Archive Website of the UK government

Please note that this website has a UK government accesskeys system.

Archive brought to you by Cross Stitch UK

Main menu

Wednesday, 3 October 2023

The new driving licence card design explained

From 19 January 2024 all driving licences issued by DVLA will be in a new format. Old format licences will still be valid, they will be updated gradually as they are renewed and replaced. Find out more about the new style driving licence.

New style driving licence card explained

Find out more about the new style driving licence

The new driving licence card will look different to the current licence. It will show all the entitlements to drive.

Front of the driving licence

The front of the card will record your current surname, first names, date and place of birth.

It will include your driver licence and issue number, and the start and end date of your licence. It will also include a black and white electronic copy of your photo and an electronic copy of your signature.

The front of the card will show the vehicles you are entitled to drive.

If you have a full licence your provisional entitlement will be shown on the counterpart.

If you hold a provisional licence your provisional entitlement will be shown on the front of your card.

A colour photograph will need to be provided with your application to be stored on your driver record.

Back of driving licence

The back of the card will have the vehicle categories the holder can and cannot drive. All categories the holder can drive will display valid from and valid to dates. Categories the holder cannot drive will be crossed out.

Categories and pictograms

The letters in capitals and the pictures show all the categories of vehicles according to the European Third Directive.



The counterpart driving licence explained

If you are a full licence holder the paper counterpart will contain your provisional driving licence entitlement, driving offences and other relevant information.

If you are a provisional driving licence holder the counterpart will contain driving offences and other relevant information as all your provisional licence entitlement will be displayed on your driving licence card.

Additional links

Simpler, Clearer, Faster

Try GOV.UK now

From 17 October, GOV.UK will be the best place to find government services and information

Access keys

If you would like to take part in our website visitor survey, please visit the site and then come back and select this link to take part in the survey.