UK Number Plate Decoder

Two letters, two numbers, three letters.

Since 1 September 2001, UK number plates follow the AB12 CDE format described by the DVLA in document INF104: a 2-letter memory tag, a 2-number age identifier and 3 random letters. The first letter of the tag shows the region where the vehicle was first registered (B is Birmingham, S is Scotland, L is London) and the second the DVLA office inside it (SA is Glasgow, SK is Edinburgh). INF104 never uses I, Q or Z in tags. The age identifier changes twice a year. From March to August it is the two-digit year: 26 runs from March to August 2026. From September to February it is that number plus 50: 76 runs from September 2026 to February 2027, and 51 opened the format in September 2001. The existing codes run from 02 to 49 and from 51 to 99, which covers up to February 2050. The 3 final letters are random and never use I or Q, but may use Z. Before 2001 there were two formats with a year letter. The suffix (ABC 123D) ran from 1963 to 1983, and letter D, for example, means 1966. The prefix (A123 BCD) ran from 1983 to 2001, and letter A means August 1983 to July 1984. Those letters come from Wikipedia, not the DVLA. Dateless plates predate 1963 or were reissued, and in Northern Ireland the 3-letter-and-number pattern does not encode age. The code shows the period of the vehicle's registration, not its manufacture, and the DVLA forbids using a plate to make a vehicle look younger. Personalised (cherished) plates can be moved to another car and show a code that is not the current vehicle's own. This tool reads the code and queries no DVLA database.

Type the plate and read the period.

1. In Decode, type the plate (with or without a space). Even with the first 4 positions, like AB26, the period and region appear.
2. Read the registration period, region, office and the checks. Copy the link to share the decoded plate.
3. In Generate, choose region and period (or leave any), generate fictitious plates and export them as TXT, CSV or JSON. In Tables, look up age codes and tags.

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Sources and references for this tool

These references help contextualize formulas, standards, APIs and limitations used on this page. They do not replace professional validation when a result has legal, financial, medical or operational impact.

• Vehicle registration numbers and number plates (INF104)DVLA (gov.uk), AB12 CDE format, memory tags by region and office and the age identifier table up to 2030.
• Vehicle registration plates of the United KingdomWikipedia, Year letters of the older formats (suffix 1963-1983, prefix 1983-2001).
• Vehicle registration plates of Northern IrelandWikipedia, Northern Ireland AAZ 1234 pattern and use of I and Z.

Frequently asked questions

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