The short answer
A first provisional licence lets you learn to drive a car from 17. The same licence covers a moped from 16, and a light motorcycle from 17. Each of those is a separate licence category, a letter code printed on the licence itself.
What the licence doesn't cover matters just as much. You can't drive a car alone. You can't use a motorway unless a driving instructor is sitting beside you in a dual-control car. And you can't tow a trailer before you pass.
Who's allowed to sit next to you, and what insurance you need, are covered in full in our guide to learner driver insurance.
What a provisional licence covers, category by category
Your licence lists what you can drive as letter codes. GOV.UK calls these driving licence categories. A first provisional licence carries several of them at once, and they don't all start at the same age.
Category AM is mopeds. You can hold provisional AM entitlement from 16. That makes a moped the first thing most people can legally learn on.
Category A1 is light motorcycles, up to 125cc and 11kW of power. Provisional A1 entitlement starts at 17.
Category B is the one most readers care about. It's the car category, and provisional entitlement starts at 17.
You might spot B1 on an older licence. It's a former sub-category covering four-wheeled vehicles with an unladen weight of no more than 550kg. Light quadricycles aren't included; they sit in category AM.
DVLA stopped granting that sub-category on 19 January 2013. On licences issued before then, the four-wheeler entitlement became part of category B. It's a legacy code, not something a new driver gets.
One caution on age rules. They're devolved, so if you live in Northern Ireland, check the minimum ages on nidirect rather than assuming the GB figures apply.
If you're buying a first car to practise in, check it before you pay. Our free car check shows tax and MOT status from the number plate. If you haven't picked the car yet, our guide to the best used cars for new drivers works through that.
Can you drive on the motorway on a provisional licence?
Not on your own, and not with a parent or friend supervising. The rule is narrower than the general supervision rule.
Rule 253 of the Highway Code is the rule for provisional car licence holders. You must not drive on the motorway unless accompanied by a DVSA Approved Driving Instructor. The car must have dual controls and display red L plates (or D plates in Wales). The "must not" wording signals a legal requirement, not advice.
This has been the position since 4 June 2018. For England and Wales the change came through SI 2018/222, which amended the Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982. Scotland's change came through its own instrument the same year, SI 2018/225.
So a supervisor who's perfectly legal on every other road can't take you onto a motorway. Motorway practice means booking a lesson with an instructor in a dual-control car. That's the whole rule. I'd book one rather than skip motorway practice altogether.
Northern Ireland goes further. Learners there aren't permitted on motorways at all under the current rules. That's due to change from 1 October 2026, when Northern Ireland's graduated driving licence, a staged licence scheme for new drivers, comes in. Our guide to the graduated driving licence covers that reform in full.
Can you tow on a provisional licence?
Start with what a full category B licence allows, because it's set by when the test was passed. There are three bands.
Pass before 1 January 1997 and you can usually drive a car and trailer combination up to 8,250kg MAM, the maximum authorised mass. It's a "usually" because the entitlement can be restricted, so check your own licence record.
Pass between 1997 and 2021 and category B gave you two options. You could tow a trailer up to 750kg behind a vehicle up to 3,500kg. Or you could tow a heavier trailer, provided car and trailer together didn't exceed 3,500kg.
Two caveats came with that. The heavier-trailer option carried an extra condition until 19 January 2013: the trailer's MAM couldn't exceed the car's unladen weight. And heavier combinations needed a separate B+E test.
From 16 December 2021 that test requirement went. B+E entitlement was added automatically to every category B licence, allowing a trailer up to 3,500kg and a combination up to 7,000kg.
That December date is the one that counts. You'll see 20 September 2021 quoted too, but that's just when the car-and-trailer test itself ended. The law changed on 16 December 2021.
Now the learner question. GOV.UK's towing pages won't help you here, because they're written for full-licence holders and never mention learners. The answer sits in the regulations instead, and it's been there since 1999.
A provisional licence is granted with conditions attached, and one of them bans towing outright. Regulation 16 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 says the holder must not drive while the vehicle is drawing a trailer. The only categories it lets off are C+E, D+E and F: lorry and tractor combinations, not cars. So a learner can't tow, and breaking that condition means driving otherwise than in accordance with your licence.
Northern Ireland diverges here too. NI kept the trailer test for anyone who passed their car test on or after 1 January 1997. A reader in Belfast who follows GB's "no test needed" rule would be driving illegally.
What you can't do on a provisional licence
The list is short. Keep it straight.
You can't drive a car unaccompanied, anywhere, at any time. Mopeds and light motorcycles are the exception: once you've done compulsory basic training (CBT), you ride those unsupervised, though you can't carry a pillion passenger. You can't drive on a motorway without a DVSA Approved Driving Instructor in a dual-control car. You can't drive uninsured, and a provisional licence is not insurance.
And you can't tow a trailer. That's a condition of the licence itself, under regulation 16 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999.
This piece is part of our guide to new driver advice.
Common questions
Can I drive on the motorway on a provisional licence?
Only in one narrow case. Rule 253 of the Highway Code says you must not drive on a motorway unless you're with a DVSA Approved Driving Instructor. The car needs dual controls and red L plates (or D plates in Wales). A parent or friend can't supervise you there, even though they can on other roads. In Northern Ireland, learners can't use motorways at all under the current rules.
What can I drive at 16 on a provisional licence?
A moped, under category AM. That's the only mainstream entitlement that starts at 16. The car category, B, and the light motorcycle category, A1, both start at 17. If you're in Northern Ireland, check the ages on nidirect, because these rules are devolved.
Can you tow a trailer on a provisional licence?
No. Towing is banned by a condition on every provisional licence. Regulation 16 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 says you must not drive while the vehicle is drawing a trailer. The only exemptions are C+E, D+E and F, and none of them is a car category.
Does passing my car test automatically let me tow a trailer?
Yes, since 16 December 2021, if you're in Great Britain. B+E entitlement is added to every category B licence automatically. That covers a trailer up to 3,500kg and a combination up to 7,000kg. Northern Ireland is different. It kept the trailer test for anyone who passed their car test on or after 1 January 1997.
What's the difference between category B and B1?
Category B is cars. B1 is a former sub-category for small four-wheeled vehicles. DVLA stopped granting it on 19 January 2013. The four-wheeler entitlement became part of category B on licences issued before then. Passing your car test today doesn't grant B1. You'll only see it on older licences.
Do the rules differ in Northern Ireland?
Yes, in two ways that matter to learners. Learners in NI can't use motorways at all under current rules. That changes from 1 October 2026 under the graduated driving licence scheme. And NI kept the car-and-trailer test for anyone who passed their car test on or after 1 January 1997. So GB's automatic towing entitlement doesn't apply there.