| A | Aug 83 to July 84 | H | Aug 90 to July 91 | R | Aug 97 to July 98 | ||
| B | Aug 84 to July 85 | J | Aug 91 to July 92 | S | Aug 98 to Feb 99 | ||
| C | Aug 85 to July 86 | K | Aug 92 to July 93 | T | Mar 99 to Aug 99 | ||
| D | Aug 86 to July 87 | L | Aug 93 to July 94 | V | Sep 99 to Feb 00 | ||
| E | Aug 87 to July 88 | M | Aug 94 to July 95 | W | Mar 00 to Aug 00 | ||
| F | Aug 88 to July 89 | N | Aug 95 to July 96 | X | Sep 00 to Feb 01 | ||
| G | Aug 89 to July 90 | P | Aug 96 to July 97 | Y | Mar 01 to Aug 01 |
From August 1998 (S plate) the system was changed to allow two plate changes each year, on March 1st and September 1st. As the final usable prefix letter `Y' was to be used from March 1st 2001 a new format was introduced from September 1st 2001.
| The registration mark shown can be broken down into: | PU52 ABC |
PU -The local memory tag. The first letter refers to the region and the second to the local DVLA office. In this case the vehicle was first registered in Carlisle.
52 - The Age identifier. In 2002, 02 represents six months from March to August, 52 covers the following six months from September 2002 to February 2003. This format will continue until 2049.
ABC - The final three letters are random, but will exclude I & Q and other combinations that may not be considered desirable.
| 51 | Sept 01 to Feb 02 | 04 | Mar 04 to Aug 04 | 56 | Sept 06 to Feb 07 | ||
| 02 | Mar 02 to Aug 02 | 54 | Sept 04 to Feb 05 | 07 | Mar 07 to Aug 07 | ||
| 52 | Sept 02 to Feb 03 | 05 | Mar 05 to Aug 05 | 57 | Sept 07 to Feb 08 | ||
| 03 | Mar 03 to Aug 03 | 55 | Sept 05 to Feb 06 | 08 | Feb 08 to Aug 08 | ||
| 53 | Sept 03 to Feb 04 | 06 | Mar 06 to Aug 06 | 58 | Sept 08 to Feb 09 |