In the United Kingdom, the driving licence is the official document which authorises its holder to operate various types of motor vehicle on highways and some other roads to which the public have access. In Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) they are administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and in Northern Ireland by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA).

A driving licence is required in Great Britain by any person driving a vehicle on any highway or other road defined in s.192 Road Traffic Act 1988[1] irrespective of ownership of the land over which the road passes thus including many which allow the public to pass over private land; similar requirements apply in Northern Ireland under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.

Driving licences, particularly the photocard driving licence introduced in 1998, along with passports are now the most widely used ID documents in the United Kingdom. Given many people do not carry their passports in public without an advance knowledge that they are going to need them, this leaves driving licences as the only valid form of ID to be presented, if requested by an authority for a legitimately-given reason.

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