Near Bodmin test centre
Rated challenging from its real manoeuvre load, 6 roundabouts and 23 turns across 32 navigation steps.
This is an independent 22.1 km practice route near Bodmin test centre, taking roughly 45 min to drive. It is NOT an official DVSA examiner route, the DVSA does not publish those, but it uses the same local roads and junction types an examiner is likely to choose.
Along the way you'll meet Carminow Cross Junction. Knowing the approach, lane and exit at each one before you arrive is the difference between a planned manoeuvre and a last-second reaction, and last-second reactions are where avoidable faults come from.
On this route you’ll practise multiple roundabouts, dual-carriageway joins, national-speed roads, 20 mph zones, changing speed limits, residential manoeuvres, busy a-roads and sustained concentration. Driving it a few times before your test builds the muscle memory that frees up attention for observation and decision-making on the day.
The loop is anchored by 20 catalogued landmarks, including shops, pubs, churches and stations, so you can navigate it from recognisable features rather than a memorised turn list. Rehearsing it in this way means that on test day the area already feels familiar, and your attention is free for the traffic rather than the map.
Whatever the route, your practical test follows the same national shape: an eyesight check, a couple of vehicle-safety questions, around forty minutes of general driving, one reversing manoeuvre chosen by the examiner, and roughly twenty minutes of independent driving following signs or a sat-nav. Practising on roads like these is how you make each of those elements feel routine rather than new.
Treat this route as practice, not a script. The value is not in repeating one fixed sequence but in getting comfortable with the road types, speed changes and junction patterns of the area around Bodmin test centre, so that whatever order your examiner chooses on the day, none of it is unfamiliar. Drive it a few times, focus on smooth observation and planning, and it becomes one more stretch of road you already know, which is exactly the kind of preparation that turns nerves into confidence.
If you are practising with a supervising driver rather than an instructor, take it steadily: agree the manoeuvre spots in advance, keep to a comfortable pace, and stop to talk through anything that felt rushed. And remember the basics that apply on every road, mirrors before any change of speed or direction, signals in good time, and a following distance that gives you room to react. Those habits travel with you long after the test is passed.
What you’ll actually do on this loop, counted from its turn-by-turn directions.
This route helps you practise:
Road mix
The full 102-step drive on real, named roads (about 23.1 km). An indicative practice loop, not an official DVSA route — the roads and junctions are real, the sequence is a rehearsal.
Drive southeast.
47 m
Turn right onto Beatrice Road.
Beatrice Road46 m
Turn right onto Normandy Way.
Normandy Way407 m
Turn left to stay on Normandy Way.
Normandy Way189 m
Turn right onto Lostwithiel Road/B3268.
Lostwithiel Road47 m
Keep right to stay on B3268.
B3268616 m
Keep right to stay on B3268.
B3268446 m
Keep right to take Turf Street/B3268.
Turf Street32 m
Move left onto Turf Street/A389. Continue on A389.
A38993 m
Keep right to take Dennison Road/A389.
Dennison Road618 m
Turn right onto Cardell Road.
Cardell Road238 m
Turn right onto Scarletts Well Road.
Scarletts Well Road500 m
Turn left onto Pool Street.
Pool Street220 m
Turn left onto Dennison Road/A389.
Dennison Road53 m
Keep left to stay on Dennison Road/A389.
Dennison Road102 m
Keep right to take B3268.
B3268577 m
Turn right onto Harleigh Road.
Harleigh Road298 m
Turn right onto Beacon Road.
Beacon Road642 m
Turn right onto Crinnick's Hill.
Crinnick's Hill293 m
Turn right onto St Nicholas Street/B3268.
St Nicholas Street424 m
Turn right onto Harleigh Road.
Harleigh Road298 m
Turn right onto Beacon Road.
Beacon Road642 m
Turn right onto Crinnick's Hill.
Crinnick's Hill293 m
Turn right onto St Nicholas Street/B3268.
St Nicholas Street424 m
Turn right onto Harleigh Road.
Harleigh Road206 m
Turn right onto Marks Drive.
Marks Drive106 m
Turn right to stay on Marks Drive.
Marks Drive67 m
Turn left.
65 m
Make a right U-turn.
65 m
Turn right onto Marks Drive.
Marks Drive67 m
Turn left to stay on Marks Drive.
Marks Drive106 m
Turn left onto Harleigh Road.
Harleigh Road206 m
Turn left onto St Nicholas Street/B3268.
St Nicholas Street181 m
Keep left to stay on B3268.
B3268404 m
Turn right onto Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road77 m
Keep right to stay on Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road435 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit towards Liskeard/Industrial estates/Bodmin Parkway/Lanhydrock.
39 m
Exit the roundabout towards Liskeard/Industrial estates/Bodmin Parkway/Lanhydrock.
Priory Road133 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Priory Road/A389.
37 m
Exit the roundabout onto Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road748 m
Keep left to stay on Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road178 m
Turn right onto Canyke Road.
Canyke Road137 m
Keep right to stay on Canyke Road.
Canyke Road188 m
Keep left to stay on Canyke Road.
Canyke Road327 m
Turn left to stay on Canyke Road.
Canyke Road42 m
Turn right onto Castle Canyke Road.
Castle Canyke Road530 m
Turn left onto Omaha Road.
Omaha Road93 m
Turn right to stay on Omaha Road.
Omaha Road97 m
Turn left to stay on Omaha Road.
Omaha Road99 m
Turn left onto Normandy Way.
Normandy Way86 m
Move left to stay on Normandy Way.
Normandy Way85 m
Turn right to stay on Normandy Way.
Normandy Way407 m
Turn left onto Beatrice Road.
Beatrice Road203 m
Turn right onto Castle Canyke Road.
Castle Canyke Road51 m
Turn left onto Canyke Road.
