Wick 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.

Wick's test centre is on the Airport Industrial Estate (KW1 4QS), close to the airport on the eastern edge of this Caithness harbour town. The local network gives examiners a clear mix: the town's own streets around the river and harbour, the A99 trunk road, and the quieter rural roads that run out across the county. The catalogue maps four practice loops here, a residential-and-A-road loop, a residential loop, a roundabout loop and a school-zone loop, covering the town, the faster road and the country sections.

What to expect on test day at Wick

A Wick test moves off from the industrial-estate roads and takes in the town before heading out onto the faster and more open roads. The mapped loops run from a short 3 km roundabout drill up to about 17 km, and a full test of roughly 40 minutes will sample the town streets, the A99 and the rural roads.

As with the wider far north, the rural roads decide the test. Examiners want safe, well-judged progress, matching speed to the road, holding a good following distance, and meeting oncoming traffic confidently. The town section, around the harbour and the busier streets, calls for accurate positioning, give-way judgement and pedestrian awareness in a more compact, historic street pattern.

The real local roads and landmarks

Every place named here comes from the live route catalogue for Wick, a network shaped by the A99 and the open rural roads of Caithness.

• A99 and rural Caithness roads, the faster trunk road and the open country roads where speed control and meeting traffic matter most.
• Wick War Memorial and the harbour, central waypoints near the tighter town streets; the area around Harpers, Caithness Building Supplies and St. Fergus Church features across the loops.
• World's Shortest Street, Wick's famous Ebenezer Place, a quirk of the historic town centre and a reminder of how compact and tightly junctioned the old streets are.
• Town waypoints such as RG MacDonald - The Home Bakery, Notions, the Francis Street Club and several memorials mark the busier streets where parked cars and pedestrians set the pace.

Notable hazards and how they are tested

The route data points to a distinctive far-north hazard set:

1. Rural Caithness roads. Safe following distances, speed adjustment for bends and limited visibility, and confident meeting of traffic. Over-cautious driving on a clear road draws marks just as much as going too fast.
2. The A99. Confident, safe progress, sensible joining and leaving, and good lane discipline.
3. Compact town streets. Around the harbour and War Memorial, the historic street pattern brings tight junctions, parked cars and pedestrians, accurate positioning is key.
4. Rural surprises. Animals, slow farm vehicles, blind bends and hidden entrances appear on the country roads; keep your scanning wide.

Pass-rate context

At about 65.8% for 2024, Wick sits well above the national car pass rate of roughly 48%. Lighter traffic than the cities helps, but the examining standard is identical everywhere, a serious fault on the A99 or a poorly judged meeting on a country road costs a pass here as it would anywhere. Read the figure as encouragement that thorough, area-specific practice pays off, not as a sign the test is soft.

Area driving tips

1. Commit to safe progress. On the A99 and clear country roads, get up to a sensible speed and hold a steady, planned line.
2. Meet traffic confidently. Where roads narrow, judge gaps early and give way courteously.
3. Position well in the town. Around the harbour and War Memorial, plan tight junctions early and watch for pedestrians and parked cars.
4. Read the rural road. Anticipate bends, hidden entrances, animals and slow vehicles, and adjust your speed before you need to.

How to practise for Wick

You cannot copy an exact examiner route, they are no longer published, but you can rehearse the same network until it feels routine. Use the four mapped Wick loops to build from the short roundabout and school-zone drills up to the residential-and-A-road loop, so the town junctions and the open Caithness roads both feel familiar. Drive them at different times and in different weather where it is safe, because the rural roads change a great deal, and finish each session reviewing your speed control and how you met oncoming traffic.

A sensible order is to start on the residential loop to settle in, add the roundabout loop to sharpen lane discipline, then take the residential-and-A-road loop so the move between the compact town and the open A99 becomes second nature. The more the rural roads and the harbour streets feel ordinary, the more relaxed and accurate your driving will be on the day.