Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Wellington practical driver’s licence test pass rates are lower than rest of the country

RNZ
19 Apr, 2024 08:46 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Driver licence pass rates in large regional centres are significantly lower than elsewhere in the country.

Driver licence pass rates in large regional centres are significantly lower than elsewhere in the country.

By RNZ

A driving expert does not believe it is easier to pass a practical driver’s licence test in rural areas.

According to data released by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, pass rates in 2023 were significantly lower in Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Wellington than elsewhere in the country.

Auckland’s pass rates were the worst, with just 49.2 per cent of applicants passing their restricted test and 55.7 per cent passing their full.

In Bay of Plenty, 50.9 per cent of applicants passed their restricted and 59.4 per cent passed their full, while in Wellington, pass rates were 51.9 per cent and 59.8 per cent respectively.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Aotearoa’s pass rates were highest in Taranaki, where 70.6 per cent of applicants passed their restricted and 77 per cent of applicants passed their full driver’s licence tests.

Gisborne was the place with the second-highest percentage of restricted licence passes, at 68.2 per cent, while the West Coast had the second-highest percentage of full licence passes at 75.9 per cent.

New Zealand Institute of Driver Educators president Mark Revill-Johnson told Checkpoint testing officers in big cities and rural towns were “very consistent” in they way they marked across the criteria.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said if someone from Auckland was to drive to a more rural area in the hope it would increase their chances of passing, it might actually do the opposite.

“Smaller towns do tend to have these sort-of out of context traffic environments. If you’re not familiar with them, you can just as easily find yourself in difficulty with one of those.

“When you’re driving around in an unfamiliar area, it can put more pressure on the test candidate.”

Revill-Johnson said it was “hard to say” why bigger cities had lower pass marks - but said it was likely to do with the number of people taking tests “skewing” the numbers slightly rather than testing officers being more strict.

If 10 people took a test in one place and one person failed, that would be a pass rate of 90 per cent, whereas if 20 people took it and one failed, it would be 95 per cent, he said.

Revill-Johnson accepted Auckland might have a more difficult traffic environment for people taking their test, but extra congestion could also work to their advantage, as they would be driving slower and have more time to see their surroundings.

A “big drop” in pass rates was seen when the current testing system was introduced, Revill-Johnson said. It went from the high 70s and 80s to the 40s.

“That was because things were set out a lot clearer and a little less discretion was allowed to the testing officer.”

But Revill-Johnson said younger people taking driving lessons were doing better in the new testing system than any other age group.

He recommended people take driving lessons, saying: “We see things that parents perhaps don’t see”.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps

Bay of Plenty Times

Ōhope's most expensive home? Bach by NZ's best beach has expats excited

Bay of Plenty Times

Ikea 'creates huge opportunities' - PM


Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Premium
Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps

This year's event hosted 14,000 athletes from 431 schools competing in 27 sporting codes.

05 Sep 06:00 PM
Ōhope's most expensive home? Bach by NZ's best beach has expats excited
Bay of Plenty Times

Ōhope's most expensive home? Bach by NZ's best beach has expats excited

05 Sep 06:00 PM
Ikea 'creates huge opportunities' - PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Ikea 'creates huge opportunities' - PM

05 Sep 06:00 AM


NZ’s convenience icon turns 35
Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

02 Sep 09:23 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP