Registration Years

Number plates with year identifiers were introduced for vehicles registered on and after 1st February 1963, with the introduction of the A Suffix e.g. ABC 123A. Before that, registrations were what we now refer to as ‘dateless’ - rather than signifying the year of issue, they actually signified the area in which they were issued. The earliest example of that was in 1905 when plates issued in London started with an A prefix, followed by a number of up to four digits - famously starting with the registration A 1. ‘B’ prefixes were issued in Lancashire, C in Yorkshire and so on… Much more on those will be added soon.

Changing a Vehicle’s Age

One key point to note here as we’re asked this question all the time: “can I put a plate on my car which changes the vehicle’s displayed age?” The answer is “yes, as long as the plate makes the car look older”. You cannot put a plate on your car which makes it look younger than it actually is. E.G You can put F11 ABC (a 1988 issue plate) on a vehicle which was originally issued with XX10 XXX (a 2010 issue), because you’re making a 2010 car look like a 1988 one. However you can’t do that the other way around. A 1988 vehicle can only wear ‘dateless’ plates or anything issued on or before 31st July 1989.

Suffix registrations - 1st Feb 1963 to 31st July 1983 (year marker after other digits):

Note that ‘I’, ‘O’ ‘U’ and ‘Z’ suffix registrations have never been issued. ‘Q’ registrations are only issued to vehicles with unknown or multiple original identities, such as some kit cars or for stolen-recovered vehicles where the original identification numbers have been removed.

A reg year (??? ???A) - 1st Feb 1963 to 31st December 1963.

B reg year (??? ???B) - 1st January 1964 to 31st December 1964.

C reg year (??? ???C) - 1st January 1965 to 31st December 1965.

D reg year (??? ???D) - 1st January 1966 to 31st December 1966.

E reg year (??? ???E) - 1st January 1967 to 31st July 1967.

F reg year (??? ???F) - 1st August 1967 to 31st July 1968.

G reg year (??? ???G) - 1st August 1968 to 31st July 1969.

H reg year (??? ???H) - 1st August 1969 to 31st July 1970.

J reg year (??? ???J) - 1st August 1970 to 31st July 1971.

K reg year (??? ???K) - 1st August 1971 to 31st July 1972.

L reg year (??? ???L) - 1st August 1972 to 31st July 1973.

M reg year (??? ???M) - 1st August 1973 to 31st July 1974.

N reg year (??? ???N) - 1st August 1974 to 31st July 1975.

P reg year (??? ???P) - 1st August 1975 to 31st July 1976.

R reg year (??? ???R) - 1st August 1976 to 31st July 1977.

S reg year (??? ???S) - 1st August 1977 to 31st July 1978.

T reg year (??? ???T) - 1st August 1978 to 31st July 1979.

V reg year (??? ???V) - 1st August 1979 to 31st July 1980.

W reg year (??? ???W) - 1st August 1980 to 31st July 1981.

X reg year (??? ???X) - 1st August 1981 to 31st July 1982.

Y reg year (??? ???Y) - 1st August 1982 to 31st July 1983.

Prefix registrations - 1st August 1983 to 31st August 2001 (year marker before the other digits)

Once the DVLA had run out of Suffix identifiers they switched to the Prefix system, where the age identifier came before the rest of the digits. Prefixes are always followed by 1-3 numbers and 3 letters.

Note that ‘I’, ‘O’ ‘U’ and ‘Z’ suffix registrations have never been issued. ‘Q’ registrations are only issued to vehicles with unknown or multiple original identities, such as some kit cars or for stolen-recovered vehicles where the original identification numbers have been removed.

A reg year (A??? ???) - 1st August 1983 to 31st July 1984.

B reg year (B??? ???) - 1st August 1984 to 31st July 1985.

C reg year (C??? ???) - 1st August 1985 to 31st July 1986.

D reg year (D??? ???) - 1st August 1986 to 31st July 1987.

E reg year (E??? ???) - 1st August 1987 to 31st July 1988.

F reg year (F??? ???) - 1st August 1988 to 31st July 1989.

G reg year (G??? ???) - 1st August 1989 to 31st July 1990.

H reg year (H??? ???) - 1st August 1990 to 31st July 1991.

J reg year (J??? ???) - 1st August 1991 to 31st July 1992.

K reg year (K??? ???) - 1st August 1992 to 31st July 1993.

L reg year (L??? ???) - 1st August 1993 to 31st July 1994.

M reg year (M??? ???) - 1st August 1994 to 31st July 1995.

N reg year (N??? ???) - 1st August 1995 to 31st July 1996.

P reg year (P??? ???) - 1st August 1996 to 31st July 1997.

R reg year (R??? ???) - 1st August 1997 to 31st July 1998.

