Near Shirley test centre
Rated easy from its real manoeuvre load, 4 roundabouts, 14 turns and 1 signalled junction across 20 navigation steps.
This is an independent 39.4 km practice route near Shirley test centre, taking roughly 25 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 Shakespeare Drive. 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, 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 pubs, schools, 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 Shirley 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 126-step drive on real, named roads (about 39.4 km). An indicative practice loop, not an official DVSA route — the roads and junctions are real, the sequence is a rehearsal.
Drive west.
144 m
Turn right.
15 m
Turn right onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34140 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
29 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34547 m
Turn right onto Solihull Road.
Solihull Road23 m
Turn right.
77 m
Turn right.
11 m
Turn left onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34384 m
Keep right to stay on A34/Stratford Road.
A3483 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
35 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34529 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
29 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34402 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
23 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road. Continue on A34.
A34381 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
45 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34459 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Dog Kennel Lane.
90 m
Exit the roundabout onto Dog Kennel Lane.
Dog Kennel Lane1.1 km
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
10 m
Exit the roundabout onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
Tanworth Lane195 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
41 m
Exit the roundabout onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
Tanworth Lane1.1 km
Turn right onto Lady Lane.
Lady Lane450 m
Keep right to stay on Lady Lane.
Lady Lane131 m
Keep left to stay on Lady Lane.
Lady Lane111 m
Keep left to stay on Lady Lane.
Lady Lane1.2 km
Turn right onto Cleobury Lane.
Cleobury Lane817 m
Turn left.
125 m
Turn left onto Cleobury Lane.
Cleobury Lane636 m
Keep straight to stay on Cleobury Lane.
Cleobury Lane272 m
Turn right onto Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road364 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Dickens Heath Road.
16 m
Exit the roundabout onto Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road164 m
Turn right to stay on Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road37 m
Turn right to stay on Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road16 m
Turn left to stay on Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road211 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Dickens Heath Road.
50 m
Exit the roundabout onto Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road197 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Dickens Heath Road.
5 m
Exit the roundabout onto Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road34 m
Keep right to stay on Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road814 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
26 m
Exit the roundabout onto Tanworth Lane/B4102.
Tanworth Lane82 m
Keep right to stay on Tanworth Lane/B4102.
Tanworth Lane31 m
Turn left to stay on Tanworth Lane.
Tanworth Lane30 m
Turn right to stay on Tanworth Lane.
Tanworth Lane939 m
Turn left onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34422 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
29 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A342.1 km
Enter Robin Hood Island and take the 3rd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
Robin Hood Island92 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A341.8 km
Turn right onto Cateswell Road.
Cateswell Road181 m
Move left to stay on Cateswell Road.
Cateswell Road372 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto Shaftmoor Lane/B4217.
50 m
Exit the roundabout onto Shaftmoor Lane/B4217.
Shaftmoor Lane236 m
Turn left onto Shaftmoor Farm Road.
Shaftmoor Farm Road151 m
Turn right onto Halt Road.
Halt Road242 m
Turn left.
52 m
Make a right U-turn.
52 m
Turn right onto Halt Road.
Halt Road242 m
Turn left onto Shaftmoor Farm Road.
Shaftmoor Farm Road150 m
Turn right onto Shaftmoor Lane/B4217.
Shaftmoor Lane236 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Cateswell Road.
17 m
Exit the roundabout onto Cateswell Road.
Cateswell Road237 m
Keep right to stay on Cateswell Road.
Cateswell Road316 m
Turn left onto A34/Stratford Road.
A341.0 km
Turn right onto Highfield Road/A4040.
Highfield Road607 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Highfield Road.
43 m
Exit the roundabout onto Highfield Road.
Highfield Road2.8 km
Move left onto Green Lane.
Green Lane397 m
Turn right onto Haslucks Green Road.
Haslucks Green Road187 m
Keep left to stay on Haslucks Green Road.
Haslucks Green Road951 m
Turn left onto Tilehouse Lane.
Tilehouse Lane925 m
Keep left to stay on Tilehouse Lane.
Tilehouse Lane890 m
Keep left to take Fulford Hall Road.
Fulford Hall Road160 m
Turn left onto Norton Lane.
Norton Lane479 m
Turn left onto Rumbush Lane.
Rumbush Lane66 m
Keep right to stay on Rumbush Lane.
Rumbush Lane248 m
Keep right to stay on Rumbush Lane.
Rumbush Lane158 m
Keep right to stay on Rumbush Lane.
