Near Doncaster test centre
Rated challenging from its real manoeuvre load, 4 roundabouts, 18 turns and 6 signalled junctions across 27 navigation steps.
This is an independent 58.6 km practice route near Doncaster test centre, taking roughly 40 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 Armthorpe Road Roundabout, Bawtry Road and Clay Lane Roundabout. 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 named junctions, churches, 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 Doncaster 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 135-step drive on real, named roads (about 60.9 km). An indicative practice loop, not an official DVSA route — the roads and junctions are real, the sequence is a rehearsal.
Drive south.
39 m
Turn right onto Shaw Wood Way.
Shaw Wood Way127 m
Turn left onto A18/Leger Way.
A18591 m
Keep right to stay on A18/Leger Way.
A18152 m
Keep right to stay on A18/Leger Way.
A18152 m
Enter Armthorpe Road Roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Leger Way.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout23 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Leger Way.
A182.0 km
Turn right onto Leicester Avenue.
Leicester Avenue181 m
Turn right onto Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue585 m
Turn left onto Evelyn Avenue.
Evelyn Avenue73 m
Turn left onto Wolsey Avenue.
Wolsey Avenue205 m
Keep right to stay on Wolsey Avenue.
Wolsey Avenue368 m
Turn right onto Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue79 m
Turn right onto Leicester Avenue.
Leicester Avenue195 m
Turn left onto Sandringham Road.
Sandringham Road307 m
Turn left onto Town Moor Avenue.
Town Moor Avenue283 m
Turn left onto A18/Leger Way.
A18606 m
Keep left to stay on A18/Leger Way.
A181.7 km
Enter Armthorpe Road Roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout3 m
Exit the roundabout onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road660 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Sandringham Road.
14 m
Exit the roundabout onto Sandringham Road.
Sandringham Road86 m
Turn left onto Cornwall Road.
Cornwall Road160 m
Turn left onto Westminster Crescent.
Westminster Crescent583 m
Turn right onto Lothian Road.
Lothian Road2 m
Turn left onto Westminster Crescent.
Westminster Crescent168 m
Turn left onto Cheltenham Road.
Cheltenham Road127 m
Make a sharp right onto A18/Leger Way.
A182.0 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A638/Bawtry Road.
8 m
Exit the roundabout onto A638/Bawtry Road.
A6381.4 km
Move right to stay on A638/Bawtry Road.
A6382.6 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A638/Bawtry Road.
69 m
Exit the roundabout onto A638/Bawtry Road.
A6382.3 km
Turn left onto Ellers Road.
Ellers Road403 m
Turn left onto Ellers Drive.
Ellers Drive458 m
Turn left onto Boswell Road.
Boswell Road172 m
Turn right onto Ellers Avenue.
Ellers Avenue241 m
Turn right onto Middlefield Road.
Middlefield Road115 m
Turn left onto Stoops Road.
Stoops Road250 m
Turn left onto Alston Road.
Alston Road251 m
Turn left onto Alston Close.
Alston Close74 m
Turn right onto Alston Road.
Alston Road69 m
Turn left onto Broughton Road.
Broughton Road323 m
Turn right onto Longfield Drive.
Longfield Drive31 m
Keep straight to stay on Longfield Drive.
Longfield Drive140 m
Move left to stay on Longfield Drive.
Longfield Drive28 m
Turn right to stay on Longfield Drive.
Longfield Drive63 m
Turn left onto Alston Road.
Alston Road81 m
Turn right onto Stoops Road.
Stoops Road250 m
Turn right onto Middlefield Road.
Middlefield Road345 m
Turn left onto A638/Bawtry Road.
A6382.3 km
Keep right to stay on A638/Bawtry Road.
A63893 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A18/Leger Way.
109 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Leger Way.
A18869 m
Keep left to stay on A18/Leger Way.
A181.7 km
Enter Armthorpe Road Roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Leger Way.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout22 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Leger Way.
A18988 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit.
31 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Thorne Road.
A18383 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
6 m
Exit the roundabout onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
A630436 m
Enter Clay Lane Roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Barnby Dun Road.
Clay Lane Roundabout81 m
Exit the roundabout onto Barnby Dun Road.
Barnby Dun Road172 m
Keep right to stay on Barnby Dun Road.
Barnby Dun Road100 m
Keep left to stay on Barnby Dun Road.
Barnby Dun Road410 m
Keep left to take Doncaster Road.
Doncaster Road97 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Doncaster Road.
38 m
Exit the roundabout onto Doncaster Road.
Doncaster Road2.1 km
Move left onto Station Road.
Station Road427 m
Turn left onto High Street.
High Street81 m
Keep straight to stay on High Street.
High Street776 m
Turn right onto Church Lane.
Church Lane198 m
Turn right onto Church Road.
Church Road96 m
Turn left to stay on Church Road.
Church Road805 m
Move left onto Station Road.
Station Road427 m
Turn left onto Armthorpe Lane.
Armthorpe Lane256 m
Keep left to stay on Armthorpe Lane.
Armthorpe Lane1.0 km
Keep left to stay on Armthorpe Lane.
Armthorpe Lane281 m
Keep right to stay on Armthorpe Lane.
