Number Plate Years: What Year Is Any UK Reg?

What year is my number plate?

On a number plate issued in Great Britain since September 2001, the two numbers in the middle are the year. A plate issued from 1 March carries the last two digits of the year (26 means March to August 2026); a plate issued from 1 September carries the year plus 50 (76 means September 2026 to February 2027). The 76 plate is the one on new cars now, and the 27 plate starts on 1 March 2027. The chart below gives the dates for every plate. To see the exact date one car was first registered, enter its registration in the search box above: the free check reads it from the DVLA record.

Number plate year chart: every plate from 51 to 77

Each age identifier and the dates cars were registered with it. The dates are the DVLA's (leaflet INF104); a car keeps its original plate for life unless a keeper moves a private number onto it.

The 27 and 77 plates are the next two to come. The DVLA has published the identifiers up to the 79 plate (September 2029), and says the pattern carries on until every combination has been used.

When do new number plates come out?

Twice a year, on 1 March and 1 September. The March plate is the year itself and the September plate is the year plus 50, so the dates ahead are:

• 1 March 2027: the 27 plate
• 1 September 2027: the 77 plate
• 1 March 2028: the 28 plate
• 1 September 2028: the 78 plate

March and September are the busiest months of the year for new car registrations, because many buyers wait for the new plate.

What year is a 65 plate, a 70 plate or a 58 plate?

The plates people look up most, from the chart above:

• 58 plate: 1 September 2008 to 28 February 2009
• 12 plate: 1 March to 31 August 2012
• 15 plate: 1 March to 31 August 2015
• 65 plate: 1 September 2015 to 29 February 2016
• 70 plate: 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021
• 24 plate: 1 March to 31 August 2024
• 74 plate: 1 September 2024 to 28 February 2025
• 25 plate: 1 March to 31 August 2025
• 75 plate: 1 September 2025 to 28 February 2026

A September plate spans two calendar years, so a 65 plate car can be a 2015 or a 2016 car. Adverts usually quote the year of first registration; the year of manufacture check shows both the registration date and the year the car was built.

Car registration years before 2001: the prefix letters (A reg to Y reg)

From August 1983 to August 2001 the year was a single letter at the start of the plate. The letter changed every August until 1998, then every March and September. I, O, Q, U and Z were not used as year letters.

Number plate years 1963 to 1983: the suffix letters

Before the prefix plates, the year letter came at the end. It changed each January until 1967, when the change moved to August.

So "what year is a Y reg?" has two answers: Y at the start (Y123 ABC) is March to August 2001, and Y at the end (ABC 123Y) is August 1982 to July 1983. A T reg is March to August 1999 as a prefix and August 1978 to July 1979 as a suffix. Plates from before 1963 carry no year letter at all.

When the plate does not show the car's age

• Private plates. A keeper can move a personalised number onto a car. The DVLA's rule is that you cannot use a registration number to make a vehicle look younger than it is, so a private plate can only be the same age as the car, older, or dateless. A 2019 car wearing a 2009 plate or a dateless plate is legal, and common.
• Northern Ireland plates. They use letters and up to four numbers with no age identifier, and can be used anywhere in the UK.
• Q plates. The DVLA issues a Q registration to a vehicle whose age or identity is in doubt, such as some kit cars and rebuilt vehicles. More in our guide to imported cars and Q plates.
• Imports. A car imported used is given an age-related plate for the year it was made or first registered abroad, not the year it arrived.

In all four cases the registration still leads to the car's record. Enter it above and the free check shows the date of first registration and the year of manufacture. Of the 4,402 cars checked with a full CarCheckUp report between March 2023 and October 2026, 34.1% had changed number plate at least once (cars people check before buying, so not a sample of every UK car; the figures are in our used car risk report). The full report lists every plate a car has had and the date of each change: see the number plate change history check.

Why the plate year matters when you buy a used car

• Price. Valuations step down with each plate, so a car advertised as a year newer than its record is overpriced. Compare the plate, the advert and the first registration date from the free check.
• Road tax. The first registration date decides how a car is taxed: by engine size if registered before 1 March 2001, by CO2 band from then until 31 March 2017, and at a standard yearly rate, after the first year, for cars registered from 1 April 2017. The car tax band check shows the band for one car.
• Clean air zones. Emissions standards came in by date, so the year is a first guide to whether a car pays a charge. The ULEZ check answers it by registration.
• History. The year sets how many MOTs a car should have (in Great Britain the first is due at three years old). A gap in the MOT history is worth a question to the seller.

The plate tells you the year and nothing else. Whether the car has finance owing, was written off or is recorded as stolen is in the full car history check, which runs on the same registration.

Number plate year FAQs

Source for the plate dates: DVLA leaflet INF104, Vehicle registration numbers and number plates (GOV.UK).