How to Pass the TfL Topographical Test

This guide explains how to pass the TfL Topographical test by working backwards from how it is marked. The Topographical skills assessment is the map test in the London private hire (PCO) licence, and it is the one most drivers fail. TfL's own figures show a 51% pass rate. Most people who fail are not bad drivers or strangers to London: they lose route marks through small, avoidable slips. Fix those slips and the test becomes much more manageable.

Facts here come from TfL's Topographical assessment guidelines, its Topographical assessment page and a TfL Freedom of Information response, checked in October 2026. UK Driver Licence Prep is an independent study aid, not part of TfL. Nobody can promise you a pass; what we can do is show you where the marks are.

Why half of candidates fail the Topographical test

TfL's Freedom of Information response FOI-0168-2425 reported 31,947 Topographical assessments between 1 January 2023 and 29 April 2024, with 16,897 passes: 51%. Over the same period the SERU pass rate was 73% and speaking and listening 91%. Our SERU pass rate page compares all three.

The reason is the way the marks are split:

Part	Marks	Who marks it
Three route-planning questions	66	A Topographical Assessor, checked by a second assessor
Multiple-choice questions	34	The software
Pass mark	60 of 100

Do the maths. If you got every multiple-choice mark (34), you would still need 26 of the 66 route marks. If you dropped 10 multiple-choice marks, you would need 36 route marks, more than half. The routes decide the result, yet many candidates spend their revision clicking through multiple-choice apps and never plot a full route until the day.

Key fact: You cannot pass on multiple choice alone. Even a perfect 34 leaves you 26 marks short.

The four ways to lose route marks, with a worked example each

TfL's guidelines name four mistakes. Each example below uses an invented street layout so you can focus on the method. For question formats in every section, see our Topographical test questions page.

1. Not starting or ending in the correct place

The slip: the green marker is outside a station on Mill Lane, at the corner with Park Road. You start your route on Park Road because that is where you would really pull in. Or you stop at the end of the street before the red marker because "the passenger can walk".

The fix: your first click must be the street the green marker sits on, and your last click must reach the red marker itself. Zoom in on both markers before you plan anything.

2. Planning the route in reverse

The slip: the question asks for a route from a hospital to a hotel. You find the hotel first (it is on a road you know), and build the route from there back to the hospital. On a map it looks identical, but it is a reversed route, and in the real world it may break one-way rules that don't apply the other way.

The fix: green means go, red means stop. Say "from green to red" out loud in your head before every route.

3. Not following the most direct route

The slip: two routes are open. One uses a wide A road you know well and is about 1.2 km. The other uses quieter side streets and is about 0.9 km. You take the A road because "it's faster". The question asks for the most direct route, which means the shortest legal one on the map, not the quickest in traffic.

The fix: when two options look close, compare them using the map scale or by counting grid squares. At a scale of 1:20,000, every centimetre on the map is 200 metres on the ground, so a 1.5 cm difference is 300 metres.

4. Following a prohibited route or making a prohibited turn

The slip: the shortest way turns right from King Street into Bell Road. You miss the small barred arrow at the junction, which means no right turn. Or the closure in the question text is on Bell Road and you route straight through it.

The fix: after you finish, trace the route again from green to red and check every turn and every street for one-way arrows, banned turns, no entry bars, bus-only and pedestrian streets, and the closure. Our route planning note has a checklist you can copy.

Exam tip: Read the closure sentence twice: once before you plan, and once before you finish. The road closure question exists to catch people who plan from memory.

10 tips to pass the Topographical test

1. Spend most of your revision on routes. They are two-thirds of the marks. Plot at least one route a day on a London map.
2. Find both markers first. Zoom in on green and red before thinking about the roads between them.
3. Name the route in roads. "Euston Road east, then York Way north." If you can't say it, you haven't planned it.
4. Trust the map, not your sat nav habits. The shortest legal route on the map is what scores, not the route an app would choose at rush hour.
5. Check every turn twice. Banned turns are small symbols at junctions. Trace your route again before moving on.
6. Treat closures as walls. A closed section cannot appear in your route at all, not even for a few metres.
7. Read how many answers a multiple-choice question wants. TfL says some have one answer and some have two, and the question tells you. Picking one when two are needed loses marks.
8. Use the map reference page. TfL may give you a printed page explaining symbols. Use it instead of guessing.
9. Learn London's skeleton. Main radials, ring roads and river crossings (below) let you plan any long route quickly.
10. Arrive prepared. Original photo ID and a payment card (not American Express). Late arrivals and people without acceptable ID are turned away.

A time plan for the 90-minute session

TfL's On Route magazine says Topographical sessions last 90 minutes, including a short instruction video at the start. TfL doesn't say how long each part should take. This is our suggested split, not a TfL rule:

Stage	Suggested time	What to do
Instruction video and settling in	About 5 minutes	Note how to zoom, click and undo on the digital map
Multiple-choice questions	About 25 minutes	Answer quickly; flag nothing for "later" unless you truly must
Route 1 (short)	About 12 minutes	Markers, plan, plot, trace
Route 2 (short with closure)	About 15 minutes	Read the closure twice; plan around it
Route 3 (long)	About 20 minutes	Get onto the right main road early
Final checks	About 10 minutes	Re-trace each route against the four mistakes

If the order of the sections on screen is different on your day, keep the proportions: roughly two-thirds of your time on two-thirds of the marks.

