Note that this is an old article, and the test centres in Nottingham have changed. We now (in 2022, and since 2018) have Colwick, Chilwell, and Watnall. Chalfont Drive closed down several years ago.
A reader asked this interesting question about test centres. It is also a common search term used to find the blog.
In Nottingham we have two test centres – Colwick MPTC and Chalfont Drive. Colwick replaced the original Gedling and West Bridgford centres, and it was the first one to include the bay parking exercise.
The commencement of tests at Colwick was precisely the time when the rumour started that Chalfont Drive test centre was easier, and that rumour persists to this day. But why?
The bay park really was at the heart of the matter. It caught many instructors out – they didn’t know how to teach it – and there was a mass exodus to Chalfont to avoid having to do so. The waiting times there increased dramatically – at one point it was over 8 weeks compared with less than a fortnight at Colwick. People might not believe this, but it is true.
Another “problem” with Colwick was the test centre itself. The entrance is a long driveway with a sharp dog-leg bend. Traffic is single file on this bend, and there is a priority Give Way in favour of those leaving the centre. In the first few months it was so bad that the centre manager had to send out a letter explaining to instructors how to use it! More than one had taught their pupils to keep left, resulting in close – very close – encounters with the fence. On one occasion not long after it opened, tests had to be cancelled because a learner got their car lodged on the gates!
Colwick MPTC is also slap in the middle of an industrial estate, and during the day there are quite a few lorries driving around it.
A lot of ADIs also opposed Colwick just on principle. It was the old story of resentment towards change. Gedling and West Bridgford were in nightmare locations – in busy town centres with almost no parking and, just before their closure, council-bred traffic wardens camping outside just to slap tickets on learner cars.But people were familiar with them, and whinged openly about the extra mileage (Colwick is 3.5 miles from West Bridgford and 2.9 miles from Gedling).
Putting all this together – resenting change and trying to justify it, not being able to handle bay park, lorries, or the nasty entrance – ADIs had to sell their new-found preference for Chalfont to their pupils. And that’s where the rumours started.
Well, let’s take a look at the facts. This link [out of date, so removed] provides some actual data concerning pass rates at both test centres (and all others in the UK). At the time of writing Colwick actually has a higher pass rate than Chalfont, but the difference is statistically insignificant and for all practical purposes Colwick has the same pass rate as Chalfont.
Do they do bay parking at Chalfont Drive test centre?
Short answer, “no”. However, it is still on the syllabus and if Chalfont examiners suddenly had somewhere to do it, then they could ask a candidate to do it on their test – and technically they wouldn’t have to give anyone advanced warning.
A good ADI will teach his pupils how to bay park because they’re going to have to do it once they pass their tests. A good learner won’t be trying to choose which test centre to do their test at based on avoiding the bay park.
To be honest, the bay park is probably the easiest manoeuvre of the lot! The only people who think otherwise are those who can’t teach it, and those who are hung up about anything to do with “parking” and having other cars next to them.
Learn how to do it, then it doesn’t matter whether Chalfont does it or not.
Note that this is an old article, and the test centres in Nottingham have changed. We now (in 2022, and since 2018) have Colwick, Chilwell, and Watnall. Chalfont Drive closed down several years ago.
Well done to Bhaira, who passed today with 5 driver faults. Well-deserved, and will fit in nicely with the need to travel to different hospitals now you’ve graduated.
There are lies, damned lies, and reporters who haven’t got a clue about statistics – but who still go ahead and try to interpret them. This unnamed reporter is a prime example.