Armthorpe Lane244 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Hatfield Lane.
56 m
Exit the roundabout onto Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane926 m
Keep left to stay on Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane29 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Hatfield Lane.
60 m
Exit the roundabout onto Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane222 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Hatfield Lane.
27 m
Exit the roundabout onto Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane792 m
Move right onto Mill Street.
Mill Street35 m
Keep left to stay on Mill Street.
Mill Street221 m
Keep right to stay on Mill Street.
Mill Street49 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Nutwell Lane.
4 m
Exit the roundabout onto Nutwell Lane.
Nutwell Lane1.5 km
Keep right to stay on Nutwell Lane.
Nutwell Lane104 m
Keep right to stay on Nutwell Lane.
Nutwell Lane1.3 km
Move right onto Main Street.
Main Street159 m
Turn left onto School Lane.
School Lane350 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Cantley Lane/B1396.
47 m
Exit the roundabout onto Cantley Lane/B1396.
Cantley Lane699 m
Turn left onto Church Lane.
Church Lane104 m
Keep left to stay on Church Lane.
Church Lane545 m
Turn left onto Goodison Boulevard.
Goodison Boulevard22 m
Keep right to stay on Goodison Boulevard.
Goodison Boulevard1.6 km
Turn left onto Cantley Lane/B1396.
Cantley Lane810 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Cantley Lane/B1396.
46 m
Exit the roundabout onto Cantley Lane/B1396.
Cantley Lane416 m
Turn left onto Whin Hill Road.
Whin Hill Road527 m
Turn left onto A638/Bawtry Road.
A6382.0 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A638/Bawtry Road.
69 m
Exit the roundabout onto A638/Bawtry Road.
A6383.9 km
Keep right to stay on A638/Bawtry Road.
A63893 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Bennetthorpe.
61 m
Exit the roundabout onto Bennetthorpe.
Bennetthorpe58 m
Keep straight to stay on Bennetthorpe.
Bennetthorpe355 m
Turn right onto Manor Drive.
Manor Drive25 m
Turn left onto Bennetthorpe.
Bennetthorpe123 m
Turn right onto Alderson Drive.
Alderson Drive589 m
Turn left onto Town Moor Avenue.
Town Moor Avenue602 m
Turn right onto Victorian Crescent.
Victorian Crescent45 m
Keep right to stay on Victorian Crescent.
Victorian Crescent68 m
Turn left onto Windsor Road.
Windsor Road88 m
Turn right onto Thorne Road.
Thorne Road1.8 km
Keep left to stay on Thorne Road.
Thorne Road149 m
Turn right onto Chestnut Avenue.
Chestnut Avenue110 m
Turn right onto The Grove.
The Grove181 m
Turn right onto Crossways.
Crossways111 m
Turn left onto Thorne Road.
Thorne Road1.6 km
Turn left onto Balmoral Road.
Balmoral Road395 m
Keep right to take Craithie Road.
Craithie Road180 m
Turn right onto Hampton Road.
Hampton Road236 m
Turn right onto Town Moor Avenue.
Town Moor Avenue236 m
Turn right onto Imperial Crescent.
Imperial Crescent43 m
Keep right to stay on Imperial Crescent.
Imperial Crescent270 m
Turn right onto Zetland Road.
Zetland Road600 m
Keep right to take Leicester Avenue.
Leicester Avenue103 m
Turn left onto Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue312 m
You have arrived at your destination.
Directions for the Doncaster · Route 16 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.
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
Watch your lane discipline and signalling at Armthorpe Road Roundabout, Clay Lane Roundabout. Get into the correct lane early and check your exit mirror before leaving.
Dual-carriageway join
About 24.8 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, 40, 50, 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.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout
Start near Armthorpe Road Roundabout.
Doncaster Fire Station
Continue to Doncaster Fire Station.
All Saints
Continue to All Saints.
Bessacarr Newsagents
Continue to Bessacarr Newsagents.
Bawtry Road
Continue to Bawtry Road, taking the junction with good observation.
Tesco Express
Continue to Tesco Express.
KFC
Continue to KFC.
Clay Lane Roundabout
Continue to Clay Lane Roundabout, taking the junction with good observation.
Barnby Dun Social Club
Continue to Barnby Dun Social Club.
Costcutter
Continue to Costcutter.
Glass House
Continue to Glass House.
Barnby Dun Fish & Chips
Continue to Barnby Dun Fish & Chips.
New China
Continue to New China.
Olive Tree
Continue to Olive Tree.
Horse and Groom
Continue to Horse and Groom.
Co-operative
Continue to Co-operative.
St Wilfred's Cantley
Continue to St Wilfred's Cantley.
Co-op Food
Continue to Co-op Food.
Lonsdale
Continue to Lonsdale.
Victoria Boutique
Finish back near Victoria Boutique, completing the loop.
10 roundabouts · 16 turns · 9 sets of lights
9 roundabouts · 12 turns · 5 sets of lights
6 roundabouts · 12 turns · 3 sets of lights
11 roundabouts · 17 turns · 4 sets of lights
This route is 58.6 km and takes about 40 min to drive at a steady learner pace. It is an independent practice loop near Doncaster test centre, not an official DVSA route.