Where in the UK cars fail their MOT most
Dundee has the lowest age-adjusted MOT pass rate of any UK area with enough data, at 67.3% — adjusted so the ranking isn't just measuring which areas have older cars.
32.7%
Dundee, highest failure rate
10.5%
London (East), lowest failure rate
20.8%
National average
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“Dundee has the UK's highest age-adjusted MOT failure rate at 32.7%, versus 10.5% in London (East).”
Highest age-adjusted MOT failure rates, by area
Every area, ranked
| Area | Raw pass rate | Age-adjusted pass rate | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dundee | 70.0% | 67.3% | 241,052 |
| Kirkcaldy | 69.9% | 67.8% | 312,529 |
| Perth | 74.9% | 71.4% | 157,312 |
| Aberdeen | 74.4% | 72.0% | 510,741 |
| Edinburgh | 75.4% | 72.6% | 713,169 |
| Inverness | 75.7% | 72.9% | 240,993 |
| Salisbury | 70.9% | 72.9% | 244,831 |
| Llandrindod Wells | 70.9% | 73.0% | 46,292 |
| Paisley | 76.2% | 73.0% | 221,573 |
| Falkirk | 77.3% | 73.7% | 232,402 |
| Exeter | 71.0% | 73.8% | 579,028 |
| Bristol | 73.3% | 73.8% | 910,394 |
| Plymouth | 71.1% | 73.9% | 545,298 |
| Hull | 75.4% | 74.0% | 385,988 |
| Truro | 70.7% | 74.1% | 314,364 |
| Cardiff | 74.5% | 74.4% | 982,570 |
| Bath | 72.0% | 74.4% | 435,669 |
| Brighton | 72.4% | 74.5% | 637,375 |
| Sunderland | 76.8% | 74.8% | 168,414 |
| Lincoln | 75.1% | 74.8% | 315,331 |
| Torquay | 71.1% | 74.8% | 253,126 |
| Huddersfield | 76.7% | 74.9% | 216,153 |
| Scottish Borders | 77.0% | 75.4% | 107,061 |
| Lerwick (Shetland) | 77.7% | 75.6% | 16,767 |
| Portsmouth | 74.2% | 76.0% | 718,147 |
| York | 77.0% | 76.0% | 519,796 |
| Newport | 75.5% | 76.0% | 483,326 |
| Swansea | 75.9% | 76.2% | 716,233 |
| Chester | 76.5% | 76.2% | 559,430 |
| Gloucester | 74.9% | 76.3% | 623,967 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 77.0% | 76.4% | 567,883 |
| Bournemouth | 74.1% | 76.4% | 568,561 |
| Motherwell | 79.4% | 76.5% | 294,424 |
| Swindon | 75.9% | 76.9% | 413,175 |
| Northampton | 77.3% | 77.0% | 628,586 |
| Darlington | 78.1% | 77.1% | 279,407 |
| Kilmarnock | 79.5% | 77.1% | 350,855 |
| Wigan | 78.4% | 77.7% | 243,683 |
| Carlisle | 79.3% | 77.8% | 310,281 |
| Glasgow | 80.2% | 77.8% | 950,606 |
| Outer Hebrides | 77.6% | 77.8% | 18,289 |
| Blackpool | 77.0% | 77.8% | 210,674 |
| Canterbury | 76.2% | 77.9% | 413,457 |
| Taunton | 74.9% | 77.9% | 331,216 |
| Harrogate | 81.1% | 77.9% | 136,507 |
| Norwich | 76.1% | 78.0% | 698,514 |
| Leeds | 78.4% | 78.2% | 560,777 |
| Nottingham | 78.0% | 78.2% | 949,547 |
| Lancaster | 78.2% | 78.4% | 252,587 |
| Dorchester | 74.1% | 78.5% | 223,854 |
| Oxford | 78.9% | 78.5% | 620,150 |
| Warrington | 79.8% | 78.5% | 531,240 |
| Llandudno | 76.8% | 78.6% | 524,183 |
| Watford | 79.9% | 78.6% | 191,452 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 79.8% | 78.6% | 870,085 |
| Guildford | 78.3% | 78.7% | 630,700 |
| Stockport | 80.2% | 78.7% | 511,990 |
| Southampton | 77.9% | 78.8% | 577,657 |
| Crewe | 79.7% | 78.9% | 295,831 |
| Bolton | 80.6% | 79.1% | 432,383 |
| Teesside | 79.9% | 79.2% | 480,827 |
| Oldham | 79.8% | 79.2% | 359,107 |
| Ipswich | 77.8% | 79.3% | 606,591 |
| Telford | 78.2% | 79.4% | 199,357 |
| Preston | 80.1% | 79.5% | 480,900 |
| Walsall | 79.7% | 79.6% | 355,525 |
| Colchester | 78.2% | 79.6% | 379,098 |
| Cambridge | 78.7% | 79.7% | 345,471 |
| Worcester | 79.4% | 79.7% | 284,892 |
