To cope with the rapid increase in the number of cars on the road, the UK Government has had to constantly update the car registration system - and hence we find ourselves in the position of having several different formats for UK Number Plates. Each format is explained below.
Dateless Number Plates
Dateless Number Plates consist of up to 4 letters followed by up to 4 numbers. The letter Q is not allowed. Numbers range from 1-9999. 4 Letters followed by 4 numbers is the only combination that is not allowed - so you can have 3 letters and 4 numbers, or 4 letters and 2 numbers for example.
Reverse Dateless Number Plates
As the name suggests, Reverse Dateless Number Plates are the opposite of Dateless Plates. They consist of up to 4 numbers followed by up to 3 letters. Again, as above - the letter Q is not allowed.
Suffix Number Plates
Suffix number plates consist of 3 letters followed by a number, followed by another letter. The letters I, Q and Z are not allowed. Numbers range from 1-999. The single letter at the end of the combination is the age identifier.
Prefix Number Plates
Prefix Number Plates are similar to Suffix Plates. They consist of a letter, followed by a number, followed by 3 letters. The letters I, Q and Z are not allowed. Numbers range from 1-999. The opposite to Suffix plates, Prefix plates feature the age identifier at the start of the combination.
Current Style Number Plates
Current style registrations consist of 2 letters, 2 digits and another 3 letters. The first letter cannot be an I, Q or Z but the last 3 letters can include a Z (but not I or Q). The numerical digits are restricted to a year identifier. 05 represents the first half 2005 and 55 represents the second half of 2005. These plates currently run from 51 (2001) through to 09 (2009), however they increase every six months with the new DVLA release.
DVLA Number Plates
DVLA Number Plates aren’t really a category in their own right. However, you’ll often hear a dealer refer to DVLA Number Plates. In this case they are probably refering to a combination of Prefix and Current Style number plates which are available from DVLA (and not via private sale).
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