Age restrictions & year letters
A registration mark must never make a vehicle look newer than it is. That one rule is behind every age restriction, and it runs one way: a dated registration mark can go on a vehicle first registered when that mark was issued or later, never earlier.
The rule is the DVLA’s, set out under personalised registration numbers on gov.uk.
Which registration marks carry a date, & which do not
Dateless. No year code at all, so it fits a vehicle of any age. The oldest style and the most sought after.
Northern Irish. Also carries no year, so it too fits a vehicle of any age, anywhere in the UK.
Suffix. The letter at the end is the year: ABC 123A was issued in 1963.
Prefix. The letter at the start is the year: A123 ABC was issued from Aug. 1983.
Current style. The two digits are the half year: AB12 CDE was issued in March 2012, AB62 CDE in Sept. 2012.
Why the month matters, not just the year
A year letter almost never lines up with a calendar year, so the shorthand everybody uses is only half true. Two changes are behind it. In 1967 the changeover moved from Jan. to Aug., to take the peak off the new-year sales, which cut E short at seven months and left every letter from F onwards spanning two calendar years. Then in 1999 the system went to two changes a year, so T, V, W, X and Y each cover six months rather than twelve.
The practical effect is worth knowing before you order. A T suffix was issued from Aug. 1978, so it does not fit a car first registered that March. A Y prefix was issued from March 2001, so it does fit a 2001 car registered after that, and no earlier one. Every private plate on this site states its own issue window on its page.
| Letter | Issued from | Until |
|---|---|---|
| A | Jan. 1963 | Dec. 1963 |
| B | Jan. 1964 | Dec. 1964 |
| C | Jan. 1965 | Dec. 1965 |
| D | Jan. 1966 | Dec. 1966 |
| E | Jan. 1967 | July 1967 |
| F | Aug. 1967 | July 1968 |
| G | Aug. 1968 | July 1969 |
| H | Aug. 1969 | July 1970 |
| J | Aug. 1970 | July 1971 |
| K | Aug. 1971 | July 1972 |
| L | Aug. 1972 | July 1973 |
| M | Aug. 1973 | July 1974 |
| N | Aug. 1974 | July 1975 |
| P | Aug. 1975 | July 1976 |
| R | Aug. 1976 | July 1977 |
| S | Aug. 1977 | July 1978 |
| T | Aug. 1978 | July 1979 |
| V | Aug. 1979 | July 1980 |
| W | Aug. 1980 | July 1981 |
| X | Aug. 1981 | July 1982 |
| Y | Aug. 1982 | July 1983 |
| Letter | Issued from | Until |
|---|---|---|
| A | Aug. 1983 | July 1984 |
| B | Aug. 1984 | July 1985 |
| C | Aug. 1985 | July 1986 |
| D | Aug. 1986 | July 1987 |
| E | Aug. 1987 | July 1988 |
| F | Aug. 1988 | July 1989 |
| G | Aug. 1989 | July 1990 |
| H | Aug. 1990 | July 1991 |
| J | Aug. 1991 | July 1992 |
| K | Aug. 1992 | July 1993 |
| L | Aug. 1993 | July 1994 |
| M | Aug. 1994 | July 1995 |
| N | Aug. 1995 | July 1996 |
| P | Aug. 1996 | July 1997 |
| R | Aug. 1997 | July 1998 |
| S | Aug. 1998 | Feb. 1999 |
| T | March 1999 | Aug. 1999 |
| V | Sept. 1999 | Feb. 2000 |
| W | March 2000 | Aug. 2000 |
| X | Sept. 2000 | Feb. 2001 |
| Y | March 2001 | Aug. 2001 |
The current style
Since Sept. 2001 the age has been the two digits in the middle. A new identifier arrives on 1 March and another on 1 Sept. The March one is the year, so 26 is March 2026. The Sept. one is the year plus fifty, so 76 is Sept. 2026. Current style private plates works through it.
Working it out
You do not have to. Every private plate on this site says on its own page what it can go on, and the fit checker will take your vehicle and tell you yes or no.
Private plate styles covers all five formats, and transfers and retention explains what happens once one has been secured for you.
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