| Shrewsbury | 78.8% | 79.8% | 332,693 |
| Tonbridge | 79.0% | 80.0% | 760,279 |
| Kirkwall | 80.1% | 80.1% | 41,100 |
| Doncaster | 80.6% | 80.1% | 696,668 |
| Liverpool | 80.8% | 80.1% | 498,345 |
| Redhill | 79.1% | 80.2% | 555,932 |
| Wakefield | 80.6% | 80.2% | 451,609 |
| Stevenage | 80.5% | 80.3% | 365,432 |
| Manchester | 79.8% | 80.4% | 796,499 |
| Hereford | 78.8% | 80.4% | 195,976 |
| Dumfries | 80.8% | 80.5% | 127,887 |
| Milton Keynes | 80.9% | 80.7% | 521,216 |
| Peterborough | 80.4% | 80.9% | 959,896 |
| Durham | 81.5% | 81.0% | 286,154 |
| Bradford | 80.6% | 81.2% | 518,464 |
| St Albans | 81.6% | 81.2% | 226,984 |
| Halifax | 81.2% | 81.2% | 121,527 |
| Reading | 80.9% | 81.2% | 742,301 |
| Derby | 81.6% | 81.4% | 710,453 |
| Leicester | 81.4% | 81.6% | 872,904 |
| Chelmsford | 82.6% | 81.8% | 652,757 |
| Medway | 81.5% | 81.9% | 654,215 |
| Wolverhampton | 82.2% | 82.1% | 359,712 |
| Coventry | 81.9% | 82.1% | 707,066 |
| Dudley | 81.9% | 82.3% | 330,096 |
| Sheffield | 82.9% | 82.9% | 1,260,102 |
| Blackburn | 82.9% | 83.0% | 482,227 |
| Bromley | 84.8% | 83.1% | 199,516 |
| London (West) | 83.7% | 83.2% | 132,667 |
| London (South West) | 83.7% | 83.3% | 219,744 |
| Hemel Hempstead | 83.1% | 83.5% | 573,786 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 83.9% | 83.9% | 390,721 |
| Luton | 83.8% | 84.3% | 298,915 |
| Birmingham | 84.2% | 84.4% | 1,551,608 |
| London (South East) | 85.0% | 85.2% | 389,807 |
| London (North West) | 86.3% | 85.3% | 415,973 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 85.0% | 85.5% | 504,702 |
| Sutton | 84.8% | 85.5% | 94,799 |
| Slough | 85.4% | 85.7% | 330,745 |
| Dartford | 86.2% | 85.8% | 373,756 |
| Croydon | 86.0% | 85.8% | 312,729 |
| Ilford | 86.7% | 86.1% | 224,442 |
| Twickenham | 86.2% | 86.2% | 423,074 |
| London (North) | 86.6% | 86.9% | 297,914 |
| Harrow | 87.1% | 87.0% | 290,054 |
| Romford | 87.4% | 87.3% | 393,013 |
| Enfield | 88.5% | 88.4% | 332,775 |
| Southall | 88.5% | 88.7% | 356,465 |
| London (East) | 89.5% | 89.5% | 418,157 |
Methodology and data source
- Source: DVSA “Anonymised MOT tests and results”, data.gov.uk, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Coverage: Full year 2024, test class 4 (cars), normal (initial) tests only.
- postcode_area is the MOT testing station's location, not the vehicle owner's home address — this ranks where cars are tested, not necessarily where they're kept.
- Every figure is shown both raw and age-adjusted (standardised to the national vehicle-age mix), because some areas genuinely have an older tested fleet than others, which on its own would push their raw pass rate down regardless of anything else about the area.
- Only areas with at least 5,000 tests get their own page — smaller areas are excluded rather than shown with a noisy rate.
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Frequently asked questions
- Which UK area has the highest MOT failure rate?
- Dundee has the lowest age-adjusted MOT pass rate of any area with enough test volume, at 67.3% — meaning it would still have the lowest pass rate even if its tested cars had the same age mix as the national fleet.
- Does this show where cars are kept, or where they're tested?
- Where they're tested. DVSA's postcode_area field records the MOT testing station's location, not the vehicle owner's home address, so this reflects cars tested in an area, which may include vehicles from further afield.