24th July 2007 Report from Sarah Pearce, Licensing, TVP

This briefing was posted on a Government website www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/index.htm

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is issuing a new driving licence. The general appearance of the licence is very similar to the old style plastic licence issued since 1998.

However, the new licence, made entirely from polycarbonate, does have a number of enhanced security features not available on the older licence. One of the main differences between the two is the new version has a black and white photograph while the older version had a colour one.

Your personal details (1,2 and 3)
Fields 1, 2 and 3 of your photocard licence record your surname, first names, date and place of birth.

Date of licence issue, photo expiry, issuing authority (4)
The date shown in 4a is the date the photograph is valid from. 4b shows the date the photograph must be renewed. The authority that issued the licence is shown in 4c. In Great Britain that is DVLA.

Driver number (5)

A	B	C	D	E
MORGA	657054	SM	9IJ	**

A - First five characters of surname. If the surname is less than five characters the remaining spaces will be made up using the figure 9. (eg MAN99)

B - The first and last numbers are the year of birth. The second and third numbers are the month of birth. (If you’re female, ‘5’ is added to the second number and the total used as the second digit. So if you are a woman born in October the second and third numbers would be 60.) The fourth and fifth digits show the day of your birth.

C - The first two initials of your forenames. If you have only one initial then the second will be a ‘9’.

D - Computer check digits.

E - Licence issue number.

Holder’s photograph (6)
The new photocard licence has a black and white photograph. This is because the laser technology used to burn the image onto the card producing a black and white photograph is more secure. A colour photograph will still need to be provided with your application to be stored on your driver record.

Holder’s signature (7)
This is digitally reproduced and burned into the photocard from the signature you provided on the application form.

Holder’s address (8)
This shows the driver’s permanent address in Great Britain.

Entitlement categories (9)
The letters in capitals show the categories of entitlement covered by the European Community Directive. National categories are shown in smaller letters.

Holographic feature (10)
This feature is similar to a hologram but more clear as it has definite lines and brilliant colours. It contains a steering wheel that appears to turn as you tilt the card in different directions.

1. Changing images (11a and 11b)
   This security feature is an image that changes both shape and colour depending on how you tilt the licence. On full (pink) licences it is a blue road sign changing to a black triangle, on a provisional (green) it is a red road sign changing to a black triangle.
2. This security feature is personalised according to the data on the card. It contains the last five characters of the driver number changing to the month and year of the photo expiry which appear and disappear depending on how you tilt the licence.

Unique identifier (12)
Cards are to be pre numbered by the card manufacturer. This number is laser engraved onto the card prior to delivery to DVLA and is unique on every card.

Not used (13 and 14)

Pictograms (15)
These illustrations are representations of types of vehicles in those categories shown.

Category validity periods (16)
These are the dates when entitlement to drive each category begins and ends.

Information codes (17)
The code numbers printed in this area indicate what (if any) restrictions the entitlement is subject to.

Steering wheel security feature (18)
This is a security feature in the shape of a steering wheel. The colour of the wheel changes from green to gold depending on how you tilt the licence.

Other security features
The driving licence also has tactile (raised) surfaces, tactile engraved text, changing colours as well as complex background designs.

Further details about the new security features and can be found on leaflet ‘UK driving licence – level 1 security features’ INF60/7. Information on this page can be found on leaflet ‘Your new driving licence’ INF45/1.