Is an automatic driving test easier? What the 2025/26 pass rates say

Quick answer

• GOV.UK says the driving test is the same for manual and automatic cars.
• Automatic candidates passed less often in 2025/26: 44.6% against 52.3% for manual. Both are our working from DVSA's centre-level figures: DVSA publishes an automatic rate and an all-tests rate for each centre, and no manual-only rate, so we added the centres up.
• 29.6% of tests were taken in automatic cars, counting the centres where DVSA gives an automatic figure.
• DVSA's figures do not say why automatic candidates pass less often, so the gap is not proof that an automatic test is harder.
• Pass in an automatic and your licence covers automatic cars only. GOV.UK says that if your licence is only for automatic cars you can upgrade it by passing a driving test in a manual car, and that you do not need to take a theory test to upgrade.

Learners are often told one of two things early on: take an automatic, it is easier, or take a manual, it keeps your options open. Only one of those can be checked against numbers, and the numbers do not say what you might expect.

Analysis by Driving Mastery using official Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency data, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. DVSA does not endorse this analysis.

What stays the same

GOV.UK describes one test with the same parts for everyone: the eyesight check, the 'show me, tell me' questions, general driving including independent driving, and a reversing exercise. It says 'the test is the same for both manual and automatic cars'.

What changes is the equipment. Some of the example faults on DVSA's list need a clutch: coasting with the clutch held down, or repeatedly stalling. An automatic has no clutch pedal, so faults that come from clutch control cannot happen.

What the 2025/26 figures show

DVSA publishes a pass rate for every test centre for all tests and, separately, for automatic tests. It does not publish a manual-only rate. We worked the manual figure out by taking the automatic tests away from all tests, centre by centre, and the totals below add up the 287 centres where DVSA gives an automatic figure, weighting each by its number of tests. All three figures are therefore our arithmetic, not DVSA's. The year is April 2025 to March 2026.

• Share of tests taken in automatic cars: 29.6%.
• Pass rate in automatic cars: 44.6%.
• Pass rate in manual cars (our working): 52.3%.

The gap shows up almost everywhere. Of the 258 centres with at least 1,000 tests in the year where both rates can be worked out, 257 had a lower pass rate for automatic than for manual. The typical gap was about 8 percentage points. The only exception was Aberystwyth (Park Avenue), where the automatic rate was 61.2% and the manual rate 54.0%.

The widest gap was at Alnwick: 32.6% for automatic against 61.8% for manual. That rests on 276 automatic tests, so treat one centre's gap as a weak guide to what you would meet.

What the figures cannot tell you

They do not show that an automatic test is harder. The test is the same, and the figures describe the people who sat it. DVSA's published tables do not show how many lessons a candidate had or why they chose an automatic, and learners who choose an automatic are not a random sample of learners. Whether the gap comes from the candidates, the way they learned, the test or a mixture, nothing in DVSA's tables can show. Be wary of anyone, including us, who gives you a reason as though it were a fact.

It is also a gap between groups, not a forecast for you. A 44.6% rate is not your chance of passing.

Which should you learn in?

Some questions are worth more than the pass rate:

• What will you drive after you pass? A licence earned in an automatic covers automatic cars only. If you might need to drive a manual, a manual licence keeps that open.
• Can you change your mind later? Yes. GOV.UK says that if your licence is only for automatic cars you can upgrade it by passing a driving test in a manual car, and that you do not need to take a theory test to upgrade. It does mean a second practical test and the lessons to prepare for it.
• How does it feel? If your instructor offers both, try a lesson in each and ask which they think suits you, and why.
• Is the pass rate your reason? Try not to let it be. It describes other candidates, not you.