	164,423	69.6%	12.0
113	Llandrindod Wells LD	65.6%	27,718	67.7%	11.2
114	Truro TR	65.2%	198,191	68.1%	11.6
115	Dundee DD	64.9%	134,209	61.6%	9.2
116	Exeter EX	64.9%	365,275	67.8%	11.5
117	Plymouth PL	64.8%	332,187	67.8%	11.5
118	Kirkcaldy KY	63.7%	184,105	61.5%	9.6

Pass rate by age, Great Britain

Share of MOT tests passed first time in 2025, by vehicle age.
Age	Pass rate	Tests (n)
3 to 5 years	87.2%	5,355,612
6 to 8 years	80.9%	7,517,250
9 to 11 years	71.9%	7,590,317
12 to 14 years	63.7%	5,246,171
15 to 25 years	58.2%	6,910,245

Methodology

Data. Every class 4 normal MOT test (cars and light vans) in DVSA's anonymised MOT data for 2025: 32,619,595 tests of vehicles aged 3 to 25 years, where age is the test year minus the year of first use. Retests are left out.
Pass rate. The share of tests the vehicle passed first time. A test where a fault was fixed at the test centre within an hour (pass after rectification) counts as a fail, as do outright fails.
Area. The postcode area is the one DVSA gives for each test in its anonymised MOT data. Tests with the code XX (2,085 in 2025), which DVSA uses instead of an area code, count in the Great Britain figures but get no area page.
Age-adjusted rate. Older cars fail more often, so an area with older cars looks worse. The age-adjusted rate weights each area's pass rate in eight age bands (3 to 4, 5 to 6, 7 to 8, 9 to 10, 11 to 12, 13 to 14, 15 to 17 and 18 to 25 years) by Great Britain's share of tests in each band. An area needs at least 100 tests in every band for this figure.
Fail reasons. Tests with at least one dangerous or major defect in each part of the car, per 100 tests. One test can count under several parts.
Thresholds. An area page needs at least 1,000 tests. An age band or a model row needs at least 1,000 tests, and a fail reason at least 20 tests with it.
Limits. The rate reflects the cars tested in an area as well as the area: mileage, the mix of models and vans, road salt and coastal air, and how test centres work all play a part. It does not rank test centres.

To cite: VetTheCar analysis of DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2025), vetthecar.co.uk/mot-pass-rates.

MOT fail rates by make, model and age · Number plate area codes · Number plate ages

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal tests, 2025. MOT data updated 17 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources