According to figures released this week by the Road Safety Authority, the introduction of an independent company to facilitate people sitting their driving tests has caused a major discrepancy in the two pass rates for Galway.

Discrepancies with the new system have been noticed in other counties also, with SGS reporting extraordinarily high pass rates of 84 per cent in Cahir, Co Tipperary, 83 per cent in Nenagh and 76 per cent in Monaghan. This is considerably more than the highest pass rate in an RSA centre, which is held by Birr at 68 per cent. There is a nine per cent difference in the overall pass rate between the RSA (54 per cent) and SGS (63 per cent).

The RSA have defended the figures, saying that as the RSA conducted three times the number of tests than SGS in 2007, it is simply not possible to draw any comparisons between pass and fail rates.

“A significant factor is the preparedness of candidates, whether or not they have taken tuition and the quality of that tuition. Candidates tested by SGS are generally those who have been waiting for a test the longest and are usually more prepared, experienced and motivated,” said a spokesperson. However, this does not explain the lower pass rate in the Galway SGS centre, as compared with that in the Galway RSA centre.

“Variations in pass and fail rates between test centres are also a factor in driver testing in the UK and Northern Ireland. It should be noted that in the driver theory test in Ireland, which is a computer based test against a set syllabus there is a variation rate in pass rates of 9.5 per cent across the country.”

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