MOT pass rates

MOT pass rate in Birmingham (B)

Name: MOT pass rate in Birmingham (B), 2025
Creator: VetTheCar
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

In 2025, 76.0% of MOT tests in the Birmingham (B) postcode area were passed first time, 3.7 points above the Great Britain rate of 72.3%. From 1,023,543 DVSA MOT tests of cars and light vans aged 3 to 25 years.

MOT data updated 17 September 2026

Pass rate, B (n=1,023,543)76.0%

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

Difference+3.7 pts

Position, highest pass rate first19thof 118 areas

Adjusted for vehicle age, the pass rate is 76.5% (17th of 118 areas), against 72.3% for Great Britain. Cars tested here are on average 0.3 years older than the GB average (10.7 against 10.4 years).

Pass rate by age

Birmingham (B) against Great Britain, 2025. Age bands with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	B pass rate	Tests (n)	Great Britain	Difference
3 to 5 years	87.8%	147,604	87.2%	+0.6 pts
6 to 8 years	83.3%	223,919	80.9%	+2.4 pts
9 to 11 years	76.5%	245,237	71.9%	+4.6 pts
12 to 14 years	70.0%	175,333	63.7%	+6.3 pts
15 to 25 years	65.2%	231,450	58.2%	+7.0 pts

What cars fail on

Tests with at least one dangerous or major defect in each part of the car, per 100 MOT tests. One test can count under several parts.

Fail reasons per 100 tests, B (n=1,023,543) against Great Britain, 2025.
Part of the car	B	Tests with it	Great Britain
Lights and electrics	9.5	97,004	10.6
Suspension	6.6	67,123	9.0
Tyres	5.0	50,678	6.3
Visibility	4.4	45,393	4.3
Brakes	4.4	45,269	6.2
Body and structure	2.3	24,026	3.2
Emissions and leaks	2.3	23,657	3.1
Steering	1.4	14,287	1.9
Seat belts and airbags	0.6	6,411	0.9
Road wheels	0.5	5,311	0.4
Number plates and VIN	0.4	3,960	0.3

Most tested models

Models with at least 1,000 MOT tests in B in 2025. Pass rates are not adjusted for age or mileage.
Model	Tests (n)	Share	Pass rate	More
Ford Fiesta	47,386	4.6%	68.5%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Ford Focus	31,248	3.1%	71.2%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Vauxhall Corsa	27,554	2.7%	67.5%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Volkswagen Golf	27,479	2.7%	79.2%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Volkswagen Polo	19,162	1.9%	72.3%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Toyota Yaris	19,120	1.9%	75.0%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Vauxhall Astra	18,870	1.8%	70.2%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
Nissan Qashqai	18,441	1.8%	72.9%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
BMW 3 Series	17,771	1.7%	80.3%	Problems Recalls ULEZ
MINI Cooper and One	17,556	1.7%	79.3%	Problems Recalls ULEZ

Read this with care. An area pass rate reflects the cars tested there: their age, mileage and upkeep, the share of vans and work vehicles, and local roads and weather. It is not a measure of the test centres. Methodology.

Other areas

Near Birmingham in the ranking:

Every postcode area · Methodology · Number plate area codes

Found one you might buy? Vet the specific car.

An area figure says nothing about one car. Its MOT history does: every test, defect, advisory and mileage reading. The VetTheCar Buying Report puts it together with running costs before you pay.

See a sample Buying Report MOT fail rates by model

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