Plate region
R plates: Reading
The first letter is the region and the second is the office inside it. This page walks every second letter through the map.
RA75 XYZ
Reading
1
23
Checked on 7 September 2026.DVLA, INF104: vehicle registration numbers and number plates (as of 7 September 2026)
What does a R number plate mean?
The mark was issued in Reading. The second letter narrows it further: RA to RY is Reading.
The letters I, Q and Z are never used in the second position anywhere in the scheme, so the walk below runs A to Y with three gaps.
Every second letter for R
| Mark begins | Issuing office |
|---|---|
| RA to RY | Reading |
Reading the rest of the plate
The two digits after the tag are the age identifier, and they say when the mark was issued rather than where. These are the most recent ones.
Common questions
- Where is a R number plate from?
- Reading. The second letter narrows it to the local office that issued the mark, and for R that means Reading. The office closed in 2013 but the allocation map is unchanged.
- Does a R plate mean the car was sold there?
- It means the mark was issued there, which is usually the dealer's location rather than the buyer's. Fleet and lease cars are often registered somewhere the driver has never been, so the tag is a hint about the car's first home and nothing stronger.
- Are the local offices still open?
- No. DVLA closed all of its local offices in 2013 and centralised registration in Swansea. Marks are still allocated on the same regional map, so the tag continues to mean what it always meant.
- How many second letters does R use?
- All of them point to the same office, Reading, so there is no further split inside Reading.