Autowirez Blog

DVLA new car/vehicle registration number format. System introduced on September 2001.

In September 2001, the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) changed the format to not only establish the year of the vehicle, but to also display the area in which it was originally registered.

The biggest change with the new vehicle registrations was to go from yearly issues to every six months. The new system would then see two new vehicle registration/age identifiers each year.

In 1999, prior to the introduction of the new system, the DVLA were forced to run the remaining six registration numbers (S, T, V, W, X and Y) over a three year period with a new registration every six months. This was to use the up the remaining letters of the alphabet to start the new system on the first letter - “A” - for those who don’t know:).

Unlike the old system where most of the registration comprised of random letters and numbers, the new system shows more specific details about the vehicle.

First Two Characters
The first two characters from left to right indicate “Area Code” for the DVLA office where the vehicle was initially registered new. The following chart shows all the current available area codes for vehicle registrations in use today.

AA - AN = Peterborough
AO - AU = Norwich
AV - AY = Ipswich
BA - BY = Birmingham (see illustration)
CA - CO = Cardiff
CP - CV = Swansea
CW - CY = Bangor
DA - DK = Chester
DL - DY = Shrewsbury
EA - EY = Chelmsford
FA - FB = Nottingham
FR - FY = Lincoln
GA - GO = Maidstone
GP - GY = Brighton
HA - HJ = Bournemouth
HK - HV, HX and HY = Portsmouth
HW = Isle of White
KA - KL = Luton
KM - KY = Northampton
LA - LJ = Wimbledon
LK - KT = Stanmore
LU - LY = Sidcup
MA - MY = Manchester
NA - NO = Newcastle
NP - NY = Stockton
OA - OY = Oxford
PA - PT = Preston
PU - PY = Carlisle
RA - RY = Reading
SA - SJ = Glasgow
SK - SO = Edinburgh
SP - ST = Dundee
SU - SW = Aberdeen
SX - SY = Inverness
VA - VY = Worcester
WA - WJ = Exeter
WK - WL = Truro
WM - WY = Bristol
XA - XY = VAT Free / Exported Vehicles
YA - YK = Leeds
YL - YU = Sheffield
YV - YY = Beverley

The characters I, J, Q, T, U and Z are only used in special circumstances.

Third Character (Age Identifier)
The third character from left to right is the month of the year it was registered. The only two numbers used are a “0″ and a “5″ referring to March or September. We can see by the image above, the vehicle was registered around September.

Fourth Character (Age Identifier)
The fourth character from the left is the year of registration part of the age identifier. The above image shows the vehicle was registered in 2001.

Last Three Characters
The remaining three numbers grouped at the end of the registration are random.

Did you know the DVLA prevent the issue of registrations where the last three characters on the new or old system make up a word that may be seen as defamitory, insulting, rude etc? I suspect that is why we never see the word CAT, DOG, BUM, GOD, GUN… OK, I’m sure you all get the message. I have thought of better words but obviously have to be careful:).

Do you prefer the old system? Do you find the new system confusing? Let me know your thoughts on the new system in the comments below.

Hope this has described the new system as easy to understand.