Leader comment: The real reason why Scots ace the driving test

Tourists have been flocking to Scotland in record numbers and now, apparently, there is another reason to come here '“ our driving tests are 'easy'.

Golspie has the highest driving test pass rate in the UK (Picture: PA)

The test centre in Golspie has the highest pass rate of any in the UK, with nearly 77 per cent of learner drivers passing during the last year. Scotland as a whole boasted a 57.4 per cent pass rate, the highest of any part of the UK.

But surely an alternative theory could explain these results – the tests aren’t easy, Scots are just naturally good at driving. ‘Wha’s like us?’ and all that.

And some of our brilliance clearly makes it over the border to Berwick upon Tweed, home to the second highest pass rate in England.

Okay, so only 37.5 per cent of people in Knightswood in Glasgow passed, but that’s maybe just a statistical blip or something.

The ‘categorisation error’, a factor in racism and other fallacies, has long dogged human beings. It’s not that Scottish test centres are a soft touch or that Scots are better drivers; instead the real reason behind the stats is that driving in rural areas, where there’s less traffic, is easier. Simple really.