A UK registration plate is made up of:
- A two letter DVLA memory tag - this shows the region in the country the vehicle was first registered
- Two numbers representing the age identifier - these tell you when the registration was issued
- A space
- Three letters random letters
Good to know: The age identifier is the date the vehicle was registered and not the manufactured date.
Since 2001, two-digit numbers were brought in as the age identifier on UK registration plates. Before this (1963-2001) letters were used as age-identifiers.
The age-identifier shows the DVLA registration period rather than the exact calendar year. UK number plates are issued in two six‑month cycles each year:
- 1st March - 31st August. Vehicles registered in this period would have the year referenced in the number plate. For example, if a car was registered during this period in 2016, it would show '16' in the number plate.
- 1st September - 28th February. Vehicles registered in this period would have the year the cycle started plus 50 in the registration number. For example, cars registered in December 2016 and January 2017 would both show '66' in the number plate.
All vehicle registration information shown on Autotrader is pulled directly from the DVLA.
Learn more about vehicle registration numbers and number plates