Buncrana results: 62.9% (1,342)
Test centre in County Donegal, with every figure from the CSO tables the Road Safety Authority publishes.- 1,342car tests
- 5 of 57car rank
- 13weeks to invite (August 2026)
How Buncrana compares
Buncrana passed 62.9% of 1,342 car tests (844 passes) over September 2025 to August 2026, 10.5 points above the national 52.4%. Of the 57 centres that delivered 500 or more car tests, Buncrana ranks 5th highest. Above Buncrana: Loughrea (2.1 higher) and Thurles (3.1 higher). Below Buncrana: Tuam (0.8 lower) and Monaghan (0.9 lower). Buncrana's 1,342 car tests: 5th quietest of 57. Buncrana's closest in size: Mitchelstown with 86 more tests, 7.7 lower; Ballina with 128 more tests, 6.7 lower; Tipperary with 23 fewer tests, 7.0 lower and Nenagh with 122 fewer tests, 7.8 lower.
Buncrana across all categories: 62.9% of 1,342 tests (54.8% nationally), all of them car tests. Buncrana took 18.7% of the 7,170 car tests at 3 County Donegal centres. Buncrana's 62.9%, county 59.9%: 3.0 points above.
Car driving test pass rate at Buncrana, month by month
Buncrana's best month: 70.9% of 161 tests, September 2025. Worst: 52.0% of 107, January 2026, an 18.9 point gap. Buncrana's quietest month: 61 tests, March 2026; busiest: 167, July 2026. Buncrana, first 6 months: 63.0% of 682; last 6: 62.8% of 660, so Buncrana held steady. Latest at Buncrana, August 2026: 67.4% of 106. A year earlier: 67.9% of 138, so Buncrana is 0.5 points down.
Show the monthly figures
| Month | Car tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| September 2024 | 93 | 62.6% |
| October 2024 | 93 | 55.7% |
| November 2024 | 60 | 50.9% |
| December 2024 | 48 | 47.8% |
| January 2025 | 82 | 51.7% |
| February 2025 | 81 | 53.9% |
| March 2025 | 86 | 51.9% |
| April 2025 | 78 | 56.2% |
| May 2025 | 88 | 63.1% |
| June 2025 | 88 | 63.2% |
| July 2025 | 136 | 62.6% |
| August 2025 | 138 | 67.9% |
| September 2025 | 161 | 70.9% |
| October 2025 | 150 | 66.9% |
| November 2025 | 119 | 62.7% |
| December 2025 | 82 | 59.2% |
| January 2026 | 107 | 52.0% |
| February 2026 | 63 | 57.6% |
| March 2026 | 61 | 59.3% |
| April 2026 | 109 | 66.4% |
| May 2026 | 103 | 66.0% |
| June 2026 | 114 | 61.8% |
| July 2026 | 167 | 57.5% |
| August 2026 | 106 | 67.4% |
Buncrana pass rates by year
Buncrana, September 2024 to August 2025: 58.6% of 1,071 car tests. Since then Buncrana rose 4.3 points on 1,342 car tests against 1,071, up 271 (25.3%). Buncrana went from 8th highest of 57 to 5th highest of 57. Of 55 centres ranked in both periods, Buncrana's 4.3 point rise ranks 14th largest. Buncrana added 271 car tests, the 37th largest of 49 increases. Buncrana gained 2.0 points on County Donegal, which went from 57.6% to 59.9%.
Buncrana by calendar year: 54.4% of 955 car tests in 2021, 62.2% of 1,289 in 2025, up 7.8 points (national down 1.5). Buncrana, 2024 to 2025: 58.0% of 1,185 to 62.2%, a gain of 4.2 points for Buncrana. Best full year: 62.2% in 2025; worst: 54.4% in 2021; busiest: 1,289 car tests in 2025. Buncrana's car no shows: 11 in 2021, 26 in 2025; not conducted: 55, then 61. Buncrana, 2026 to date: 61.0% of 830 in 8 months, 8.7 points over national at Buncrana.
| Year | All tests | Pass rate, all tests | Car tests here | Car pass rate here | Car no shows | Car tests not conducted | Car pass rate nationally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 965 | 54.7% | 955 | 54.4% | 11 | 55 | 53.3% |
| 2022 | 1,130 | 58.1% | 1,130 | 58.1% | 11 | 80 | 50.2% |
| 2023 | 907 | 60.6% | 907 | 60.6% | 8 | 59 | 50.6% |
| 2024 | 1,185 | 58.0% | 1,185 | 58.0% | 18 | 61 | 49.0% |
| 2025 | 1,289 | 62.2% | 1,289 | 62.2% | 26 | 61 | 51.8% |
| 2026 (8 months) | 830 | 61.0% | 830 | 61.0% | 14 | 35 | 52.3% |
Buncrana by licence category
Buncrana tested cars only over September 2025 to August 2026; no other licence category had a test at Buncrana.
| Category | Tests | Pass rate here | Nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category B (Car or light van) | 1,342 | 62.9% | 52.4% |
Buncrana waiting times and capacity
Buncrana's estimated time to a test invitation at the end of August 2026, against 11.6 weeks nationally: 13 weeks at Buncrana. Longer waits than Buncrana: 14 centres. Shorter than Buncrana: 39, of 57 others with a published wait. Buncrana: longest wait in County Donegal; Donegal the shortest, 3 weeks less than Buncrana. In August 2026, 99.1% of the 107 test slots at Buncrana were filled, against 98.3% across all centres. Buncrana's 107 test slots: 6th fewest of 59 centres.
- 13 weeksEstimated wait for a test invitation, August 2026
- 107Test slots in the latest month
- 99.1%Slots used
Buncrana: no shows and tests not conducted
Buncrana counted 1,424 car tests: 1,342 delivered, 26 no shows and 56 not conducted or abandoned. Buncrana's shares of those 1,424: 1.8% no shows and 3.9% not conducted at Buncrana. Of 57 centres, Buncrana's 1.8% no show share ranks the lowest. Neither count moves Buncrana's 62.9% pass rate: 844 passes over 1,342 tests delivered. Nationally the two shares were 3.1% and 7.4%.
1,342 car tests is enough for the car figure to be stable from month to month, but it still reflects who sat the test here, how much they had practised and the local roads, not only how strict a tester is.
How to read a centre's figures beside the national picture, and what the test checks, is in the driving test pass rates guide.
Source: Road Safety Authority, published by the Central Statistics Office, PxStat ROA30, CC BY 4.0, checked on 2026-09-16.Buncrana and County Donegal
Buncrana leads Donegal by 3.5 points (2,083 tests at 59.4%); Buncrana waits 3 weeks more than Donegal and Buncrana leads Letterkenny by 3.8 points (3,745 tests at 59.1%); Buncrana has the same wait as Letterkenny. No other County Donegal centre beat Buncrana on both rate and wait.