MOT pass rate in Kirkwall (KW)
MOT pass rate in Kirkwall (KW): 80.3% of MOT tests on cars tested here passed. Adjust for the local mix of model years and mileage — the mix a garage across town would see on the national average car — and the rate is 80.0%, 1.0 points below the national 81.0%. That ranks 73 of 118 postcode areas (1st is highest). The raw rate is the one you notice; the adjusted rate is the one that means something.
Pass rate
80.3%
from 95,224 tests on 37,658 cars, 2023–2025
Adjusted
80.0%
same age and mileage mix as the nation
vs national
-1.0 pts
below the national rate on the same cars
37,658 different cars were tested in Kirkwall (KW) — see the makes and models →
Compare one model here with another postcode area →
The MOT pass rate in Kirkwall, and what its cars fail on
| Failure item | Local | Typical repair |
|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below 1.6 mm | 19.3% | £45–£95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn | 8.5% | £18–£45 |
| Tyre has a tear | 6.9% | £45–£95 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated | 1.1% | £18–£45 |
| Tyre cords exposed | 0.7% | £45–£95 |
| Wheel badly distorted | 0.7% | £20–£55 |
| Tyre cut too deep | 0.6% | £45–£95 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt | 0.6% | £18–£45 |
Cost bands are our parts-based estimates, published as a range — method. Every failure item, ranked nationally: the full list →
What an MOT failure costs here
Across the 95,224 tests in this area, the typical bill works out at £632 to £1,728 per 100 tests, against £615 to £1,675 nationally — 63 of 118 areas, cheapest first. That is the pass rate and the price of the parts that fail here, multiplied together, so it moves with both.
Bands are our parts-based estimates, not quotes: how repairs are priced. The models that cost most to fix are on the cheap-and-dear list, and how far apart two postcodes can be for one model is worth a look before blaming the car.
One model year, this area against the rest
The tables below compare the same model year in this area with the same model year everywhere, so vehicle age is taken out of the comparison entirely. Each row links to that model's full postcode-by-postcode breakdown.
| Model | Here | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Vauxhall Corsa | 75.4% | -1.9 |
| Ford Fiesta | 78.7% | +0.3 |
| Ford Fiesta | 78.7% | +0.3 |
| Vauxhall Corsa | 75.4% | -1.9 |
Furthest behind: Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Fiesta. Furthest ahead: Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa. “Gap” is against each model's own national rate, not the 81.0% all-car rate — method. Three models either side of the gap, and each needs at least 300 tests of that model-year in this area.
Models that do worst here
| Model | Local | Nationally |
|---|---|---|
| Renault Clio | 69.8% | 72.5% (-2.7) |
| Ford Transit | 74.7% | 75.6% (-0.9) |
| Vauxhall Corsa | 75.9% | 77.3% (-1.4) |
| Citroen Berlingo | 76.1% | 76.0% (+0.1) |
| Vauxhall Astra | 77.5% | 77.8% (-0.3) |
| Volkswagen Polo | 78.1% | 78.3% (-0.2) |
Models that do best here
| Model | Local | Nationally |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Tiguan | 86.3% | 86.4% (-0.1) |
| Ford Kuga | 85.9% | 86.0% (-0.1) |
| Audi A3 | 83.0% | 82.6% (+0.4) |
| Volkswagen Golf | 81.6% | 82.1% (-0.5) |
| Ford Ranger | 81.3% | 80.9% (+0.4) |
| Volkswagen Caddy | 81.2% | 79.2% (+2.0) |
MOT stations in KW
There are 29 MOT test stations licensed for class 4 vehicles (cars, vans, motorhomes and people carriers) in the KW postcode area, according to the DVSA's published list of active stations.
We deliberately do not rank garages. The anonymised MOT data has no test-station field, so any “best garage in Kirkwall” list would be invented rather than measured — and a garage's pass rate mostly reflects the cars its customers bring, not the quality of its work.
How to read this
The rate is per test, not per car: a vehicle tested twice counts twice, and a car that fails and is retested for free contributes a fail and a pass. The adjusted rate gives every area the national mix of model years and mileage bands by direct standardisation, so the “old cars” explanation is removed from the comparison — the full method.
Postcode area is the keeper's registered area, not the test station's. These are regional signals, not neighbourhood ones.
How far apart two postcodes can be for one model → · which cars fail most, and on what →