Adding Higher Categories To Your Driving Licence

To add highers categories to your driving licence, you will need to first get provisional entitlement. Find out more in our Provisional Driving Licence guide here. Once you have got your provisional licence, you can then take the relevant test for the sort of vehicle you want to drive/ride.

You may also be entitled automatically to drive vehicles below the category you have taken the test in. You can check what you are allowed to drive by using the online DVLA driving licence check service.

Adding Higher Category Entitlements To Your Licence (Staging)

If you have the correct entitlement on your licence, you will have the option of applying for provisional entitlement to a higher category of vehicle on your licence. This is sometimes referred to as “staging”.

An example would be that you need to hold a full car licence before you are able to apply for provisional entitlement to drive a larger vehicle, such as a lorry, minibus or bus. When you have got the provisional entitlement, you can then take the appropriate test for that new category.

Here is a list of the full licence you need to hold before you can apply for provisional entitlement in the higher categories:

• To get provisional entitlement for B+E, G, H, C1, C, D1, D, you need to hold a full B licence
• To get provisional entitlement for C1+E, you need to hold a full C1 licence
• To get provisional entitlement for C+E, you need to hold a full C licence
• To get provisional entitlement for D1+E, you need to hold a full D1 licence
• To get provisional entitlement for D+E, you need to hold a full D licence

If you are unsure what type of vehicle each category covers, you can find a list here.

You are automatically granted provisional entitle to B+E, G and H categories if you hold a full B licence. The entitlements you have been given are displayed on your licence. If you were issued your licence before 1st January 1997, you may find that it includes some higher categories.

Lower Categories That Are Automatically Added When You Pass Your Driving Test (Upgrading)

If you pass the driving test for a vehicle category with larger vehicles, you may find that sometimes lower categories are automatically upgraded.

An example of this would be if you held a licence with entitlements for B and C1 category vehicles and then you proceed to pass the test for C1+E vehicles, you would be entitled to drive C1+E vehicles and B+E category vehicles. This is due to the automatic upgrade.

There are different rules for trailer entitlements. If you pass and get the trailer entitlement for a larger vehicle, you are not automatically given the trailer entitlement for the smaller vehicles that you would normally receive through the upgrading process. You can check what you are entitled to drive by using the DVLA online driving licence service.

Generally, it is best to remember:

• If you have a lorry entitlement, this can upgrade bus entitlements
• If you have a bus entitlement, this cannot upgrade lorry entitlements
• If you have lorry and bus entitlements, this can upgrade car entitlements.

The bullet points below explain the logic of passing a test and categories that are automatically updated:

• If you hold a full licence for category B and C1 vehicles and have completed and passed your C1+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B and D1 vehicles and have completed and passed your D1+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B, C1 and D1 vehicles and have completed and passed your C1+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E and D1+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B, C1 and D1 vehicles and have completed and passed your D1+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B, C1 and D1 vehicles and have completed and passed your C+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E and C1+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B, C1, C, D1 and D vehicles and have completed and passed your D+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E and D1+E category vehicles
• If you hold a full licence for category B, C1, C, D1 and D vehicles and have completed and passed your C+E category test, you are automatically upgraded to be able to drive B+E, C1+E, D1+E and D+E category vehicles

If you are unsure what type of vehicle each category covers, you can find a list here.

More Information

If you want to get more information regarding staging or upgrading your licence and categories, you can write to the DVLA Drivers Customer Services team at:

Drivers Customer Services
Correspondence Team
D12
DVLA
Swansea
SA6 7JL