England, Scotland, Wales Number Plates allocations explained

Ace Reg UK Number Plate Guide

England, Scotland, Wales Number Plates allocations explained​

The current DVLA number plate system was rolled out in Sep 2001. Plates are arranged in the format of two letters, then two numbers, followed by three additional letters. Example - AB21 CDE (issued Jan 2021) or AB71 CDE (issued Sept 2021).

The two numbers on the plate refer to the year and then the six-month period in which the vehicle was first registered: this would be March to August or September to February. The age identifying number changes on 1st March and 1st September every year. The table shown below outlines how the age identifier changes throughout the year

A vehicle registered March 2021 will have the number 21 as its age identifier. For vehicles registered between September and February, the code is the year (as of September) plus 50 (eg 2021 : 21 + 50 = 71). Vehicles produced from September 2021 to February 2022 will have the number 71 as their age identifier. 2022 number plates will feature 22 and 72 as their age identifiers.

What do each of the letters mean?

The first two letters are the local identifier, these will show where the vehicle was first registered. The first letter is the region and the second letter is the local DVLA office. The  three letters at the end are total randomly and are allocated when the car is first registered.