DVLA Number Plates

DVLA Approved Private Registrations

DVLA number plates, sometimes also called DVLA registrations, can be used on any vehicle which has been registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Motorists have long used DVLA number plates to display personal signifiers relating to their name, hobbies, profession, vehicle brand, or vehicle model.

The DVLA’s Role

A large number of DVLA registrations are available for purchase from the DVLA’s catalogue of unissued number plates. The DVLA, acting on behalf of the Department for Transport, started selling personalised number plates in 1989. It is estimated that around 5 million DVLA number plates have been sold since then, supplementing the Treasury fund with more than Ł2.5 billion.

The DVLA is charged with assigning, transferring, and retaining UK number plates, as well as ensuring that number plate combinations which are viewed as offensive never make it to circulation. Furthermore, the DVLA, from its headquarters in Swansea, also enables and expedites the taxing of vehicles through the keeping of records relating to the approximately 50 million drivers in the UK.

Types of DVLA registrations

DVLA registrations can be divided into two subcategories:

• Old style or Prefix DVLA number plates;

• Current style DVLA number plates.

Current/New Style DVLA Plates

The current style DVLA number plates are made up of two letters, followed by the two numbers which act as year of issue identifiers. These are trailed by a random combination of three letters. This format allows for a broader range of possible combinations. As a result, it is estimated that the DVLA won’t need to devise a new system until 2050.

Old Style/Prefix DVLA Registrations

Old style DVLA plates are also known as Prefix number plates because they place the character combination which denotes the vehicle’s year of issue at the beginning of the plate. This type of registration was used from 1983 until the range of possible combinations finally ran out in 2011. Following this, the DVLA was required to devise a new system, and so the current scheme was adopted.

DVLA Number Plate Guidelines

DVLA number plates are subject to a few rules:

• They must all use a standardised font which was introduced in 2001

• Characters must measure no more than 79mm in height and must be 50mm wide (except for the number 1 and letter l)

• The thickness of the black print must be 14mm

• Spaces between characters must measure exactly 11mm

• The distance between the characters which act as age identifiers and the random letters which follow must measure 33mm

• The margins on each of the plate’s sides must be 11mm

These rules have been put in place in order to ensure that number plates are easy to read and so that there exists a uniformity among them. The provision is meant to make the DVLA number plates more recognisable and easier to remember. The thinking behind this is that witnesses to a crime will be able to recall the number plate of the offender’s car more readily.

The Award Winning Private Number Plate Specialists

0203 600 1234

DVLA Approved Private Registrations

The DVLA’s Role

Types of DVLA registrations

Current/New Style DVLA Plates

Old Style/Prefix DVLA Registrations

DVLA Number Plate Guidelines

Find your perfect number plate

You can search these types of DVLA plates

Newstyle Number Plates

Prefix Number Plates