Plate years. Made simple
Want to know how old a car is from its plate?
Here's how UK registrations work.
There are four main systems:
- Current style (2001 to present)
- Prefix (1983 to 2001)
- Suffix (1963 to 1983)
- Dateless (1903 onwards)
Current style (2001 to present)
Example: AB23 CDE
The two numbers in the middle tell you when the car was registered. Plates are released twice
a year.
March to August gets the year number.
September to February gets the year plus
50.
So 23 means March to August 2023. And 73 means September 2023 to February 2024.
The first
two letters show where it was registered. The last three are random.
Current style registration years
| Age identifier | Registration period |
|---|---|
| 51 | Sep 2001 - Feb 2002 |
| 02 | Mar 2002 - Aug 2002 |
| 52 | Sep 2002 - Feb 2003 |
| 03 | Mar 2003 - Aug 2003 |
| 53 | Sep 2003 - Feb 2004 |
| 04 | Mar 2004 - Aug 2004 |
| 54 | Sep 2004 - Feb 2005 |
| 05 | Mar 2005 - Aug 2005 |
| 55 | Sep 2005 - Feb 2006 |
| 06 | Mar 2006 - Aug 2006 |
| 56 | Sep 2006 - Feb 2007 |
| 07 | Mar 2007 - Aug 2007 |
| 57 | Sep 2007 - Feb 2008 |
| 08 | Mar 2008 - Aug 2008 |
| 58 | Sep 2008 - Feb 2009 |
| 09 | Mar 2009 - Aug 2009 |
| 59 | Sep 2009 - Feb 2010 |
| 10 | Mar 2010 - Aug 2010 |
| 60 | Sep 2010 - Feb 2011 |
| 11 | Mar 2011 - Aug 2011 |
| 61 | Sep 2011 - Feb 2012 |
| 12 | Mar 2012 - Aug 2012 |
| 62 | Sep 2012 - Feb 2013 |
| 13 | Mar 2013 - Aug 2013 |
| 63 | Sep 2013 - Feb 2014 |
| 14 | Mar 2014 - Aug 2014 |
| Age identifier | Registration period |
|---|---|
| 64 | Sep 2014 - Feb 2015 |
| 15 | Mar 2015 - Aug 2015 |
| 65 | Sep 2015 - Feb 2016 |
| 16 | Mar 2016 - Aug 2016 |
| 66 | Sep 2016 - Feb 2017 |
| 17 | Mar 2017 - Aug 2017 |
| 67 | Sep 2017 - Feb 2018 |
| 18 | Mar 2018 - Aug 2018 |
| 68 | Sep 2018 - Feb 2019 |
| 19 | Mar 2019 - Aug 2019 |
| 69 | Sep 2019 - Feb 2020 |
| 20 | Mar 2020 - Aug 2020 |
| 70 | Sep 2020 - Feb 2021 |
| 21 | Mar 2021 - Aug 2021 |
| 71 | Sep 2021 - Feb 2022 |
| 22 | Mar 2022 - Aug 2022 |
| 72 | Sep 2022 - Feb 2023 |
| 23 | Mar 2023 - Aug 2023 |
| 73 | Sep 2023 - Feb 2024 |
| 24 | Mar 2024 - Aug 2024 |
| 74 | Sep 2024 - Feb 2025 |
| 25 | Mar 2025 - Aug 2025 |
| 75 | Sep 2025 - Feb 2026 |
| 26 | Mar 2026 - Aug 2026 |
| 76 | Sep 2026 - Feb 2027 |
Prefix plates (1983 to 2001)
Example: A123 ABC
The first letter tells you the year. After that is three numbers and three letters.
Prefix registration years
| Prefix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| A | Aug 1983 - Jul 1984 |
| B | Aug 1984 - Jul 1985 |
| C | Aug 1985 - Jul 1986 |
| D | Aug 1986 - Jul 1987 |
| E | Aug 1987 - Jul 1988 |
| F | Aug 1988 - Jul 1989 |
| G | Aug 1989 - Jul 1990 |
| H | Aug 1990 - Jul 1991 |
| J | Aug 1991 - Jul 1992 |
| K | Aug 1992 - Jul 1993 |
| L | Aug 1993 - Jul 1994 |
| Prefix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| M | Aug 1994 - Jul 1995 |
| N | Aug 1995 - Jul 1996 |
| P | Aug 1996 - Jul 1997 |
| R | Aug 1997 - Jul 1998 |
| S | Aug 1998 - Feb 1999 |
| T | Mar 1999 - Jul 1999 |
| V | Aug 1999 - Feb 2000 |
| W | Mar 2000 - Jul 2000 |
| X | Aug 2000 - Feb 2001 |
| Y | Mar 2001 - Jul 2001 |
Suffix plates (1963 to 1983)
Example: ABC 123A
The last letter tells you the year. Before that it's three letters and three numbers.
Suffix registration years
| Suffix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| A | Feb 1963 - Dec 1963 |
| B | Jan 1964 - Dec 1964 |
| C | Jan 1965 - Dec 1965 |
| D | Jan 1966 - Dec 1966 |
| E | Jan 1967 - Jul 1967 |
| F | Aug 1967 - Jul 1968 |
| G | Aug 1968 - Jul 1969 |
| H | Aug 1969 - Jul 1970 |
| J | Aug 1970 - Jul 1971 |
| K | Aug 1971 - Jul 1972 |
| L | Aug 1972 - Jul 1973 |
| Suffix | Registration period |
|---|---|
| M | Aug 1973 - Jul 1974 |
| N | Aug 1974 - Jul 1975 |
| P | Aug 1975 - Jul 1976 |
| R | Aug 1976 - Jul 1977 |
| S | Aug 1977 - Jul 1978 |
| T | Aug 1978 - Jul 1979 |
| V | Aug 1979 - Jul 1980 |
| W | Aug 1980 - Jul 1981 |
| X | Aug 1981 - Jul 1982 |
| Y | Aug 1982 - Jul 1983 |
Dateless plates
Example: AB 123
No age identifier. That means they don't give away when the car was made. Which is exactly why they're popular.
One rule that applies to all of them. You can make a car look older. You can't make it look newer. The DVLA won't allow it.
Not sure if a plate will work on your vehicle? Ask us before you buy. We'll check.