The vehicles you can drive or ride and minimum ages

The tables below show what you can drive or ride, and at what age if you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997.

Motorcycles

Category	Description	Minimum age
P	Mopeds with an engine size of up to 50cc and a maximum speed of up to 50 km/h	16
A1	Light motorcycles with an engine size of up to 125 cc and a power output of up to 11kw (14.6bhp)	17
A	Medium-sized motorcycles up to 25kw (33bhp) and a power to weight ratio of up to 0.16kw/kg	17*
A	Motorcycles with a sidecar and a power to weight ratio of up to 0.16kw/kg	17*

*After a period of two years following the test pass of a motorbike of over 120cc you may drive any size of motorbike.

Motorcycles you can ride

Three or four wheeled light vehicles

Category	Description	Minimum age
B1	Motor tricycles, quadricycles and three or four wheeled vehicles with an unladen weight not more than 550kg	17*

*Age 16 if you are currently getting Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate (mobility component)

Vehicle weights explained

Cars or light vans, with and without trailers

The term maximum authorised mass (MAM) means the total weight of the vehicle plus the maximum load it can carry safely.

Category	Description	Minimum age
B	Motor vehicle with a MAM of up to 3,500kg no more than eight passenger seats with or without a trailer - weighing no more than 750kg. or As above, but with a trailer weighing more than 750kg. The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can't weigh more than 3,500kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can't weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.	17*
B auto	As category B with automatic transmission.	17*
B+E	As category B but with a heavier trailer that isn't covered in the descriptions for category B.	17

Medium sized vehicles with or without trailers

Category	Description	Minimum age
C1	Vehicles weighing between 3,500kg and 7,500kg with or without a trailer - weighing no more than 750kg	18*
C1+E	As category C1 but with a trailer over 750kg. The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can't weigh more than 12,000kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can't weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.	21, , **

*Age 17 if you are a member of armed services

**Age 18 if you got your driving licence before 10 September 2009 and the weight of the vehicle and trailer together is under 7,500 kilograms

*** You can drive C1+E category vehicles at age 18 if one of the following apply:

you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
you passed your driving test and Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) initial qualification
you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification.
you held a full category C entitlement before 10 September 2009·- you must take the CPC periodic training within five years of this date

Example of category C1+E: A vehicle with an unladen weight of 6,000kg and a maximum weight of 7,500kg pulling a fully loaded trailer with a weight of 4,500kg – total weight 12,000kg.

Large vehicles with or without trailers

Category	Description	Minimum age
C	Vehicles over 3,500kg with a trailer up to 750kg	21,*
C+E	Vehicles over 3,500kg with a trailer over 750kg	21, *

*Age 17 if member of the armed services

** You can drive these vehicles at age 18 if one of the following apply:

you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
you passed your driving test and Driver CPC initial qualification
you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification.
you held a full category C entitlement driving licence before 10 September 2009 - you must take the CPC periodic training within five years of this date.
Towing trailers or caravans with vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes
Vehicle weights explained

Minibuses with or without trailers

Category	Description	Minimum age
D1	Vehicles with a minimum of nine and a maximum of 16 passenger seats, with or without a trailer - weighing no more than 750kg.	21, *
D1+E	As category D1 but with a trailer over 750kg. The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can't weigh more than 12,000kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can't weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.	21, *

*Age 17 if member of the armed services

** You can drive these vehicles at age 18 if one of the following apply:

you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
you passed your driving test and Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) initial qualification
you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification.
you passed a PCV entitlement before 10 September 2008

Buses with or without trailers

Category	Description	Minimum age
D	Any bus with more than eight passenger seats with a trailer up to 750kg	21, , **
D+E	As category D but with a trailer over 750kg	21, , **

*Age 17 if member of armed services

** You can drive these vehicles at age 18 if one of the following apply:

You are learning to drive or taking a PCV test or Driver CPC initial qualification
Having passed a PCV driving test and Driver CPC initial qualification, you can drive under any of the following conditions:

1) driving on a regular service where the route doesn’t exceed 50 km

2) not engaged in the carriage of passengers

While undergoing a national vocational training course to obtain a CPC initial qualification
Having passed a PCV test before 10 September 2008 and driving under a bus operator's licence, or minibus permit, or community bus permit and any of the following conditions:

1) driving on a regular service where the route doesn't exceed 50 km

2) not engaged in the carriage of passengers

3) driving a vehicle of a class included in sub-category D1

***Age 20 after passing a PCV driving test and Driver CPC initial qualification.

For further advice you can contact the Driver Policy and Standards team by phoning 0845 402 4000

Other categories

Category	Description	Minimum age
F	Agricultural tractors	17*
G	Road rollers	21**
H	Tracked vehicles	21***
K	Mowing machine or vehicle controlled by a pedestrian	16

*Age 16 for tractors less than 2.45 m wide, it must only pull trailers less than 2.45 m wide with two wheels, or four close-coupled.

**Age 17 for small road-rollers with metal or hard rollers, they must not be steam powered, weigh more than 11,690 kg or be made for carrying loads.

***Age 17 if the MAM of the tracked vehicle does not exceed 3,500kg.

Vehicle weights explained

Driving licence information codes

Your licence may include information codes which indicate what (if any) restrictions your driving entitlement is subject to. A list of the full descriptions of the information codes which appear on your driving licence can be found on the link below.