New driver probation checker

The probationary period lasts 2 years beginning with the day a driver first passes a practical driving test (Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, s1). The Act, usually called the New Drivers Act, sets a single limit of 6 penalty points. The licence is revoked when an offence committed inside those 2 years brings the points counted for it to that total (s2 and s3). Points from a provisional licence count as well, if the earlier offence falls within 3 years of the new one. The date the offence was committed decides, not the date of the conviction or of the fixed penalty. After that the driver goes back to a provisional licence, and both tests have to be passed again. The checker takes the pass date and up to three offences, each with its date and points, and applies these rules.

The checker reads "2 years beginning with" the pass day as ending on the day before the second anniversary. A test passed on 15 March 2026 therefore runs to 14 March 2028, and a pass on 29 February 2028 runs to 28 February 2030. Worked cases with their sources are under checked cases.

• The large date is "Probationary period ends", the last day on which a new offence can still lead to revocation.
• "Revocation" gives the verdict, and after a revocation "Offence that reached 6 points" names the offence that crossed the line.
• "Points counted" is the highest total inside any window of 3 years that touches the period; "Points to the threshold" is what remains before 6.
• For Northern Ireland the rows add the R plate dates and the late night passenger rule.

Yes, when the earlier offence was committed within 3 years before the new one (Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s29). Points endorsed on a provisional licence carry over to the full licence when the test is passed (GOV.UK). On their own they revoke nothing, however many there are; only an offence committed after the pass can trigger it.

Take a learner caught speeding on 10 January 2026, with 3 points, who passes on 15 March 2026. A second speeding offence on 5 September 2026 brings the count to 6, and the checker shows "Licence revoked". Move the learner offence to 4 September 2023 and it sits one day outside the window, so only 3 points count.

The offence date is the calendar day on which the offence happened. The conviction may come weeks or months later, and so may the day a fixed penalty is accepted; neither moves the result. A phone offence on 10 March 2028 still revokes a licence from that 15 March 2026 pass, even if the court deals with it after 14 March 2028. The same offence on 15 March 2028 falls outside the period.

The checker assumes offences reach court in the order they were committed. If a later offence is dealt with first, its points can be counted as well, which the checker does not model.

A single offence can be enough. Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving carries 6 points and a £200 fixed penalty (GOV.UK), so one phone offence in the first 2 years revokes the licence alone. For a pass on 15 March 2026 and a phone offence on 2 June 2027, the checker reports "Licence revoked".

• Driving without insurance: 6 points and a £300 penalty, recorded as IN10, which also reaches the limit alone.
• A speeding offence: at least 3 points and £100, so two of them inside 3 years make 6.
• Every offence is logged under an endorsement code. SP10 to SP50 cover speeding with 3 to 6 points, CU80 covers phone use, and the drink codes DR10 and DR20 carry 3 to 11.

A speed awareness course, where the police offer one instead of a fixed penalty, adds no points. Nothing from it enters the count.

Revocation is the cancellation of the full licence by the DVLA once the points from the period reach 6 (New Drivers Act, s3). It is not a driving ban imposed by a court: the Act makes it automatic.

With the licence revoked, the driver is back to learner status. A new provisional licence has to be applied and paid for, and the theory test and the practical test taken again (GOV.UK). Until then, driving is allowed only under provisional licence conditions.

If the conviction behind the revocation is later quashed, for example on appeal, the Act restores the licence (s5).

No. Once a full licence is granted again after the retest, no new probationary period begins (New Drivers Act, s7). Any later offence is judged under the ordinary rules that apply to every driver.

The points do not vanish with the retest. Each endorsement stays on the record for its usual length and keeps counting towards totting up.

A test in another category does not reset the dates either. The period runs from the first pass in any category, so a motorcycle entitlement added after a car test shares the same 2 years.

A first test passed outside Great Britain can start the period too. The Act counts a pass in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar or an EEA state, so exchanging that foreign licence keeps the original date.

Northern Ireland applies the same 2 years and the same 6 points under its own New Drivers Order of 1998 (nidirect). Licences there come from the DVA, the Driver and Vehicle Agency, not the DVLA.

Graduated Driver Licensing covers a test passed on or after 1 October 2026 (Commencement No. 4 Order, S.R. 2026/125). R plates, the restricted plates, are then shown for 2 years: a blue R on white for the first 6 months, then a white R on blue (Department for Infrastructure). The 45 mph limit of the old R plates does not apply to these drivers.

• For 6 months after passing, a driver under 24 may carry at most one passenger aged 14 to 20 between 23:00 and 06:00. Immediate family members do not count.
• A driver aged 18 who passes on 1 October 2026 shows R plates until 30 September 2028 and changes to the white R on blue on 1 April 2027.
• The same driver's late night passenger limit lasts until 31 March 2027.

A pass before 1 October 2026 came under the old rule: R plates for 1 year and 45 mph while they are displayed. How those drivers move to the new rules had not been confirmed by 30 September 2026. For a pass on 15 March 2026 the checker gives the old end date, 14 March 2027, and marks the move as "Not yet confirmed".

No law in Great Britain requires P plates. The green P, for passed, is a voluntary sign some drivers put up after the test. Pass Plus, a voluntary course taken after passing, leaves the dates and the points limit unchanged.

No lower drink drive limit for new drivers is in force anywhere in the UK. Every driver in England and Wales is held to 80 mg/100 ml of blood, and in Scotland to 50 mg/100 ml (GOV.UK). Northern Ireland's 2016 Act sets 20 mg/100 ml for novice drivers, but that part had not been brought into force by 30 September 2026.

In Great Britain, the Department for Transport consulted on a lower novice limit as part of its proposed changes to motoring penalties. The consultation closed on 11 May 2026, and no outcome had been published when these rules were checked.

Speed and road conditions change how far a car needs to stop, which the stopping distance calculator works out for each speed.

After the last day, the New Drivers Act stops applying and the rules for all drivers take over. Totting up is the main one: 12 or more points within 3 years can lead to a ban (GOV.UK).

An endorsement stays on the licence for 4 years from the offence date. For DR10, DR20, DR30, DR31, DR61, DR80 and CD40 to CD70 it stays 11 years from the conviction (GOV.UK). Points earned during probation can therefore still count towards totting up after it ends.

How the checker turns these rules into dates and totals is set out in the methodology.