S reg year (S??? ???) - 1st August 1998 to 28th February 1999.

T reg year (T??? ???) - 1st March 1999 to 28st August 1999.

V reg year (V??? ???) - 1st September 1999 to 29th February 2000.

W reg year (W??? ???) - 1st March 2000 to 31st August 2000.

X reg year (X??? ???) - 1st September 2000 to 29th February 2001.

Y reg year (Y??? ???) - 1st March 2001 to 31st August 2001.

Current Style registrations - 1st September 2001 onward (year digits placed after the first 2 letters and before the final 3 letters)

Once the DVLA had run out of Prefix identifiers they introduced the ‘Current’ system of registration marks. The current system places the year identifiers as the 3rd and 4th figures in a 7-digit layout. The year markers in the 50s, 60s and 70s signify vehicles registered between September of one year and February of the following year. The year markers in the 0s, 10s and 20s match the relevent calendar years and cover vehicles registered between March and August of that year.

51 reg year (??51 ???) - 1st September 2001 to 29th February 202.

02 reg year (??02 ???) - 1st March 2002 to 31st August 2002.

52 reg year (??52 ???) - 1st September 2002 to 29th February 2003.

03 reg year (??03 ???) - 1st March 2003 to 31st August 2003.

53 reg year (??53 ???) - 1st September 2003 to 29th February 2004.

04 reg year (??04 ???) - 1st March 2004 to 31st August 2004.

54 reg year (??54 ???) - 1st September 2004 to 29th February 2005.

05 reg year (??05 ???) - 1st March 2005 to 31st August 2005.

55 reg year (??55 ???) - 1st September 2005 to 29th February 2006.

06 reg year (??06 ???) - 1st March 2006 to 31st August 2006.

56 reg year (??56 ???) - 1st September 2006 to 29th February 2007.

07 reg year (??07 ???) - 1st March 2007 to 31st August 2007.

57 reg year (??57 ???) - 1st September 2007 to 29th February 2008.

08 reg year (??08 ???) - 1st March 2008 to 31st August 2008.

58 reg year (??58 ???) - 1st September 2008 to 29th February 2009.

09 reg year (??09 ???) - 1st March 2009 to 31st August 2009.

59 reg year (??59 ???) - 1st September 2009 to 29th February 2010.

10 reg year (??10 ???) - 1st March 2010 to 31st August 2010.

60 reg year (??60 ???) - 1st September 2010 to 29th February 2011.

11 reg year (??11 ???) - 1st March 2011 to 31st August 2011.

61 reg year (??61 ???) - 1st September 2011 to 29th February 2012.

12 reg year (??12 ???) - 1st March 2012 to 31st August 2012.

62 reg year (??62 ???) - 1st September 2012 to 29th February 2013.

13 reg year (??13 ???) - 1st March 2013 to 31st August 2013.

63 reg year (??63 ???) - 1st September 2013 to 29th February 2014.

14 reg year (??14 ???) - 1st March 2014 to 31st August 2014.

64 reg year (??64 ???) - 1st September 2014 to 29th February 2015.

15 reg year (??15 ???) - 1st March 2015 to 31st August 2015.

65 reg year (??65 ???) - 1st September 2015 to 29th February 2016.

16 reg year (??16 ???) - 1st March 2016 to 31st August 2016.

66 reg year (??66 ???) - 1st September 2016 to 29th February 2017.

17 reg year (??17 ???) - 1st March 2017 to 31st August 2017.

67 reg year (??67 ???) - 1st September 2017 to 29th February 2018.

18 reg year (??18 ???) - 1st March 2018 to 31st August 2018.

68 reg year (??68 ???) - 1st September 2018 to 29th February 2019.

19 reg year (??19 ???) - 1st March 2019 to 31st August 2019.

69 reg year (??69 ???) - 1st September 2019 to 29th February 2020.

20 reg year (??20 ???) - 1st March 2020 to 31st August 2020.

And so we come to future issues. The current system will stay valid until 2049 when we hit the 49 and 99 registrations.

70 reg year (??70 ???) - 1st September 2020 to 29th February 2021.

21 reg year (??21 ???) - 1st March 2021 to 31st August 2021.

71 reg year (??71 ???) - 1st September 2021 to 29th February 2022.

22 reg year (??22 ???) - 1st March 2022 to 31st August 2022.

72 reg year (??72 ???) - 1st September 2022 to 29th February 2023.

23 reg year (??23 ???) - 1st March 2023 to 31st August 2023.

73 reg year (??73 ???) - 1st September 2023 to 29th February 2024.

24 reg year (??24 ???) - 1st March 2024 to 31st August 2024.

74 reg year (??74 ???) - 1st September 2024 to 29th February 2025.

And so on…