Provisional Driving Licence

Introduction

In the UK, you must be at least 17 years of age to drive a car. The only exception to this is if you currently receive Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate, which generally entitles you to drive from 16 years of age.

Before you can start learning to drive a car on public roads, you must first hold a valid provisional driving licence for Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Although you have to be at least 17 years of age before you can drive, you can actually apply for your driving licence before you reach 17 years of age: the earliest you can apply for your provisional licence is no more than three months before your 17th Birthday.

Your provisional driving licence will be issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). In order to receive your licence, you must first complete an application form, pay the DVLA a fee of £45.00, provide a passport style photograph and submit original documentation proving your identity.

Note that you must wait until you have received your fully approved provisional driving licence documentation from the DVLA before you can actually drive.

The Provisional Driving Licence

The documentation that you will receive from the DVLA following a successful application is 1) a photocard Provisional Driving Licence and 2) a paper version Counterpart Provisional Driving Licence. The DVLA now issues photocard licences to restrict impersonation at driving tests.

The photocard licence contains a photograph and signature (which is electronically copied from your application form). It also highlights the categories of vehicles that you are permitted to operate. The photocard licence looks like this:

Applying for a Provisional Driving Licence from the DVLA

When you apply for your provisional driving licence, you must ensure that you advise the DVLA of any medical conditions that may affect your ability to drive. Failure to advise the DVLA of such a condition(s) is punishable by a fine of £1,000. If you have such a condition(s), you can download a DVLA Customer Service Guide for Drivers with Medical Conditions here.

There are three ways that you can apply for a provisional driving licence from the DVLA, as follows:

1) Online

To apply online, click here and simply follow the online instructions for a provisional driving licence. Note that you require a current UK Passport to complete an online application. Also note that Directgov operate on behalf of the DVLA.

2) By Post

To apply by post, you must first obtain and complete DVLA Form D1 Pack - Provisional Driving Licence. You can obtain a Form D1 Pack for free from either the DVLA here or by visiting your Post Office. Once you have completed the Form D1 Pack, the forms should then be sent, together with a passport style photograph and original documentation confirming your identity, to the DVLA at Swansea. The correct DVLA address is shown in Leaflet INF1D that accompanies the Form D1 Pack.

3) In Person at the Post Office

To apply in person at the Post Office, you must first obtain and complete DVLA Form D1 Pack - Provisional Driving Licence. You can obtain a Form D1 Pack for free from either the DVLA here or by visiting the Post Office. Once you have completed the Form D1 Pack, take the completed forms, together with a passport style photograph and original documentation confirming your identity, to the Post Office. There, they will check your application while you wait, return your original documentation to you, and send the completed Form D1 Pack to the DVLA for processing.

Note that the DVLA consider this a Premium Service and incurs a charge of £4.00 over and above the £45.00 licence fee. Click here to find your nearest Post Office that offers the Premium Service.

Note:

The DVLA aim to deliver your provisional driving licence to you within 10 working days for online applications and within 3 weeks for postal and Post Office applications.

Once you have passed your driving test, it's free to upgrade from a provisional driving licence to a full driving licence. The full driving licence documentation is similar to the provisional driving licence documentation, ie:, a photocard and a paper counterpart provisional driving licence, and is obtained from the DVLA.