Best Motorcycle Information
Home | About Us | Sitemap

Provisional Motorcycle Licence

compulsory basic trainingObtaining a provisional motorcycle licence is the first step to hitting the road on two wheels. Which provisional licence that you get will depend on your age and the type of motorbike that you wish to ride. All the details are covered on this page:

  1. Essentials of the Provisional Licence
  2. Provisional Moped Licence
  3. Provisional Motorbike Licence
  4. How to apply
  5. More on Motorbike Licences

Essentials of the Provisional Licence

When it comes to motorcycling, there are two types of provisional licences:

You can apply for your provisional licence by submitting a driving licence application form (Form D1) together with a fee, a photograph and identification to the DVLA. See How to Apply below for more details. You should receive your provisional licence within three weeks of the DVLA receiving your application.

When you receive your provisional moped or motorcycle licence, you can only start riding on the road after you have completed your compulsory basic training (CBT). Upon completing your CBT you will be issued with a DL196 certificate which is valid for two years and validates your provisional licence. You must keep the DL196 certificate together with your provisional licence to make it legal for you to ride on the road.

In most cases, people with provisional moped or motorcycle entitlements issued as part of their full car driving licenses must also do a CBT before being allowed to ride a motorbike on the road.

[back to top]

Provisional Moped Licence

You must be at least 16 years old to apply for a provisional moped licence. Your provisional moped licence expires on your 70th birthday.

Your provisional moped licence allows you to ride a moped, which is any motorcycle with:

Your provisional moped licenece has the following restrictions:

If your full car driving licence was issued from 1 Feb 2001 onwards, then your driving licence was issued with a full Category P Entitlement. Hence you do not need to apply for a provisional moped licence. You do however still have to do your CBT to validate the Category P entitlement and be allowed to ride a moped on the road.

If your full car driving licence was issued before 1 Feb 2001 then you have a full Category P Entitlement (full moped licence). Accordingly, you can ride a moped without restrictions and without having to do a CBT. I recommend that you still complete the CBT for your own safety!

If you got your provisional moped licence and did your CBT while you were 16, and your provisional licence has provisional Category A on it, then you can immediately start riding a light motorcycle (bike up to 125 cc) when you turn 17. If your provisional moped licence does not have Category A on it, you must apply for a provisional motorcycle licence from the DVLA before you can start riding anything bigger than a moped. In either case, you do not have to redo your CBT when you turn 17!

Note

[back to top]

Provisional Motorcycle Licence

You can apply for a provisional motorcycle licence when you are 17 or older. A provisional motorcycle licence is valid until the holder's 70th birthday.

Your provisional motorcycle licence allows you to ride a light motorcycle (also called a training motorcycle). This is any motorcycle with:

Your provisional motorcycle licence has the following restrictions:

If you have a full moped licence, then you automatically have a provisional motorcycle licence from the age of 17 onwards. If you gained your full moped licence prior to 1 Dec 1990, then you must do your CBT again to validate the provisional motorcycle licence and be allowed to ride a light motorcycle as a learner. If your full moped licence was issued from 1 Dec 1990 onwards, then you can ride a light motorcycle as a learner provided that you are at least 17 years old.

If you hold a full car driving licence check whether it was issued with a provisional Category A entitlement. If so, you do not need to apply for a provisional motorcycle licence. You can now do your CBT to validate your provisional motorcycle licence and then start riding a light motorcycle with the usual learner restrictions in place (listed above). A full car driving licence issued before 1 Feb 2001 should have a provisional category A entitlement.

If you have a full car driving licence without a provisional Category A entitlement, then you must apply for a provisional motorcycle licence before you can do your CBT and get on the road on a light motorcycle.

Tip

[back to top]

How to apply

By Post

To apply for your provisional licence you can go to your local Post Office and pick up a driving licence application form, ask for form D1. The D1 form is also available from the DVLA form ordering service

The completed application form must be mailed together with:

A passport sized colour photo of yourself. There is an area on the form where you can attach your photo. You may not wear a hat or sunglasses in the photo and the picture must have a light and evenly lit background. The photo must be 45mm x 35mm in size. See the DVLA site for more info

A fee of £38.00. You must pay with a cheque that is made out to DVLA Swansea. Do not send cash or blank postal orders. Do not post-date the cheque. Write your name, address and date of birth on the back of the cheque. If you have a drivers number, write that on the back of the cheque as well. See the DVLA site for more info

Identification. If you have a digital UK passport you can fill in your passport number on the D1 form together with your signature in the 'confirming your identity' section of the form. This will allow the DVLA to confirm your identity without you having to mail them a form of identity like your passport itself.

If you do not have a digital passport, then you can send a document confirming your identity e.g. your current passport or UK birth certificate together with your application form. More information on this

Mail your application to:
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AD

Note: Ensure that you select Category P for mopeds or Category A for motorcycles, which ever is relevant to you.

Using the Premium Checking Service

Selected Post Offices and DVLA branches offer a premium checking service which allows you to submit your completed D1 application form together with your photograph and fee at the branch itself. Staff at the branch will then check your identity by looking at your UK passport. They will also check that the form is filled in correctly and send it to DVLA for you. This service costs £4.00. More information on this

Apply Online

You can apply online for your provisional licence. To do so you will need to fulfil certain criteria, see the DVLA site to check whether you can apply online. Or follow this link to apply for your provisional motorcycle licence

[back to top]

More on Motorbike Licences

A driving licence is a photo ID card which shows which types of vehicles you are allowed to drive. You will for instance not have separate car and motorcycle licences, but rather one licence with different provisional or full entitlements. Hence a provisional driving licence looks exactly like a normal driver's licence except it will have an L in the top left corner.

A provisional entitlement allows you to drive the relevant type of vehicle as a learner with L plates and certain restrictions. A full entitlement allows you drive the relevant vehicle without the L plates or the restrictions placed on learner drivers.

Since you have only one licence, if you are banned from driving a car, you are also banned from driving a motorcycle, yikes!

All licences, road tax and vehicle registrations are issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) over see the testing of learner drivers. The DSA manages the quality of CBT courses and runs the theory and practical tests that learners must pass to obtain their full licences.

[back to top]