Chichester Driving Test Centre: Local Knowledge Guide

DriveRoutes is an independent practice aid and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the DVSA. Examiners no longer publish fixed test routes, the roads named below are the real local network learners practise on, drawn from our route catalogue, not a copy of any examiner route.

Chichester's practical test centre is at York House, City Fields Business Park, City Fields Way (PO20 2FR), on the city's eastern side in West Sussex. The city is famously ringed by roundabouts strung along and around the A27 Chichester bypass, and the catalogue maps fourteen practice loops that take in nearly all of them. The bypass and its junctions shape the whole experience: this is a test where roundabout after roundabout has to be read, positioned for, and exited cleanly.

What to expect on test day at Chichester

If one word defines a Chichester test, it is roundabouts. The mapped routes run from roughly 49 km to over 120 km, with the longer loops taking in as many as sixteen roundabouts and a substantial dual-carriageway stretch on the A27, one representative route carries nearly 30 km of dual carriageway. That blend means you handle higher-speed bypass driving, a constant rhythm of roundabouts, and quieter city and rural roads in a single test.

Expect the standard format, around 40 minutes of driving, the eyesight check, two "show me, tell me" safety questions, roughly 20 minutes of independent driving following a sat-nav or road signs, and one reversing manoeuvre fitted into a quieter residential street.

The real local roads, roundabouts and landmarks

Every place below comes from the real route network we map around Chichester.

• A27 Chichester bypass: the dual-carriageway route around the city's southern edge, interrupted by the ring of roundabouts. It can be congested at peak times, and merging and lane choice between roundabouts matter.
• Portfield Roundabout: a busy eastern roundabout near the centre and the City Fields area, plan your lane and exit early.
• Bognor Road Roundabout and Stockbridge Roundabout: key southern junctions on the ring where lane discipline is tested under real traffic.
• Whyke Roundabout, the New Road Roundabout, the Resort Hotel Roundabout and the Westgate Link Roundabout: further junctions where signalling off at the correct exit prevents confusion.
• Westhampnett Road and Barnfield Drive: A-road and link corridors connecting the eastern routes.
• City and rural roads: quieter streets near landmarks like St Mary's Church and St Pancras Church, and rural lanes towards Lavant and Fishbourne, where meeting traffic and observation come into play.

Notable hazards and how they are tested

The roundabouts are the headline, and their sheer number is the real challenge. Threaded along the A27, they come in quick succession, so the examiner sees your lane discipline and exit-reading again and again. The common faults are choosing the wrong lane on approach, signalling off late so following traffic cannot read you, and drifting across lanes on the bigger islands. Because the Portfield and Whyke roundabouts in particular sit on busy bypass-connected junctions, reading the right exit early matters.

The dual-carriageway sections on the A27 add higher-speed demands, confident merging between roundabouts, sensible lane discipline, and timely positioning before the next island. The A27 around Chichester is known for congestion at peak times, so be ready for queues building back from the roundabouts. On the quieter city and rural roads towards Lavant and Fishbourne the marking shifts to meeting traffic, observation at junctions, and clearance from cyclists and pedestrians.

Pass-rate context

At 64.4% for 2024, Chichester is one of the higher-passing centres in the country, well above the national car pass rate of around 48%. The well-engineered, less-congested network helps, but the figure still rewards solid roundabout discipline, and the volume of roundabouts means there are many chances to pick up a fault if your routine slips. Do not treat a high pass rate as a reason to relax: examiners mark every missed observation and late signal the same way. Pass rates also vary year to year and with the candidate mix, so use the number as context rather than a guarantee.

Area driving tips

1. Get into a roundabout rhythm. With so many in a row, approach each the same disciplined way: lane, mirror, signal, exit.
2. Signal off every time. A clear left signal at your exit is especially important where roundabouts come quickly one after another.
3. Don't relax because the pass rate is high. Examiners still mark every missed observation and late signal.
4. Watch the A27 links. Westhampnett Road, Barnfield Drive and the bypass want confident, correctly-positioned driving.

How to practise for the Chichester test

The most effective preparation is to drive Chichester's real ring of roundabouts until reading them becomes second nature. Make the Portfield, Bognor Road, Stockbridge and Whyke roundabouts your priority drill, practise approaching each the same disciplined way, choosing your lane early and signalling off cleanly, because the volume of roundabouts is exactly where a Chichester drive is won or lost. Then rehearse the A27 dual-carriageway sections so merging between islands feels confident rather than rushed.

Balance that with the quieter city and rural roads towards Lavant and Fishbourne, where your meeting-traffic and observation routine can stay sharp. Vary your practice times so the bypass and its roundabouts are familiar at both peak and off-peak levels, the A27 can queue significantly at busy times. After each run, debrief honestly: note the roundabout where you chose the wrong lane, the exit you signalled off late, and the merge you hesitated on, then target those next time. With a pass rate well above average, the goal is consistency, turning disciplined, repeatable roundabout driving into a calm performance on the day.

It helps, too, to understand Chichester as a place. It is a compact, historic cathedral city in West Sussex, hemmed in by the A27 bypass to the south and ringed by the roundabouts that connect the city to Bognor, Selsey, Midhurst and the coast. That layout is the whole story of the test: the city core is calm and well laid out, but almost every journey out of it threads a sequence of roundabouts on or near the bypass. Learn to read that ring as a rhythm rather than a series of surprises, and the volume of roundabouts that defines a Chichester drive, and helps explain its high pass rate for well-prepared candidates, becomes a strength you can lean on.