Foundation licence Maximum of 10 watts on most allocated bands. Band allocations limited.
Intermediate licence Maximum of 50 watts.
Full licence Maximum UK licence power can be used and all UK amateur radio band allocations available.


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Foundation Licence

Call sign description Issue dates and details

M3 + 3 letters
M6 + 3 letters Available from 13 May 2008

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Intermediate Licence

Call sign description Issue dates and details

2E0 + 3 letters from 1991 onwards as Intermediate licence. Issued as Novice class A licence from 1991 for use on all Novice allocations
2E1 + 3 letters from 1991 onwards as Intermediate licence. Issued as Novice class B licence from 1991 for use on Novice allocations above 30 MHz

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Full Licence

Call sign description Issue dates and details

G2 + 2 letters 1920 - 1939
G3 + 2 letters 1937 - 1938
G4 + 2 letters 1938 - 1939
G5 + 2 letters 1921 - 1939
G6 + 2 letters 1921 - 1939
G8 + 2 letters 1936 - 1937
G1 + 3 letters 1983 - 1988 - originally issued as Class B licence
G2 + 3 letters 1920s to 1939. Originally issued as "Artificial Aerial" licence
G3 + 3 letters Issued between 1946 and 1971. Originally issued to amateur radio licence and Class A amateur radio licence holders.
G4 + 3 letters Issued between 1971 and 1985. Originally issued to amateur radio class A licence holders.
G5 + 3 letters Originally issued to foreign nationals as a form of reciprocal ham radio licence. They were withdrawn and either they used existing home calls with additional UK prefix / callsign, or if applicable they could apply for UK licence.
G6 + 3 letters 1981 - 1983. Originally issued as a class B licence
G7 + 3 letters 1989 - 1996. Originally issued as a class B licence
G8 + 3 letters 1964 - 1981. Originally issued as a class B licence
G0 + 3 letters 1986 - 1996. Originally issued as a class A licence
M1 + 3 letters 1996 - . Originally issued as a class B licence.
M0 + 3 letters 1996 - . Originally issued as a class A licence

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UK amateur radio call sign prefixes

In addition to the basic ham radio call signs a variety of prefixes are used. These not only indicate the country in which the station is located, but also the type of station - a separate set of prefixes being used to indicate whether the amateur radio licence is privately held by an individual or whether it is a club station.

The schemes are different for the M or G series callsigns and those in the 2X* series as the structure of the call signs is slightly different.

Call sign prefix Country

2E England
2D Isle of Man
2I Northern Irelend
2J Jersey
2M Scotland
2U Guernsey
2W Wales

Countries for 2X* series call signs

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The call signs in the G and M series follow the same format. The second letter of the prefix indicates the country and purpose of the licence.

Prefix Country / purpose

G & M, no second letter England
GB Special event stations
GC & MC Wales - club licence (optional alternative prefix)
GD & MD Isle of Man
GH & MH Jersey - club licence (optional alternative prefix)
GI & MI Northern Ireland
GJ & MJ Jersey
GM & MM Scotland
GN & MN Northern Ireland - club licence (optional alternative prefix)


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GB call signs

The GB prefix is used for a variety of special ham radio licences ranging from repeaters and beacons to data mailboxes and special even stations. It is possible to tell the use of the station and licence from the format of the callsign.

GB call sign format Purpose

GB3 + 2 letters Repeaters
GB3 + 3 letters Beacons
GB7 + 2 letters Data repeaters
GB7 + 3 letters Data mailboxes
GB + other digits not mentioned above Special event stations

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Call sign examples

Listening on the amateur radio bands, a large variety of UK call signs with different prefixes can be heard. By using the above tables and information it is possible to determine much about the station using them. Although no UK call signs with serial letters in the series QAA to QZZ were issued, these can be used as examples as they do not belong to real stations. For example it can be seen that a station with the call sign G3QQQ would have been issued with a class A license and now hold a UK full licence, but it would have been issued between 1946 and 1971, well before the current licensing system was introduced. An amateur radio station with the call sign GB3QQ would be a repeater, and so forth.

As can be seen, there is a great variety in UK ham radio call signs and their prefixes. This diversity has partly arisen out of the changes in the UK ham radio or amateur radio licences and also from the need for new series of UK amateur radio call signs. As a result it is very useful to have an understanding of the make up of these call signs.
GP & MP Guernsey - club licence (optional alternative prefix)
GS & MS Scotland - club licence (optional alternative prefix)
GT & MT Isle of Man - club licence
GU & MU Guernsey
GX & MX England - club licence (optional alternative prefix)
GW & MW Wales


Countries and purposes for G and M series call signs

Although amateur radio club stations are allocated call signs using the standard series of prefixes, they also have the option to use the other prefixes detailed in the table above to indicate that they are a club station. This can be particularly useful when they are operating in particular as a club station when they want to make their status more obvious, or for example in some ham radio contests where a new prefix has added value.

M5 Addendum :-


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So what is this M5 thing?

Quite often I'm asked, (usually by foreign or UK foundation licensees) why I've got an M5 callsign. People are usually aware of the G, 2*0, 2*1, M0, M1, M3 and M6 prefixes, but not M5.
The story begins when I was first licensed in 1979, I took, and passed the City and Guilds 765 Radio Amateurs Exam parts 1 and 2 (the RAE). At the time there was only one examination unlike the three of today, the two parts were licensing conditions and radio theory, and you had to pass both to get a license. Following an exam pass there were two options, you could apply for a "B" license (G8*** callsign) which permitted operation on the VHF bands upwards (note; 70Mhz was the lowest available band as 50Mhz was not allowed in the UK then). Alternatively you could take a Post Office 12wpm Morse Test at a Coastal radio station, then apply for your "A" license (G4*** callsign) which gave access to all bands.
Apart from access to new bands, 10Mhz, 18Mhz, 24Mhz and 50Mhz not much changed for a few years until the introduction of the Novice License (later to be re-named Intermediate). A simpler exam but with the practical addition of some radio based construction gained the novice licensee with 50 watts, again with "A" and "B" variants depending on success in a 5wpm Morse test.
In pre-empting the international requirement of a Morse test pass to allow access to the HF bands being abolished, the Radio Licensing Agency decided in the late 1990's to introduce a class "AB" license, which gave those who had passed the RAE, and successfully completed a 5wpm Morse test access to the HF bands with a power limit of 100 watts rather than the 400 watts of the "A" license. In 2000 I took the 5wpm Morse test at York Amateur Radio Rally and was then able to apply for my "AB" license getting the callsign M5TXJ. Not long later the international Morse requirement was dropped so "A" and "B" licensees gained HF access with their original calls and new full licensees got M0 callsigns issued as all were effectively "A"'s. With this, M5's were discontinued, I believe there are approximately 240 of us, a number slowly reducing. All M5's were given the option of swapping for an M0 callsign, I prefer to keep my exclusivity!