DVLA Number Plates

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is responsible for maintaining vehicle registration records and issuing registration numbers throughout the UK. These registrations are commonly known as number plates, private number plates or personalised registrations.

The term DVLA Number Plates is commonly used within the registration industry to describe previously unissued Prefix registrations (e.g. A1 ABC) and Current Style registrations (e.g. AB12 ABC), which originate from DVLA stock. The DVLA began commercially selling personalised registrations in 1989, allowing motorists to purchase distinctive registration numbers directly or through recognised resellers such as CarReg UK.

DVLA Number Plate Formats Explained

UK number plates have been issued in four main formats since vehicle registrations began in 1903. Each format has its own combination of letters and numbers, with some indicating the age of the vehicle and others having no age identifier.

Below are the four main UK number plate formats in chronological order.

Dateless Number Plates (Pre-1963)

Examples: A 1, AB 1234, ABC 123

Dateless number plates are the earliest style of UK registrations. They contain no year identifier, meaning they do not reveal the age of a vehicle. These registrations are particularly desirable as private number plates and can be assigned to vehicles of any age, subject to DVLA rules.

Suffix Number Plates (1963–1983)

Examples: ABC 123A, ABC 12A, ABC 1A

Suffix number plates were introduced in 1963. The final letter indicates the year of registration, beginning with A in 1963. This format remained in use until 1983.

Prefix Number Plates (1983–2001)

Examples: A1 ABC, A12 ABC, A123 ABC

Prefix number plates replaced suffix registrations in August 1983. The first letter identifies the registration year, followed by up to three numbers and three letters. This system continued until September 2001.

Current Style Number Plates (2001–Present)

Examples: AB12 ABC, AB26 CDE, AB76 CDE

The current DVLA number plate format was introduced in September 2001. It consists of two letters identifying the registration area, two numbers indicating the registration period, and three random letters.

New age identifiers are released twice a year, in March and September.

Can You Put Any DVLA Number Plate on Any Vehicle?

There is one simple rule; You can transfer a private number plate onto an eligible vehicle, provided the registration does not make the vehicle appear newer than it actually is.

Dateless registrations are especially popular because they contain no age identifier and can be used on vehicles of any age, subject to DVLA assignment rules.

Buy private and personalised number plates at CarReg UK. Established in 1988, CarReg is a DVLA registered number plate supplier, helping customers buy, sell and transfer registrations securely.

CarReg have over 50,000,000 DVLA Number plates available EG;

Make Your Own DVLA Number Plate

There are millions of combinations of personalised registrations offered directly from a huge DVLA database of previously un-issued (unused) stock.  The database currently holds more than 70 million registrations which are available to purchase from us immediately. Each year the database grows with the bi-annual issue of more current style number plates with the new date identifying numbers applicable to the year.  The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency whose head quarters are in Swansea, South Wales (UK) and are a government agency set up to act on behalf of the department for transport.

DVLA’s stock mainly includes age related current and prefix plates. You can browse and buy unissued DVLA stock using our Make Your Own Number Plate service OR search our main database.  We also manufacture provide acrylic plates and an easy transfer service.

Interesting Facts About DVLA Number Plates;

• K1 NGS sold for £185,000 (Via auction Dec 1993), then DVLA released K11 NGS for £144 (Via select registrations during the same decade).
• B16 POO made £10,010 during an online DVLA number plate auction (May 2020).

The DVLA have been selling unissued combinations of personalised registrations directly and through its official auctions for more than thirty years, which began with the sale of A and H prefix number plates for £250. Some short, highly desirable numbers made significant sums of money resembling words or names.

The first DVLA auction was at Christie’s and later Bonhams, selling registrations like ‘1 J’, ‘1 A’ and ‘K1 NGS’. ELL 1E sold for a big price back in 1991 for £35,000 and in 1996 both N1 CKY and P1 LOT sold for £55,000 and £66,000 respectively. 1 D went under the hammer and sold for a record £285,000. 1 RH made £196,000 and 1 O sold for £170,000. More recently in December 2014 the record was broken once more with registration “25 0” making £400,000 on the hammer (for the valuable classic Ferrari 250).

Other expensive registrations sold at auctions include; DAV 1D, S1 MON, N1 GEL, ANN 1E, as well as short numbers like 1 0, 1 A, 1 00, 6 B all made significant sums when sold at the time. 51 NGH raised £245,000, whilst S1 NGH “only” made £86,000 during a similar auction! Names seemed to be the highest achievers in past years. Now we are finding that single numbers and single letters like “A1” or “1A” are by far more sought after and of course more expensive!

The DVLA have played an enormous role within the industry releasing millions of new numbers into the UK system every year. It was reported in the media that DVLA have raised over £2.5 billion for the Treasury over the last 30 years. DVLA had a record year in 2017 raising over £111 million.

The next auction will be held on ONLINE ONLY Sale on 14th to 20th October 2026. Find more Auction information here.

CarReg Are DVLA Registered Suppliers Of Number Plates

By law, every company in the UK that supplies actual perspex number plates has to be registered with the DVLA under the RNPS (Register Of Number Plate Suppliers). This Government scheme was introduced in 2003 to help combat vehicle related crime.

All companies accepted within the scheme have to adhere to the laws;

• The number plates must conform to British standards or the supplier can be fined up to £2,500 and/or be banned from supplying number plates.
• The supplier must keep records of the number plates supplied or the company can be fined up to £1000 and/or be suspended from the register.
• Records must include: The registration number the customer’s name and address and entitlement to the number plate a number that can be used to trace a customer and is taken from an original document from an accepted form of ID, such as a driving licence or V5C or V750/V778.
• The supplier must keep records for 3 years.
• The supplier must let DVLA, the police and Trading Standards see these records if they ask.The supplier must report changes to register details to the DVLA within 28 days of the change or be fined up to £1,000. This includes if the supplier stops supplying number plates.

We are a DVLA Registered Number Plate Supplier (No: 27154).

CarReg Are Recognised Resellers Of DVLA Personalised Registrations

The DVLA release new combinations and formats with previously un-issued registrations. CarReg have been registered DVLA re-sellers for almost 30 years.

There are now two different formats of DVLA registrations:- The Prefix style which are of the A1 ABC format and Current style which are of the AB**ABC format

Today, you can buy a DVLA registration number “off the shelf” from only £154. If the number plate is a gift we suggest you buy online and also select to buy the actual perspex number plates. We will then we post the plates along with the official DVLA V750 certificate, ready to insert into a card! We have sold thousands of numbers as gifts, it really is that fast and straight forward. You can easily browse the different combinations available or make your own with CarReg’s “Make Your Own Number Plate” system.

Buy your number plates online from CarReg – DVLA registered experts and UK specialist manufacturers. FREE Next day UK delivery!