UK DRIVING LICENCE

Want to know the ins and outs of the UK driving licence? You’ve come to the right place

As well as being a key form of identification, the UK driving licence gives you the right to drive a car, plus certain types of other vehicles. But as the licence is full of information, codes and categories, you might be after an explainer on both what the front of the driving licence shows, and what the details on the back of a driving licence mean. This guide will explain all this.

Front of the driving licence explained

The front of the driving licence displays a photograph of the licence holder with the licence expiry date printed on top, as well key information about them, and the types of vehicle their licence permits them to drive.

Each section on the front of a driving licence is numbered, with each number showing the following information:

1. Your surname
2. Your first name(s)
3. Your date and country of birth
4a. The date your licence was issued
4b. The date your licence expires
4c. What agency issued your licence (usually DVLA)
5. Your driving licence number*
6. Although not numbered on the licence, your photograph is 6
7. Your signature
8. Your address
9. The categories of vehicle you’re permitted to drive – see next section.

*This is made up of the first five letters of your surname, your birth year, month and day, plus the letters two of your middle names begin with, with the number ‘9’ standing in if you only have one middle name. Note the two numbers that make up your birth year are split in two and bookend the long number, rather than being displayed sequentially. There are also three computer-assigned digits at the end, plus a separate pair of numbers on the same line that represent your licence issue number.

Back of the driving licence explained

A number of categories are displayed on the back of your driving licence, displayed in a table with four columns, labelled 9-12.

9 shows the code and an image representing classes of vehicle
 10 is date from which your licence for that class of vehicle is valid
 11 is date from which your licence for that class of vehicle expires
 12 shows driving licence codes – EG ‘115’ means organ donor (see section after next).

Driving licence categories explained

AM (‘q’ proper to 2013): mopeds capable of at least 15mph and no more than 28mph, and light quadricycles with the same speed requirements, weighing no more than 350kg.
A1: motorcycles under 125cc capacity and 11kW (15hp) of power
A2: motorcycles with no more power than 35kW (47.6hp)
A: motorcycles with more than 35kW
B: cars**
B1: four-wheeled light vehicles (under 550kg)
BE: cars with trailers
C1: medium-sized vehicles weighing 3,500kg to 7,500kg carrying no more than eight passengers
C1E: medium-sized vehicles with trailers
C: large goods vehicles weighing over 3,500kg
CE: large goods vehicles with trailers
D1: minibuses no longer than 8 metres and with no more than 16 seats
D: buses with more than eight seats
D1E: minibuses with trailers over 750kg
DE: buses with trailers over 750kg
f: agricultural tractors
g: roadrollers
h: tracked vehicles
k: ride-on mowers and pedestrian-controlled vehicles

**Category B includes light vans (weighing under 3,500kg) and means different things with regard to towing depending on when you passed your test – see our guide to towing for more information.

What are driving licence codes?

As detailed in the section before one, in addition to driving-licence categories there exist driving-licence codes.

For example a code might indicate you have to wear corrective glasses or lenses to drive, or that you are an organ donor.

The licence codes are as follows (information taken from UK Gov website, multiple codes shown per line to reduce scrolling).

Driving licence FAQs

Where is the issue number of a driving licence?

Your driving-licence issue number is on the same line as your licence number, with a slight space between the two numbers.

What type of driving licence do I have?

There are two main types of driving licence in the UK, full and provisional. A full licence will be pink and a provisional licence will be green, and clearly marked.