In 2019, and ever since September 2001, the United Kingdom has had a system of bi-yearly releases of number plates in order to highlight the year the car was manufactured. This means that new number plates have been released every 6 months in March and September, with the first plates in 2001 reading for example XX51 XXX.
Before the new system, the UK had a variety of other systems that because inadequate and the years went on and more and more vehicles were being manufactured.
Prefix 1983-2001
This was the method used before the current number plate system and the letter that represented the year the car was manufactured was placed at the front of the number plate. For example, if your car was manufactured in 1983 then the letter A would be at the front of the number plate.
Suffix 1963-1983
Before the letter for the year, the vehicle was manufactured was placed at the front of the number plate, it was originally placed at the back. Therefore, if your vehicle was registered in 1963 it would read XXX XXXA and for 1964, XXX XXXB.
Ageless plates
Before 1963, number plates did not have any way of showing what age the vehicle was. There were very few laws in regard to number plates, unlike now, so the characters were comprised of local council identifiers of 3 letters and 3 random numbers such as ABC 123. The random letters were what kept each vehicle in each area unique.
When are car is newly registered it is automatically given a number plate to comply with the year and the time of year that it was registered. Often, the bi-yearly number plates are placed on general sale a few months before March and September (December and June) so that people who want to buy personalised plates can have them fitted to their new vehicle. However, you cannot place a number plate with a new registration on an old vehicle in order to make it look newer.
| Date | Release |
| March 2019 | 19 |
| September 2019 | 69 |
| March 2020 | 20 |
| September 2020 | 70 |
| March 2021 | 21 |
| September 2021 | 71 |
| March 2022 | 22 |
| September 2022 | 72 |
| March 2023 | 23 |
| September 2023 | 73 |
| March 2024 | 24 |
| September 2024 | 74 |
| March 2025 | 25 |
| September 2025 | 75 |
| March 2026 | 26 |
| September 2026 | 76 |
| March 2027 | 27 |
| September 2027 | 77 |
| March 2028 | 28 |
| September 2028 | 78 |
| March 2029 | 29 |
| September 2029 | 79 |
| March 2030 | 30 |
| September 2030 | 80 |
| March 2031 | 31 |
| September 2031 | 81 |
| March 2032 | 32 |
| September 2032 | 82 |
| March 2033 | 33 |
| September 2033 | 83 |
| March 2034 | 34 |
| September 2034 | 84 |
| March 2035 | 35 |
| September 2035 | 85 |
| March 2036 | 36 |
| September 2036 | 86 |
| March 2037 | 37 |
| September 2037 | 87 |
| March 2038 | 38 |
| September 2038 | 88 |
| March 2039 | 39 |
| September 2039 | 89 |
| March 2040 | 49 |
| September 2040 | 90 |
| March 2041 | 41 |
| September 2041 | 91 |
| March 2042 | 42 |
| September 2042 | 92 |
| March 2043 | 43 |
| September 2043 | 93 |
| March 2044 | 44 |
| September 2044 | 94 |
| March 2045 | 45 |
| September 2045 | 95 |
| March 2046 | 46 |
| September 2046 | 96 |
| March 2047 | 47 |
| September 2047 | 97 |
| March 2048 | 48 |
| September 2048 | 98 |
| March 2049 | 49 |
| September 2049 | 99 |
| March 2050 | 50 |
If you’re after a personalised number plate then use NewReg.co.uk. You can simply type in the number plate you require and they will come up with as many options similar to the plate you require. The best part is, you’ll get the best deal on a private plate and you can choose whether to pay in full or monthly in order to spread the cost.
