New Number Plate Guide [March and September]

When is the release date for the new number plates?

New number plates are released in the UK twice a year, in March and September. The 20-plate will be released on March 1st 2020 and will apply to any new vehicle registered up until 28 February 2020.

The history of registration plates

The registration plate was a result of cars becoming more and more popular when they first arrived in the U.K. In 1903, the motor car act issued that all vehicles by law had to have a registered number plate to ensure the safety of the vehicle owner as well as the vehicle. The number of plates have to be easily identifiable. 1932 was the year cars began it’s first original numbering system in England and Wales all having letter codes. For example, the city of Birmingham had the letter ‘C’ because it was a crowded place.

The 3 systems in the last 70 years

Number Plate Rules

On 1st September 2001, The DVLA released all the details for compulsory number plates along with the new system. The chosen font in current use aims to make number plates easy to read. Any number plate on a car registered after this date must contain all the following correct features such as:

• Character Font ‘Charles Wright’

• Spacing Between Character - UK registration plates use monospacing

• Spacing - A gap of 11mm must be left between each digit, as well as an 11mm margin around the outside of the registration plate. The gap in the middle separating the digits into 2 groups must be exactly 33mm.

• Size of Characters - All number plate characters must be 79mm tall and 50mm wide with a thickness of 14mm.

Upcoming Number Plate dates

The upcoming number plate available in March 2020 is the 20 plate.

How long will the current number plate system last?

The number plate system in place will last until 2051 because adding 50 every September will eventually require an extra digit on the plate. In the future, there will be a new solution provided by the DVLA.