PassTwelve months, from the first of the month
A motor vehicle licence and licence disc are valid for 12 months from the first day of the month in which they were issued, and the expiry date is shown on the disc itself.
Read that start date carefully. The twelve months run from the first day of the month of issue, not from the day you collected it — so a disc issued on the 28th gives you slightly less than a full year of use.
The 21 day period of grace
A motor vehicle may be operated on a public road for 21 days after the date of expiry, displaying the expired licence number and disc in the prescribed manner.
It is a short window to renew, not an extension of the licence. After 21 days the vehicle is unlicensed and may not be on a public road at all.
Two different things, often confused
- A driving licence licenses the person to drive.
- A vehicle licence and disc license the vehicle to be on a public road.
- A roadworthy certificate certifies the vehicle's condition at a point in time.
Test questions regularly swap one for another. Read which of the three is being asked about before you answer.