UK Number Plate Decoder

Understand what your UK vehicle registration means. Decode area codes, age identifiers, and registration formats.

Enter UK Registration

Modern format: AA00 AAA (2001 onwards)

Understanding UK Number Plate Format

Since September 2001, UK vehicle registrations follow a standardised format: two letters, two numbers, three letters (e.g., AB51 CDE).

First two letters (Memory Tag): Indicate the region where the vehicle was first registered
Two numbers (Age Identifier): Show when the vehicle was registered
Last three letters (Random Letters): Make the registration unique

The first letter indicates the broad region, the second letter identifies the specific DVLA office.

Letter	Region	DVLA Offices
A	Anglia	Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich
B	Birmingham	Birmingham
C	Cymru (Wales)	Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor
D	Deeside to Shrewsbury	Chester, Shrewsbury
E	Essex	Chelmsford
F	Forest and Fens	Nottingham, Lincoln
G	Garden of England	Maidstone, Brighton
H	Hampshire and Dorset	Bournemouth, Portsmouth
K	No region assigned	Luton, Northampton
L	London	Wimbledon, Stanmore, Sidcup
M	Manchester and Merseyside	Manchester
N	North	Newcastle, Stockton
O	Oxford	Oxford
P	Preston	Preston, Carlisle
R	Reading	Reading
S	Scotland	Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness
V	Severn Valley	Worcester
W	West of England	Exeter, Truro, Bristol
Y	Yorkshire	Leeds, Sheffield, Beverley

Note: Letters I, Q, and Z are not used in UK number plate area codes to avoid confusion with numbers.

The two numbers in a UK plate indicate when the vehicle was first registered. New plates are released twice a year: March and September.

Use the last two digits of the year

Add 50 to the year

Now you know where your car is from, check its MOT history, mileage trends, and defect patterns with our free comparison tool.