What licence do you need to drive an HGV?

The categories, and what each one lets you drive

Licence categories are printed on the back of your photocard. These are the ones that matter for lorry work, as published by DVLA.

Category	What it covers	Trailer
B	Cars and vans up to 3.5 tonnes	Small trailer only
C1	Vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes	Up to 750kg
C1+E	A C1 vehicle with a bigger trailer	Over 750kg, within a combined limit
C	Rigid vehicles over 3.5 tonnes	Up to 750kg
C+E	A category C vehicle with a large trailer	Over 750kg

The jump that matters is between C and C+E. Category C is a rigid: cab and body in one piece, so the whole vehicle turns together. Category C+E covers articulated lorries and drawbar outfits, where the trailer is a separate thing behind you that has to be reversed, coupled and uncoupled.

Class 1 and Class 2: the old names nobody has stopped using

The formal names are the categories above. The trade names are older and are what you will see in most job adverts:

• Class 2 means category C. A rigid lorry.
• Class 1 means category C+E. An artic or a drawbar.

Nothing is lost in translation here. If an advert asks for Class 1, it wants C+E on your licence. If you see “Class 2 with C+E preferred”, the employer runs both and would rather have someone who can cover either.

Where 7.5 tonne work sits

Category C1 covers vehicles from 3.5 up to 7.5 tonnes: builders’ merchant deliveries, furniture, plant, some supermarket home delivery fleets. It is a separate test from category C and it is not a stepping stone you are obliged to take. Most people going into general haulage go straight for C.

The exception is anyone who passed their car test before 1 January 1997, who usually already holds C1 and C1+E without taking anything. Look at the back of your photocard before you pay for a course you may not need.

The order you have to do it in

You cannot shortcut this sequence, and trying to book out of order is the most common way people lose a month.

1. Hold a full category B licence. Car first, always.
2. Get your provisional lorry entitlement. This is a D2 application form plus a D4 medical report, which a doctor or an approved medical provider completes. The medical is a real examination, not a formality, and eyesight, blood pressure and some heart and sleep conditions are the usual reasons people get held up.
3. Pass the lorry theory test. Multiple choice and hazard perception, both separate from the car theory test you already did.
4. Pass Driver CPC part 2, the case studies. See the Driver CPC guide.
5. Pass the practical driving test in the category you want.
6. Pass Driver CPC part 4, the practical demonstration on vehicle safety.

Category C comes before category C+E. You hold the rigid entitlement first, then take a second practical test in the artic.

What it costs, and who pays for it

We do not publish a training price, because there is no single national figure and quoting a plausible-looking range would be a made-up number. Costs vary by provider, by how many hours of driving tuition you book, and by how many attempts you need.

What is worth knowing is that you are not always paying for it yourself:

• Some employers fund training in exchange for an agreement to stay for a set period. Read the repayment clause before you sign it, not after.
• Skills Bootcamps in HGV driving have been government-funded in England at various points. [VERIFY: current Skills Bootcamp availability and eligibility, Department for Education]
• Agencies sometimes fund or part-fund training for drivers who commit to shifts.

What Class 1 gets you that Class 2 does not

Trunking and distance work, mostly. Artic work tends to be longer runs between distribution centres with fewer drops, where Class 2 work is more often multi-drop, local, and involves more time out of the cab handling the load. Neither is universally better paid, but the pay distribution for C+E sits higher: see how much HGV drivers earn for the figures and where they come from.

The other difference is options. Holding C+E does not stop you taking rigid work, so the higher category is the one that widens what you can apply for.