Rumbush Lane346 m
Keep right to stay on Rumbush Lane.
Rumbush Lane42 m
Turn left onto Cleobury Lane.
Cleobury Lane71 m
Keep straight to stay on Cleobury Lane.
Cleobury Lane272 m
Turn right onto Dickens Heath Road.
Dickens Heath Road38 m
Turn left onto Birchy Leasowes Lane.
Birchy Leasowes Lane588 m
Move right onto Tilehouse Lane.
Tilehouse Lane841 m
Turn left onto Haslucks Green Road.
Haslucks Green Road794 m
Turn right onto Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close82 m
Turn left to stay on Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close27 m
Turn left to stay on Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close7 m
Make a right U-turn to stay on Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close7 m
Turn right to stay on Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close27 m
Turn right to stay on Rowbrook Close.
Rowbrook Close82 m
Turn right onto Peterbrook Road.
Peterbrook Road32 m
Keep right to take Drawbridge Road.
Drawbridge Road244 m
Turn left onto Haslucks Green Road.
Haslucks Green Road410 m
Keep left to stay on Haslucks Green Road.
Haslucks Green Road512 m
Turn right onto Burman Road.
Burman Road64 m
Keep right to stay on Burman Road.
Burman Road170 m
Keep right to stay on Burman Road.
Burman Road385 m
Turn right onto Bills Lane.
Bills Lane859 m
Turn right onto Neville Road.
Neville Road28 m
Turn left to stay on Neville Road.
Neville Road424 m
Turn right onto Lindridge Road.
Lindridge Road225 m
Turn left onto Loxley Avenue.
Loxley Avenue416 m
Turn left onto Burman Road.
Burman Road181 m
Turn right onto Burman Close.
Burman Close112 m
Make a right U-turn to stay on Burman Close.
Burman Close112 m
Turn left onto Burman Road.
Burman Road308 m
Turn right onto Bills Lane.
Bills Lane482 m
Turn right onto Neville Road.
Neville Road75 m
Move right to stay on Neville Road.
Neville Road41 m
Turn left to stay on Neville Road.
Neville Road100 m
Turn left onto Bills Lane.
Bills Lane631 m
Keep left to stay on Bills Lane.
Bills Lane129 m
Keep right to stay on Bills Lane.
Bills Lane501 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Shakespeare Drive.
46 m
Exit the roundabout onto Shakespeare Drive.
Shakespeare Drive71 m
Keep right to stay on Shakespeare Drive.
Shakespeare Drive108 m
Keep right to stay on Shakespeare Drive.
Shakespeare Drive256 m
Turn left onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34380 m
Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto A34/Stratford Road.
29 m
Exit the roundabout onto A34/Stratford Road.
A34358 m
You have arrived at your destination.
Directions for the Shirley · Route 5 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.
Watch for 20 mph zones, crossings and children near 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 8.8 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 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.
Plume of Feathers
Start near Plume of Feathers.
Strawberry Fields
Continue to Strawberry Fields.
Active Angles
Continue to Active Angles.
Red Lion
Continue to Red Lion.
Shirley Methodist Church
Continue to Shirley Methodist Church.
Honeypot House
Continue to Honeypot House.
Shirley Baptist Church
Continue to Shirley Baptist Church.
Ad Duha Institute
Continue to Ad Duha Institute.
Friends Meeting House
Continue to Friends Meeting House.
Spring Road
Continue to Spring Road.
Little Robins Day Nursery
Continue to Little Robins Day Nursery.
Haven Church
Continue to Haven Church.
Yardley Wood Full Gospel Church
Continue to Yardley Wood Full Gospel Church.
St John the Divine
Continue to St John the Divine.
Whitlocks End
Continue to Whitlocks End.
Tidbury Green Garage
Continue to Tidbury Green Garage.
Drawbridge
Continue to Drawbridge.
In the Frame
Continue to In the Frame.
Shakespeare Drive
Continue to Shakespeare Drive, taking the junction with good observation.
Mad Hatters Day Nursery
Finish back near Mad Hatters Day Nursery, completing the loop.
7 roundabouts · 8 turns · 2 sets of lights
9 roundabouts · 8 turns · 1 set of lights
4 roundabouts · 17 turns · 1 set of lights
10 roundabouts · 10 turns · 1 set of lights
This route is 39.4 km and takes about 25 min to drive at a steady learner pace. It is an independent practice loop near Shirley test centre, not an official DVSA route.