How
to add higher categories to your driving licence (staging and upgrading)
If
you hold of a full car driving licence (category B), it may be possible for you
to apply for provisional entitlements in a higher category. There are also circumstances
that will upgrade a lower category on your licence if you pass the driving test
in a higher category. Staging
If
you passed your driving test on or after the 1 January 1997 and you want to learn
to drive a larger vehicle, you may be able to apply for the higher category. Once
you have obtained provisional entitlement on your driving licence you can take
the test in that category. For example, a driver must hold a full car licence
(category B) before being able to apply for a provisional licence to drive a lorry,
minibus or bus. This
is known as staging and will apply from the smallest to the largest vehicles. The
table below shows the full licence that needs to be held before you can apply
for provisional entitlement in the higher categories.
| Provisional
entitlement required | Full
licence to be held | | B+E*,
G*, H*, C1, C, D1, D | B |
| C1
+ E | C1 |
| C+E | C |
| D1+E | D1 |
| D+E | D |
*
Provisional entitlement granted automatically with full B licence | UpgradingIf you pass
your test for a larger vehicle category, in certain circumstances a lower category
will be upgraded. This does not apply, however, to a driver who has already passed
a test, which involves trailer entitlement for a larger or equivalent vehicle. The
table below provides an indication of the vehicle category held, the higher vehicle
category that has been passed and the vehicle category that will be upgrade as
a result of the test passed.
| Full
category held | Additional
test passed | Upgrading |
| B, C1 | C1+E | B+E |
| B, D1 | D1+E | B+E |
| B,C1, D1 | C1+E | B+E,
D1+E | | B,
C1, D1 | D1+E | B+E |
| B, C1, C | C+E | B+E,
C1+E | | B,
C1, C, D1, D | D+E | B+E,
D1+E | | B,
C1, C, D1 | C+E | B+E,
C1+E, D1+E, D+E | As
a general guideline:
- lorry entitlements
can upgrade bus entitlements
- bus
entitlements can not upgrade lorry entitlement
- both
lorry and bus entitlements can upgrade car entitlements
For
further information regarding staging or upgrading of vehicle category entitlements,
you can write to: Customer
Enquiries (Drivers) Group
DVLA Sandringham
Park Swansea SA7
0EE
|
