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Gender pass rate gaps narrowing in Northern Ireland

By Tom Gibson | June 12, 2023

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Driving licence pass rates have been narrowing, new figures have shown.

Gender pass rate gaps narrowing in Northern Ireland

Women in Northern Ireland are narrowing the gender gap in driving test pass rates since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Historically, males have been more successful in passing their practical driving test both in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

In Northern Ireland itself, there was a gap of 8% in favour of men but since driver testing resumed in the summer 2020, the gap has shrunk to 2%.

In the latest data, men had a pass rate of 54.6% while the rate for women was 52.7%.

The latest available figures from Great Britain show there was a 6% gap between male and female pass rates before the pandemic although the latest data for England, Scotland and Wales is not available until later this year.

There were 68,540 driving tests conducted in Northern Ireland in the last year - the highest on record in 13 years.

Women in Northern Ireland have also been outperforming men in the driving theory test for the last decade.

For the 2022/23 financial year, the theory pass rate for women was 41.2% and 40.2% for men.

The higher pass rates for women in the theory test is also replicated in Great Britain.

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