As the autumn season sets in and students embark on their university journeys, a significant event occurs in the automotive world: the release of new car registration plates.
Number plates (or licence plates) must correctly show the registration number of your vehicle. You cannot rearrange these letters or numbers, or alter them so that they’re hard to read. You could be fined up to £1,000 and your vehicle will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates.
How do registration plates work?
Vehicle number plates identify when and where all vehicles in the UK were registered. The number plate is not linked to the owner but to the vehicle until it is destroyed or exported. An owner can transfer it to another vehicle if they prefer.
The current registration format was introduced in 2001. The numbers on the plate are known as age identifiers and show what year the vehicle was registered. The batch of plates issued in March take the last two digits of the registration year.
In 2024, this is 24. For the plates issued in September, it’s the last two digits of the year plus 50. So, in 2024 this is 74.
New registration plate numbers since 2020
- 20 – March to August 2020
- 70 – September 2020 to February 2021
- 21 – March to August 2021
- 71 – September 2021 to February 2022
- 22 – March to August 2022
- 72 – September 2022 to February 2023
- 23 – March to August 2023
- 73 – September 2023 to February 2024
- 24 – March to August 2024
- 74 – September 2024 to February 2025
Proposed future registration plate numbers
- 25 – March to August 2025
- 75 – September 2025 to February 2026
- 26 – March to August 2026
- 76 – September 2026 to February 2027
- 27 – March to August 2027
- 77 – September 2027 to February 2028
- 28 – March to August 2028
- 78 – September 2028 to February 2029
- 29 – March to August 2029
- 79 – September 2029 to February 2030
When do number plates change?
Every year in March (spring) and September (autumn), car registration plates are updated. The 74 plate release date is 1 September 2024. This follows March’s 24 plate.
For many buyers, this is the perfect time to purchase a new vehicle.
When do new cars come out?
March and September are important dates in the diary for many motoring enthusiasts because it’s often the case in these months that the latest car models make their showroom debuts. Models could be getting a complete facelift or design overhaul, or perhaps a small update to include an additional feature.
What do the letters on a number plate mean?
The two prefix letters are known as the local memory tag. The first letter represents the region of the UK and the second letter the local DVLA office where the vehicle was registered.
The three letters at the end are randomly generated and allocated to a dealership when the car is registered. This gives every vehicle a unique identity.
Learn more about the full list number plate age identifiers and local memory tags here.
What are the new car registration plate specifications?
For legal reasons, the number plate on your vehicle must:
- Be made from a reflective material
- Display black characters on a white background (front plate)
- Display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
- Not have any background pattern
- Be marked to show who supplied the number plate
- Be marked with a British Standard number. This is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021
The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black.
Your number plates can also:
- Have 3D (raised) characters
- Display certain flags, symbols and identifiers
- Display a green flash (if you have a zero-emission vehicle)
According to the DVLA, you could be fined up to £1,000 and your vehicle will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates.
The characters on a number plate also need to be a certain height and size:
- They must be 79mm tall
- They must be 50mm wide (except number 1 or letter I)
- The character stroke (thickness of black print) must be 14mm
- The space between characters must be 11mm
- The space between the age identifiers and random letters must be 33mm
- The margins at the top, bottom and side of the plate must be 11mm
- The vertical space between the age identifier and random letters must be 19mm
You can find out more information by reading leaflet INF104 for vehicles and leaflet INF291 for trailers.
Personalised number plates
Personalised number plates are permitted and can be purchased from the DVLA or from a private dealer.
If you have the right to a private number that is not currently being used, you can apply to assign it to a vehicle. Whether standard-issue, or personalised, there are strict rules concerning the specification of the letters and numbers in the reg plate.
You cannot use a personalised plate to make a car look newer than it is. A personalised plate must be from the same year the car was manufactured or older.
The ‘green’ number plate
Fully electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars purchased from 8 December 2020 onwards come fitted with a ‘green number plate’. The plates are identifiable by a green flash on the left-hand side to make it easier for cars to be identified as zero-emission vehicles.
This is to help local authorities design and implement new policies to incentivise people to own and drive them.
How do I get cover to drive a new 74 plate car?
As mentioned earlier, many car enthusiasts are keen to get their hands on a new car the moment the new plates are released. If you count yourselves amongst them but don’t want to commit to adjusting your annual policy or searching for a new one, Tempcover’s temporary car insurance may be the most suitable option.
Our temporary car insurance policies cover the vehicle for a fixed term of your choice (between one hour and 28 days). This will give you the chance to research the best annual policy to suit your needs. You can get a quote in under 2 minutes and there’s no risk to any existing no claims discount.
