Prefix A
- Input
- A123 BCD
- Expected output
- Agosto de 1983 a julho de 1984
First year of the prefix.
Carregando ferramenta… / Loading tool…
old UK number plate year letter prefix suffix
Before the current format, age came in a single letter: at the end of the plate (suffix, 1963 to 1983) or at the start (prefix, 1983 to 2001). The tool decodes both, but those dates come from a secondary source, Wikipedia, not the DVLA, which publishes only the current format.
First year of the prefix.
Annual cycle.
Only six months.
Calendar year.
Only seven months.
Z was never a year letter.
They are the age identifier, which says in which half of the year the vehicle was registered. From March to August it is the two-digit year (26 for 2026). From September to February it is that number plus 50 (76 for September 2026 to February 2027).
Because in 1967 the letter changeover moved from 1 January to 1 August. Letter E stayed active only from January to July 1967 and F began on 1 August.
Yes, on cars of those eras and on personalised plates moved to other vehicles. The DVLA forbids, however, using a plate to make a vehicle look younger.
Because the DVLA INF104 covers only the format since 2001. A notice in the tool marks these tables as historical reference, and the list of forbidden letters (I, O, Q, U, Z) also comes from that source.
September 2001 to February 2002
Valid format
This reads the plate code only. It does not query the DVLA or tell you make, model, MOT or history of the vehicle.