Near Cookstown test centre
Rated easy from its real manoeuvre load, 4 roundabouts and 2 turns across 19 navigation steps.
This is an independent 9.9 km practice loop near Cookstown test centre, taking roughly 11 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.
On this route you’ll practise independent driving. 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 and pubs, 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 Cookstown 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:
The full 19-step drive on real, named roads (about 10.5 km). An indicative practice loop, not an official DVSA route — the roads and junctions are real, the sequence is a rehearsal.
Drive east on Sandholes Road.
Sandholes Road361 m
Keep left to stay on Sandholes Road.
Sandholes Road239 m
Keep right to stay on Sandholes Road.
Sandholes Road205 m
Keep right at the fork.
5 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A29.
17 m
Exit the roundabout onto A29.
A29673 m
Keep right to take A29/Killymoon Street.
A29129 m
Keep right to stay on A29.
A291.8 km
Turn right to stay on A29.
A29719 m
Keep right to stay on A29.
A291.0 km
Make a right U-turn to stay on A29.
A291.8 km
Turn left to stay on A29.
A292.0 km
Keep left to take A29/Dungannon Road.
A29107 m
Keep right to stay on A29.
A29327 m
Keep right to stay on A29.
A29125 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Sandholes Road.
128 m
Exit the roundabout onto Sandholes Road.
Sandholes Road449 m
Keep right to stay on Sandholes Road.
Sandholes Road361 m
You have arrived at your destination.
Directions for the Cookstown · Dual-carriageway practice loop 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.
Easy landmarks to navigate the loop by.
Frequent stop-start traffic and pedestrians, keep your speed down.
Local junctions
Take each junction on its merits, good observation, clear signalling and the right speed on approach. Rehearse the sequence so nothing surprises you on the day.
Navigate by these 20 catalogued landmarks rather than a memorised turn list, an indicative loop, not an official DVSA route.
Mace
Start near Mace.
McDonald's
Continue to McDonald's.
Toymaster
Continue to Toymaster.
Action Cancer
Continue to Action Cancer.
Cartwheel Bar
Continue to Cartwheel Bar.
Central Bar
Continue to Central Bar.
Central Inn
Continue to Central Inn.
Morelli
Continue to Morelli.
Blacks Shoes
Continue to Blacks Shoes.
CoppaTinos
Continue to CoppaTinos.
Corner Cake Shop
Continue to Corner Cake Shop.
Serephina
Continue to Serephina.
Subway
Continue to Subway.
J. Mac Mahon
Continue to J. Mac Mahon.
Just Gents Barbers
Continue to Just Gents Barbers.
CeX
Continue to CeX.
Hays Travel
Continue to Hays Travel.
McAtamneys
Continue to McAtamneys.
Mulligans Bar
Continue to Mulligans Bar.
Oxfam
Finish back near Oxfam, completing the loop.
6 roundabouts · 7 turns
6 roundabouts · 14 turns
6 roundabouts · 4 turns
4 roundabouts · 7 turns
This route is 9.9 km and takes about 11 min to drive at a steady learner pace. It is an independent practice loop near Cookstown test centre, not an official DVSA route.