Near Doncaster test centre
Rated challenging from its real manoeuvre load, 4 roundabouts, 19 turns and 6 signalled junctions across 28 navigation steps.
This is an independent 40.7 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 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 churches, pubs, shops and named junctions, 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 107-step drive on real, named roads (about 40.6 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.
A18896 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 Avenue574 m
Turn right onto Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue79 m
Turn right onto Leicester Avenue.
Leicester Avenue195 m
Turn right onto Sandringham Road.
Sandringham Road507 m
Turn left onto Ennis Crescent.
Ennis Crescent126 m
Turn right to stay on Ennis Crescent.
Ennis Crescent140 m
Turn left onto Kenmare Crescent.
Kenmare Crescent67 m
Turn left onto Arklow Road.
Arklow Road296 m
Turn left onto Dublin Road.
Dublin Road89 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Dunleary Road.
61 m
Exit the roundabout onto Dunleary Road.
Dunleary Road64 m
Turn right onto Lakeen Road.
Lakeen Road5 m
Turn left onto Dunleary Road.
Dunleary Road259 m
Turn left onto Craithie Road.
Craithie Road79 m
Turn right onto Carisbrooke Road.
Carisbrooke Road143 m
Turn left onto Goldsborough Road.
Goldsborough Road70 m
Turn right onto Braemar Road.
Braemar Road87 m
Turn right onto Town Moor Avenue.
Town Moor Avenue387 m
Turn right onto Imperial Crescent.
Imperial Crescent161 m
Turn left onto Osborne Road.
Osborne Road262 m
Turn right onto Balmoral Road.
Balmoral Road256 m
Turn left onto Imperial Crescent.
Imperial Crescent90 m
Turn left onto Zetland Road.
Zetland Road329 m
Turn right onto Thorne Road.
Thorne Road1.7 km
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 Road1.9 km
Turn left onto Town Moor Avenue.
Town Moor Avenue712 m
Turn right onto Alderson Drive.
Alderson Drive589 m
Turn left onto Bennetthorpe.
Bennetthorpe123 m
Turn right onto Manor Drive.
Manor Drive14 m
Turn left onto Bennetthorpe.
Bennetthorpe420 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A18/Carr House Road.
112 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Carr House Road.
A18842 m
Turn left to stay on Carr House Road.
Carr House Road717 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Carr House Road.
43 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Carr House Road.
A18578 m
Move left onto A630/Balby Flyover. Continue on A630.
A630347 m
Turn left onto Belmont Avenue.
Belmont Avenue224 m
Turn right onto St. Catherine's Avenue.
St. Catherine's Avenue346 m
Turn right onto Balby Carr Bank.
Balby Carr Bank232 m
Turn right onto Balby Road/A630.
Balby Road441 m
Turn left onto Mansfield Road.
Mansfield Road193 m
Turn right onto Littlemoor Lane.
Littlemoor Lane168 m
Turn left onto Roberts Road.
Roberts Road29 m
Turn left.
62 m
Turn left onto Littlemoor Street.
Littlemoor Street36 m
Turn right onto Littlemoor Lane.
Littlemoor Lane97 m
Turn left onto Mansfield Road.
Mansfield Road193 m
Turn left onto Balby Flyover/A630.
Balby Flyover86 m
Keep right to stay on Balby Flyover/A630.
Balby Flyover159 m
Keep right to take A18.
A18642 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Carr House Road.
43 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Carr House Road.
A181.5 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Leger Way.
50 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Leger Way.
A182.6 km
Enter Armthorpe Road Roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout46 m
Exit the roundabout onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road1.8 km
Move left onto Church Street.
Church Street633 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Mill Street.
11 m
Exit the roundabout onto Mill Street.
Mill Street236 m
Turn right onto St Mary's Drive.
St Mary's Drive146 m
Turn left onto Cleveland Road.
Cleveland Road264 m
Turn left onto Rannds Lane.
Rannds Lane177 m
Turn right onto Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane788 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Hatfield Lane.
28 m
Exit the roundabout onto Hatfield Lane.
Hatfield Lane223 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A630/Westmoor Link.
11 m
Exit the roundabout onto A630/Westmoor Link.
A630404 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A630/Westmoor Link.
36 m
Exit the roundabout onto A630/Westmoor Link.
A6301.4 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A18/Thorne Road.
41 m
Exit the roundabout onto A18/Thorne Road.
A18347 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
79 m
Exit the roundabout onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
A630436 m
Enter Clay Lane Roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
Clay Lane Roundabout46 m
Exit the roundabout onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
A6301.4 km
Keep left to stay on A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
A6301.5 km
Turn left onto Wentworth Road.
Wentworth Road47 m
Turn right onto Rockingham Road.
Rockingham Road314 m
Turn right onto Wentworth Road.
Wentworth Road108 m
Turn left onto Beckett Road.
Beckett Road480 m
Turn left onto Lincoln Road.
Lincoln Road353 m
Turn left onto Wheatley Hall Road.
Wheatley Hall Road181 m
Turn right onto Liverpool Avenue.
Liverpool Avenue13 m
Turn left onto A630/Wheatley Hall Road.
A630507 m
Turn left onto Wentworth Road.
Wentworth Road1.8 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Armthorpe Road.
16 m
Exit the roundabout onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road662 m
Enter Armthorpe Road Roundabout and take the 4th exit onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout73 m
Exit the roundabout onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road660 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Armthorpe Road.
32 m
Exit the roundabout onto Armthorpe Road.
Armthorpe Road323 m
Turn left onto Bruce Crescent.
Bruce Crescent220 m
Turn right onto Sandringham Road.
Sandringham Road650 m
Turn left onto Tudor Road.
Tudor Road295 m
Turn left onto Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue32 m
You have arrived at your destination.
Directions for the Doncaster · Route 20 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 16.5 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.
All Saints
Start near All Saints.
Doncaster Fire Station
Continue to Doncaster Fire Station.
Lonsdale
Continue to Lonsdale.
Victoria Boutique
Continue to Victoria Boutique.
Park Hotel
Continue to Park Hotel.
Londis
Continue to Londis.
Fish Bits
Continue to Fish Bits.
One Stop
Continue to One Stop.
Armthorpe Road Roundabout
Continue to Armthorpe Road Roundabout, taking the junction with good observation.
Sportsman
Continue to Sportsman.
St Leonard & St Mary
Continue to St Leonard & St Mary.
Wheatsheaf
Continue to Wheatsheaf.
Co-operative Food
Continue to Co-operative Food.
Clay Lane Roundabout
Continue to Clay Lane Roundabout, taking the junction with good observation.
Suzuki
Continue to Suzuki.
Barnardo's
Continue to Barnardo's.
House Martin
Continue to House Martin.
Tesco Express
Continue to Tesco Express.
Co-op Food
Continue to Co-op Food.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Mary Magdalen
Finish back near Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Mary Magdalen, 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
4 roundabouts · 18 turns · 6 sets of lights
This route is 40.7 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.