Driving Licence in The United Kingdom - Driving Licence Categories

Driving Licence Categories

This is a list of the categories that might be found on a driving licence issued in Great Britain after 31 December 1996 and before 19th January 2013.

Cat Vehicle type Minimum age Notes
A1 Motorcycle 17 Light motorcycles with a cubic capacity not exceeding 125 cc and of a power output not exceeding 11 kW (14.6 bhp).
A Motorcycle 17 Motorcycles up to 25 kW (33 bhp) and a power to mass ratio not exceeding 0.16 kW/kg. Motorcycle combination with a power mass ratio not exceeding 0.16 kW/kg.
A Motorcycle 21 Any size motorcycle with or without a sidecar.
B1 3 or 4 wheeled light vehicles 17 Motor tricycles/quadricycles up to 550 kg (1,200 lb) unladen.
B Cars 17
  • Motor vehicles with a MAM not exceeding 3,500 kg having not more than 8 passenger seats with a trailer up to 750 kg (1,700 lb).
  • Combinations of vehicles in Category B and a trailer, where MAM of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg (7,700 lb) and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle.
    Example: A vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement, as the MAM of the combination does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle.
B Minibuses 21 Vehicles with between 9 and 16 passenger seats not for hire or reward. MAM not exceeding 3.5 tonnes or 4.25 tonnes including specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers. No trailer of any size may be pulled. B licence must have been held for 2 years. Valid for minibuses only when used in the United Kingdom.
B (Automatic) Automatic cars 17 As cars (B), but only those with automatic transmission.
B+E Cars with trailers 17 As category B but with a heavier trailer that isn't covered in the descriptions for category B.
C1 Medium sized vehicle 18 Vehicles between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg with a trailer up to 750 kg.
C1+E Medium sized vehicle with trailers 21 Combinations of vehicles where the towing vehicle is in subcategory C1 and its trailer has a MAM of over 750 kg provided that the MAM of the combination thus formed does not exceed 12,000 kg and MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle.
C Large vehicles 21 Vehicles over 3,500 kg (including those over 7,500 kg) with a trailer up to 750 kg.
C+E Large vehicles with trailers 21 Vehicles over 3,500 kg (including those over 7,500 kg) with a trailer over 750 kg.
D1 Minibuses 21 Vehicles with between 9 and 16 passenger seats with a trailer up to 750 kg. See also under B
D1+E Minibuses with trailers 21 Combinations of vehicles where the towing vehicle is in subcategory D1 and its trailer has a MAM of over 750 kg, provided that the MAM of the combination thus formed does not exceed 12,000 kg, and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle.
D Buses 21 Any bus with more than 8 passenger seats with a trailer up to 750 kg.
D+E Buses with trailers 21 Any bus with more than 8 passenger seats with a trailer over 750 kg.
f Agricultural tractors 16 N/A
g Road rollers 21 N/A
h Tracked vehicles 21 N/A
k Mowing machine or vehicle controlled by a pedestrian 16 N/A
l Electric vehicles 17 Category now deprecated – tests no longer available (since 2001) for this category. Vehicles now fit into category B1 or B.
n Vehicles used for very short distances on public roads N/A Category now deprecated – tests no longer available (since 2001) for this category. Vehicles now fit into category B1 or B.
p Motorcycles 16 Engine capacity must not exceed 50 cc and the maximum design speed must not exceed 50 km/h (31 mph)
Notes

Read more about this topic:  Driving Licence In The United Kingdom

Famous quotes containing the words driving and/or categories:

    “Most of the rules and precepts of the world take this course of pushing us out of ourselves and driving us into the market place, for the benefit of public society.”
    —Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

    “The analogy between the mind and a computer fails for many reasons. The brain is constructed by principles that assure diversity and degeneracy. Unlike a computer, it has no replicative memory. It is historical and value driven. It forms categories by internal criteria and by constraints acting at many scales, not by means of a syntactically constructed program. The world with which the brain interacts is not unequivocally made up of classical categories.”
    —Gerald M. Edelman (b. 1928)