Learn London's skeleton first

You can't memorise every street in London, and the test doesn't expect you to. It does expect you to plan sensibly between two points. That is far easier when you know the main structure.

The ring roads

• The Inner Ring Road, which roughly follows the Congestion Charge zone boundary: Marylebone Road, Euston Road, Pentonville Road, City Road, Tower Bridge, Elephant and Castle, Vauxhall Bridge, Park Lane.
• The North and South Circular roads (A406 and A205).
• The M25, the orbital motorway around Greater London.

The main radial roads

Learn which direction each takes you out of central London: A1 and A10 north, A12 and A13 east, A2 and A20 south-east, A23 south, A3 south-west, A4 and A40 west, A5 and A41 north-west.

River crossings

The Thames is the single biggest obstacle in any route. Learn the road bridges in order from east to west in the centre: Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster, Lambeth, Vauxhall, Chelsea, Albert, Battersea. Remember that the Millennium Bridge and the Golden Jubilee footbridges beside the Hungerford rail bridge carry no traffic. A route across them loses marks.

Areas and postcodes

Know the eight central postcode areas (EC, WC, N, NW, E, SE, SW, W) and roughly where the main districts sit: Camden north of Euston, Islington north of the City, Stratford in the east, Brixton south of Vauxhall, Hammersmith in the west. Our London areas and places note groups landmarks by area, which is faster than learning a list.

Key fact: Most long routes are three stages: get from the green marker to a main road, follow the main road, and leave it for the red marker. Knowing the skeleton turns the middle stage into one decision.

A 2-week and a 4-week study plan

Choose the 2-week plan if you already drive in London and know the main roads. Choose 4 weeks if you are new to the city or have failed once.

The 2-week plan

Days	Focus
1 to 2	Read TfL's guidelines and watch TfL's "what to expect" video linked from its Topographical page. Take the free diagnostic.
3 to 6	Two routes a day on a paper map, one with a closure. Drill route planning questions.
7 to 10	Learn the ring roads, radials and bridges. One long route a day.
11 to 13	Timed mocks, starting with the free mock 1. Plot three routes under time pressure.
14	Admin: booking, ID, payment card, travel to North Greenwich.

The 4-week plan

Week	Focus
1	Map basics: symbols, compass points, grid squares, scale. Our map reading note.
2	Short routes, every day, checked against the four mistakes.
3	Closures and long routes; learn the London skeleton.
4	Timed mocks and full practice sessions; use the QR-code materials in your TfL invitation letter.

Use the readiness rule from our app: book when you score 85% or more on three mocks in a row and can plot routes without a single rule break. Our Topographical practice tests page explains how the mocks are built.

If you failed the Topographical test

A fail is common, and it is fixable.

1. Ask for a breakdown. TfL won't give detailed feedback or a copy of the paper, but its guidelines say the assessors can provide a breakdown of your results on request. It tells you whether the routes or the multiple choice let you down.
2. Diagnose the routes. If routes were weak, it is almost always one of the four mistakes. Re-plot ten practice routes and mark yourself strictly.
3. Book the re-sit when you are ready, not the next free slot. A re-sit costs £30 from 9 March 2026 (it was £16 before). TfL does not publish a limit on attempts, but each fail adds cost and delays your licence.

Is paid Topographical training worth it?

There are classroom centres in London that teach the Topographical test, and some drivers find a tutor helpful, especially if English is not their first language. Many others pass with free resources: TfL's guidelines and video, a good London street map, and timed practice. A sensible approach is to start free, measure yourself honestly with a timed mock, and pay for help only if you keep making the same route mistakes. Be wary of anyone selling "the real questions": TfL does not publish them.

Our own practice is free to start. The diagnostic, mock 1 and quick practice cost nothing; Pro unlocks mocks 2 to 10 and practice by section for all 18 tests from £6.99 a week. See pricing. Our web practice covers the multiple-choice side only: the route-drawing tasks need a map, as described above.

Where the Topographical test fits in your licence

The Topographical test is one of three TfL assessments, alongside the SERU and the speaking and listening test, and you need all three before TfL will consider your application complete. The full process is on our PCO licence guide, and our Topographical test guide covers exemptions and the day itself.

Your study plan

1. Today: take the free Topographical diagnostic to see where you stand.
2. Tonight: plot one short route on a London map and check it against the four mistakes.
3. This week: follow days 1 to 6 of the plan above and read our route planning note.
4. Before booking: sit the free mock 1 under the timer, then aim for three mocks in a row at 85% or more.
5. On the day: green to red, name the roads, read the closure twice, trace every route again.