Canyke Road696 m
Turn right onto A38.
A38616 m
Enter Carminow Cross Junction and take the 2nd exit onto Carminow Road.
Carminow Cross Junction97 m
Exit the roundabout onto Carminow Road.
Carminow Road80 m
Keep right to stay on Carminow Road.
Carminow Road38 m
Turn right onto Castle Canyke Road.
Castle Canyke Road577 m
Turn left onto Beatrice Road.
Beatrice Road145 m
Turn left onto Paardeburg Road.
Paardeburg Road155 m
Move right to stay on Paardeburg Road.
Paardeburg Road88 m
Turn left onto Lucknow Road.
Lucknow Road28 m
Turn left onto Lucknow Road South.
Lucknow Road South277 m
Turn left onto Castle Canyke Road.
Castle Canyke Road171 m
Turn left onto Beatrice Road.
Beatrice Road145 m
Turn left onto Paardeburg Road.
Paardeburg Road244 m
Turn left onto Lucknow Road.
Lucknow Road28 m
Turn left onto Lucknow Road South.
Lucknow Road South111 m
Make a right U-turn to stay on Lucknow Road South.
Lucknow Road South111 m
Turn right onto Lucknow Road.
Lucknow Road173 m
Turn right onto Normandy Way.
Normandy Way610 m
Turn left to stay on Normandy Way.
Normandy Way189 m
Turn left onto Lostwithiel Road/B3268.
Lostwithiel Road285 m
Keep left to take Respryn Road.
Respryn Road553 m
Turn left onto Carminow Road.
Carminow Road68 m
Turn left onto Normandy Way.
Normandy Way762 m
Turn left to stay on Normandy Way.
Normandy Way189 m
Turn right onto Lostwithiel Road/B3268.
Lostwithiel Road425 m
Keep right to stay on B3268.
B3268216 m
Keep left to stay on B3268.
B3268466 m
Keep right to take Turf Street/B3268.
Turf Street32 m
Turn right onto Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road77 m
Keep right to stay on Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road435 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit towards Liskeard/Industrial estates/Bodmin Parkway/Lanhydrock.
39 m
Exit the roundabout towards Liskeard/Industrial estates/Bodmin Parkway/Lanhydrock.
Priory Road133 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Gilbert Road.
53 m
Exit the roundabout onto Gilbert Road.
Gilbert Road304 m
Turn left onto Priors Barn.
Priors Barn64 m
Turn right to stay on Priors Barn.
Priors Barn53 m
Make a right U-turn to stay on Priors Barn.
Priors Barn54 m
Turn left to stay on Priors Barn.
Priors Barn65 m
Turn right onto Gilbert Road.
Gilbert Road304 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Priory Road/A389.
15 m
Exit the roundabout onto Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road133 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Priory Road/A389.
22 m
Exit the roundabout onto Priory Road/A389.
Priory Road513 m
Turn right onto Turf Street/A389. Continue on A389.
A389146 m
Turn right onto Pool Street.
Pool Street29 m
Keep straight to stay on Pool Street.
Pool Street64 m
You have arrived at your destination.
Directions for the Bodmin · Route 15 loop. Always drive to the road and conditions you see, not the list — signs, signals and other traffic take priority.
These are the real named features along the loop, straight from our route catalogue. Use them to recognise where you are and to anticipate the hazard each one brings, not to memorise a fixed order.
Decide your lane and exit on the approach to each of these, get set up early.
Expect busier traffic, pick-ups and pedestrians around these.
Useful navigation anchors on the loop.
Easy landmarks to navigate the loop by.
Frequent stop-start traffic and pedestrians, keep your speed down.
Multiple roundabouts
Approach in the correct lane, signal on the exit before yours, and keep checking your mirrors as you leave.
Dual-carriageway join
About 0.9 km of this loop is dual carriageway. Build your speed on the slip road, take an effective rearward observation, and merge without forcing other traffic to brake.
Changing speed limits
Limits change across this route (20, 30, 60 mph). Watch for repeater signs and adjust early, examiners mark you down for carrying the wrong speed into a new limit.
Residential streets
Narrow residential roads mean parked cars, pedestrians and reduced visibility. Cover the brake, keep your speed down and be ready to give way.
Navigate by these 20 catalogued landmarks rather than a memorised turn list, an indicative loop, not an official DVSA route.
Bodmin Keep
Start near Bodmin Keep.
Bunts of Bodmin
Continue to Bunts of Bodmin.
Hole in the Wall
Continue to Hole in the Wall.
Topps Tiles
Continue to Topps Tiles.
Bodmin Christian Felowship
Continue to Bodmin Christian Felowship.
Sainsbury's
Continue to Sainsbury's.
Weavers Inn
Continue to Weavers Inn.
White Hart Inn
Continue to White Hart Inn.
Bodmin General
Continue to Bodmin General.
Lidl
Continue to Lidl.
St. Petroc's Church
Continue to St. Petroc's Church.
Morrisons Daily
Continue to Morrisons Daily.
GEMINI ARC
Continue to GEMINI ARC.
New Life Church
Continue to New Life Church.
Carminow Cross Junction
Continue to Carminow Cross Junction, taking the junction with good observation.
Screwfix
Continue to Screwfix.
College Lane Fish Bar
Continue to College Lane Fish Bar.
Spar
Continue to Spar.
Travis Perkins
Continue to Travis Perkins.
Lighthouse
Finish back near Lighthouse, completing the loop.
6 roundabouts · 16 turns
6 roundabouts · 19 turns · 1 set of lights
8 roundabouts · 13 turns
4 roundabouts · 18 turns
This route is 22.1 km and takes about 45 min to drive at a steady learner pace. It is an independent practice loop near Bodmin test centre, not an official DVSA route.