Car
Portsmouth’s testing venue is located on Clarendon Road, in the Southsea area of the city. Given its relatively remote location, there are few major roads heading directly into Portsmouth. However, the M275 motorway offers decent access towards the city, approaching from the north.
Parking
On-street parking is available on nearby Eastern Villas Road, although there is no guarantee of securing a space on your chosen test day.
The only alternative semi-convenient parking site is Pyramids Car Park, located around 650m south-west of the test centre. A two-hour parking ticket, which is priced at £3.10, will provide more than enough coverage to navigate the onwards journey to Clarendon Road, conduct your exam, and then return to your vehicle. To access the test site, head east on Clarence Esplanade, before turning left and advancing north up Burgoyne Road. At the roundabout, turn right onto Clarendon Road, and continue on to the venue.
Further ‘local’ parking options can be found on the relevant Parkopedia page, but please be warned that these remaining facilities will pre-empt a considerable onwards journey to the test site.
Bus
There are plenty of bus routes in operation nearby the test centre. If taking advantage of Portsmouth’s local bus network, we would encourage you, if possible, to target arrival at one of the following bus stops:
Clarendon Road, The Strand, South Parade Pier. All of these destinations are within a six-minute walk of the testing venue.
To plan your personal journey, please click the following link, and scroll down to the ‘bus lines’ section.
Train
There are several train stations in Portsmouth, with Portsmouth & Southsea facilitating the most passenger traffic and breadth of services. Please note that Fratton station is positioned marginally closer to Clarendon Road, and offers a similar onward journey time to the test centre. If your service arrives into this station, please visit this page for directions to the venue.
Portsmouth & Southsea station is over 2.5km away from the test centre, and therefore we would recommend using a local bus service to head to Clarendon Road, rather than travelling on foot. Please head to City Shops South bus stop, which is situated around a 100m north of the train station, just opposite Sainsbury’s Local. Catch the number 23 (Southsea service) to The Strand. This stop is just a short, two-minute walk from the test venue. Total journey time is approximately nineteen minutes.
For live departures & arrivals, station facilities, and accessibility information, please head to the Southern Railway website.