The UK Driving License Explained

Want to know the ins and outs of the UK driving license? 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 License Explained.

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

Each section on the front of a driving license 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 license was issued
4b. The date your license expires
4c. What agency issued your license (usually DVLA)
5. Your driving license number*
6. Although not numbered on the license, 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 license issue number.

Back of the Driving License Explained

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

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

What are Driving License Categories?

While the icons help you work out what vehicles you’re allowed to drive, they might not all be intuitively understandable.

What are Driving License Codes?

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

These do not refer to vehicles, but rather certain conditions that can be placed on a person’s driving license, for one or many of the class of vehicles they can drive. For example a code might indicate you have to wear corrective glasses or lenses to drive, or that you are an organ donor.

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

01 – eyesight correction, for example glasses or contact lenses 02 – hearing/communication aid 10 – modified transmission 15 – modified clutch 20 – modified braking systems 25 – modified accelerator systems 30 – combined braking and accelerator systems (for licenses issued before 28 November 2016) 31 – pedal adaptations and pedal safeguards 32 – combined service brake and accelerator systems 33 – combined service brake, accelerator and steering systems 35 – modified control layouts 40 – modified steering 42 – modified rear-view mirror(s) 43 – modified driving seats 44 – modifications to motorbikes 44 (1) – single operated brake 44 (2) – adapted front wheel brake 44 (3) – adapted rear wheel brake 44 (4) – adapted accelerator 44 (5) – (adjusted) manual transmission and manual clutch 44 (6) – (adjusted) rear-view mirror(s) 44 (7) – (adjusted) commands (direction indicators, braking light, etc) 44 (8) – seat height allowing the driver, in sitting position, to have two feet on the surface at the same time and balance the motorcycle during stopping and standing 44 (11) – adapted foot rest 44 (12) – adapted hand grip 45 – motorbikes only with sidecar 46 – tricycles only (for licenses issued before 29 June 2014) 70 – exchange of license 71 – duplicate of license 78 – restricted to vehicles with automatic transmission 79 – restricted to vehicles in conformity with the specifications stated in brackets on your license 79 (2) – restricted to category AM vehicles of the 3-wheel or light quadricycle type 79 (3) – restricted to tricycles 96 – allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer where the trailer weighs at least 750kg, and the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is between 3,500kg and 4,250kg 97 – not allowed to drive category C1 vehicles which are required to have a tachograph fitted 101 – not for hire or reward (that is, not to make a profit) 102 – draw bar trailers only 103 – subject to certificate of competence 105 – vehicle not more than 5.5 metres long 106 – restricted to vehicles with automatic transmissions 107 – not more than 8,250 kilograms 108 – subject to minimum age requirements 110 – limited to transporting persons with restricted mobility 111 – limited to 16 passenger seats 113 – limited to 16 passenger seats except for automatics 114 – with any special controls required for safe driving 115 – organ donor 118 – start date is for earliest entitlement 119 – weight limit for vehicle does not apply 121 – restricted to conditions specified in the Secretary of State’s notice 122 – valid on successful completion: Basic Moped Training Course. This does not apply to trial e-scooters 125 – tricycles only (for licenses issued before 29 June 2014)

Driving License FAQs

Where is the driving license number?

Your driving license number can be found on the front of your photocard license, under section 5.

Where is the issue Number of a Driving License?

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

What type of driving license do I have?

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

Following on from that there are a number of different license categories, which set out what type of vehicles you are allowed to drive. If you have passed your car driving test you will be allowed to drive cars, which are class B on your driving license, defined as vehicles with no more than eight passenger seats, and weighing no more than 3,500kg, fully laden.

Are Paper Driving Licenses Still Valid?

If you have a paper driving license that was issued before March 2000 and the information on it is still correct, it is still valid. If you need to change your name or address, a photocard license will be issued to replace the paper one, though.

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