We get so many calls each week asking "which licencing centre has the highest pass rate?"
There are statistics on this, in fact the West Australian published an article back ion June 2019 reporting:
"Mirrabooka is the most difficult place in WA for learners to earn their P-plates, with the northern suburbs licensing centre passing only one in five applicants over the past year.
And country kids officially have it easier than their metropolitan counterparts, with the regions recording a pass rate of 55 per cent compared with 39 per cent in Perth and Mandurah.
Willagee and Joondalup (32 per cent pass rate) were the most difficult after Mirrabooka, followed by Success (34 per cent) and City West (35 per cent).
Rockingham had the best pass rate of metropolitan centres at 51 per cent. Bunbury (38 per cent pass rate) was the only regional driving centre to record more failures than successes. Three in four at the Carnarvon centre were passed, the best rate in WA, followed by Kalgoorlie (70 per cent), Geraldton (69 per cent), Kununurra (68 per cent), and Broome (65 per cent)." -https://thewest.com.au/news/transport/department-of-transport-figures-reveal-mirrabooka-hardest-region-to-earn-p-plates-ng-b881235799z#:~:text=Three%20in%20four%20at%20the,Broome%20(65%20per%20cent).
The truth is a well-prepared learner driver can pass the driving assessment at any location. One of the keys to success is practicing driving in Joondalup if you intend to sit your driving assessment at Joondalup Licencing centres. A local Joondalup driving instructor can tell you if you whether or not you’re “test ready”.
Experienced driving instructors know the ins and outs of the Joondalup test routes and can take you to the best locations to practice. It can be quite costly to just "have a go" and sit the assessment without driving lessons in the Joondalup area to prepare. When you applied for your learners permit you also bought yourself your first driving assessment. You can sit the driving assessment at any metropolitan location so just because Joondalup is your closest centre does not mean you have to sit your driving test here. Then on test day Driving Schools generally charge between $140 and $199 for a lesson immediately prior to the assessment and the use of the driving school car for the assessment. If you fail the PDA you will need to pay again around $100 to the Department of Transport before being able to re-book another assessment. You also must wait a minimum of 7 days to re-book the assessment.
You are allowed to take your own vehicle for the assessment, you do not need to hire a driving school car. However, if you vehicle is not registered (you would be surprised how often this happens) or has any faults, you will not be able to sit the assessment and will need to pay to rebook another day.
So if you are using a driving instructor for your assessment each attempt at the assessment will set you back $240 minimum, it makes a lot of sense to do a set of driving lessons and pass the driving assessment on the first go. It is very possible to do so. We have heard all of the theories over the years "the assessors will only pass you on the 3rd attempt", "the assessors can only pass X number of students a day or X number per week so if you sit your assessment on a Friday you can't pass". All of these are of course false. You will pass your driving assessment if you meet the standard of assessment. How do you meet the standard of assessment? Through practice and understanding the requirements of not only the driving assessment but by being familiar in the test area.
Joondalup licence centre is a different area to drive around, there are lots of areas where pedestrians can cross (that are not zebra crossings) and lots of coloured brick paving which looks like a boundary line. There are areas where you will need to be able to reverse parallel park and streets which are extremely narrow.
Do yourself a favour and get a driving lesson in Joondalup before you sit your PDA, it will be the best use of your money towards your licence.