What is Euro NCAP and how safe is my car?

The European New New Car Assessment Programme, better known as Euro NCAP, has become a byword in car safety over the past three decades. 

An independent safety organsation, Euro NCAP was established in 1996 to provide car buyers with clear, unbiased safety assessments to help them understand how well a car pretects its occupants – and other road users – in the event of a crash.

Euro NCAP conducts rigorous crash tests and other evaluations, including of the latest safety technologies, and plauys a key role in improveing car safety standars across Europe. Here's everything you need to know about how Euro NCAP works and what its ratings mean. 

What is Euro NCAP?

Before the forming of Euro NCAP, European governments had been testing car safety since the 1970s. By the early 1990s research had resulted in the development of crash test procedures to test not just driver and passenger safety, but also the safety of pedestrians unlucky enough to be hit by cars. 

Euro NCAP, or the European New Car Assessment Programme to give it its full title, was formed in 1996, bringing together the car safety agencies from the UK, France and Sweden. The first cars – seven small hatchbacks – were tested for safety soon after with the first safety results being released in 1997. 

A second round of testing would see the Volvo S40 (a forerunner of the Volvo S60) crowned the safest car of the time thanks to a four-star rating for safety, while the first five-star rating was awarded to the Renault Laguna in 2001. 

Since then, Euro NCAP has constantly evolved. In 2003 it started evaluating child seat safety, in 2011 cars’ stability control systems also started being tested and in 2020 Euro NCAP safety tests were upgraded to include autonomous driving technology. The programme's protocols are periodically updated to reflect advancements in vehicle technology and emerging safety challenges.

How does Euro NCAP test a car for safety?

Euro NCAP's testing procedures have become more comprehensive over the years. In addition to traditional crash tests, the programme now evaluates a variety of factors to give the experts, and therefore you, a comprehensive overview of a car's safety.

Adult Occupant Protection assessments include frontal crash tests against both mobile deformable barriers and full-width rigid barriers, as well as side impact tests, and evaluations of whiplash protection in rear-end collisions.​

Child Occupant Protection tests assess the protection offered by the car's child restraint systems during frontal and side impacts, as well as assessing the vehicle's ability to accommodate various child seats.​

Euro NCAP also examines how well a vehicle protects pedestrians and cyclists in the event of a crash, including tests for head, pelvis, and leg impacts.​

Technology is examined, too. The effectiveness of systems like Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Lane Keep Assist, Speed Assistance, and Occupant Status Monitoring are all delved into in detail – not all such systems are alike and effectiveness varies among different makes and models.

In recent years, Euro NCAP has also begun to assess autonomous ("self-driving") technologies and has developed virtual testing methods to keep pace with technological advancements in the car world.

What do the Euro NCAP stars mean?

Euro NCAP rates cars from zero to five stars.

Naturally, zero is the lowest rating a car can be awarded. A zero-star Euro NCAP rated car meets type-approval standards, so it can legally be sold but it lacks critical modern safety technology. 

A one-star Euro NCAP car isn’t much better. It will offer marginal crash protection but little in the way of crash avoidance technology.

Two and three-star Euro NCAP cars take up the middle ground. Two-star cars offer nominal crash protection but lack crash avoidance technology, while three-star cars offer average occupant protection but aren’t always equipped with the latest crash avoidance features.

Four and five-star cars Euro NCAP are among the safest. Four-star Euro NCAP cars offer an overall good performance in crash protection and all-round safety while additional crash avoidance technology may be present. 

Five-star Euro NCAP cars are the safest of the lot, they have overall excellent performance in crash protection and come well equipped with comprehensive and robust crash avoidance technology.

It's important to note that as testing protocols become more stringent, cars previously awarded high ratings may receive lower scores if they're reassessed under the newer standards.

What do Euro NCAP’s assisted driving gradings mean?

Euro NCAP’s tests are always changing to take account of new safety technology and in 2018, Euro NCAP began testing autonomous driving technology such as lane assist and active cruise control. In 2020 that was further developed with a One to Four grading system. Since then, the grades were rebranded to be more descriptive, and are now Entry, Moderate, Good and Very Good.

Cars graded Entry have entry-level autonomous driving aids – they may have limited lane assist and active cruise control that can brake and accelerate the car, but in an emergency situation they'll still require the driver to take control. Examples of Entry-grade cars include the Toyota Yaris and the Vauxhall Mokka Electric, which have relatively basic assistance systems with limited functionality. 

Moderate-graded cars offer more sophisticated driving aids. They have tech like lane assist and active cruise control, but they’re more advanced systems capable of controlling the car in an emergency. Moderate cars include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Polestar 2.

Good-rated cars have advanced assistance systems that perform well in various driving scenarios.  The Ford Kuga’s and Cupra Formentor's autonomous driving aids earned them Good status for their robust performance and effective drive-support features in the tests.

Finally, you have Very Good-rated cars, which offer a high level of support and safety back up in challenging scenarios. Very Good cars include the BMW iX3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLE.

What is my car's Euro NCAP rating? 

To find out your car’s Euro NCAP safety rating, it’s best to head to the Euro NCAP website. The scores are updated as the testing regimes evolve and get tougher.

You’ll find all the latest test scores, but cars are also organised into their respective classes and there is a ‘best in class’ listing for cars that top their respective segments.

Keep in mind that ratings can change over time as testing protocols evolve. For instance, a car that received a five-star rating under previous protocols might receive a lower rating if tested under current, more stringent standards. 

Which cars have a five star Euro NCAP rating? 

Despite the every-increasing stringency of the Euro NCAP tests, there are numerous cars that have five-star scores. Some of the latest include the MINI Cooper Electric and the Audi A6 E-tron.

Does my car have ABS?

Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) have been mandatory in all new vehicles sold in the UK since 2004. If you own a vehicle manufactured after this date, it will be equipped with ABS. You can tell if an older car has ABS by looking for the yellow ABS warning light which will light up and then disappear when you first start your car.

Why is ABS important? ABS gives you full steering control under emergency braking, stopping the wheels from locking and allowing you to steer around an accident.