Practical test centre in Burgess Hill

Drivers coming from London should join the M23 southbound and continue onto the A23 once past Crawley, exiting onto the A2300 at Hickstead before following the signs into town. Those wanting a quieter run can take the B2036 through the South Downs instead, a route with more bends and gradient changes that doubles as useful practice for hill starts and rural hazards. By train, Burgess Hill sits on the Brighton Main Line, with regular services from London Victoria and London Bridge taking around 50 minutes; buses from Brighton and Haywards Heath also stop in town for anyone without a car on the day. St John’s Park and The Martlets Shopping Centre are the two landmarks most learners use to orient themselves near the centre, and if you’re driving yourself to the test, The Martlets car park is the most reliable place to leave a vehicle. Cyclists can reach Burgess Hill via the national cycle network, though most candidates will want to check live traffic or train updates before setting off, since a late arrival can mean losing the slot entirely. Learners heading here from Haywards Heath, Crawley, Lewes, or Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint will recognise plenty of the same roundabouts and give-way junctions from their own driving lessons, which is exactly the kind of overlap an intensive course is built to exploit. If you’re still weighing up how a compressed course fits around a fixed test date, our guide to how intensive courses work covers the logistics in plain terms. Test routes based out of Burgess Hill tend to use the A23 and A2300 for the faster sections, then bring candidates back through the town’s own roundabouts and give-way junctions near the shopping centre, so lessons that mix both are more useful than practice on quiet residential streets alone. Arriving on foot from the station or by car via The Martlets car park both work fine, but whichever way you travel, aim to be outside the centre with ten minutes or so to spare: a rushed arrival rarely helps nerves on what’s already a stressful morning.

Page reviewed and updated 17 July 2026.