Applying for Provisional Licence

To learn to drive a car in the UK, you need to possess a provisional licence. You can apply for a licence 2 months before your 17th birthday or 16th if you are getting the UK higher rate of disability benefit. You must not drive on the public roads until you receive your provisional licence and you reach your respective birthday.

Your driving instructor or supervising driver should check both parts of your provisional licence (photocard and counterpart) before your first driving lesson, so make sure you take good care of these documents. You also will need to produce your complete provisional licence in order to take your theory and practical driving tests.

To apply for a provisional licence use a D1 application form which is available from most post offices in the UK , the current fee (May 2008) is £50. The following documents are needed to complete your driving licence application form.

1. Current full UK passport
2. identity card issued by a member state of the European Community/European Economic Area (EC/EEC)*with the exception of Sweden.
3. Travel documents issued by the Home Office
4. UK certificate of naturalisation
5. You can also use your birth certificate, but will need one of the following in addition:

NI card or letter from Department for Work and Pensions containing your NI number

photocopy of front page of a benefits book or an original benefits claim letter

P45, P60 or pay slip

marriage certificate or divorce papers (decree nisi or absolute)

College or University union card or school record

6. Certified passport sized photograph.



Online Provisional Licence Application
If you have one of the newer digital UK passports, you an apply for your provisional licence online.

Once your licence arrives, you are now ready to start learning to drive either with an approved driving instructor or family/friend. It is important as a provisional licence holder that you abide by the law, and don't get points on your licence as points will drive up insurance premiums for you, and if you have more that 6 points on your licence, you will have to take the driving test twice, as after the first pass, your licence will be revoked under the new driver's act.

More Reading
Provisional Licence, Penalty Points and the driving test.

The Provisional Licence

UK driving school will be providing you with provisional driving licence information and all you need to know about driving in the UK and graduating from being a provisional licence holder into a full license holder.

As a learner driver, it is your responsibility to abide by the terms of your provisional driving licence not only to make sure you don't break the law, but you could also be invalidating your driving insurance.

In the UK, as a provisional licence holder, you can only drive a car if you are accompanied by a full UK driving licence holder who is over the age of 21, and has held a licence for a least 3 years. While driving, the car must also be displaying 'L' plates, and you are not allowed to drive on the motorway. You must be insured to drive the car, this can either be by having insurance in your name, or by being a named driver on the insurance policy of the owner of the car. Don't try and use a fake provisional driving licence to learn to drive a car in the UK, as not only will you be putting yourself into trouble, but also your friend or family member supervising you.

The minimum age you can apply for a provisional licence is 16.

The Driving licence consists of two parts, the provisional photocard, and the paper counterpart where endorsements and penalty points are recorded. You must produce both parts of your provisional when requested by a law enforcement officer, or anyone else who might have resonable cause for it such as a third party at an accident scene and needing to confirm identity and insurance cover.

Recommended resources for passing the theory test.