After 31 December 2025, all Drones purchased or placed on the market before 01 January 2026 will be considered Legacy Drones.
This means all existing drones do not feature in the CAA-approved certification/class markings (C0, C1, C2, C3, or C4), which they haven’t yet finalised.
The CAA have moved the date twice before and they may do it again although, I don’t think they will, as the Drone industry is moving forward at such a pace and they want Drone operations to be conducted to the same safety standards and procedures as general aviation.
Currently, there are Transitional Provisions in place for drones that are between 250g and 500g (A1 Transitional) and drones that are between 500g and 2kg (A2 Transitional).
Legacy Drones can be flown in the A1 or the A2 Subcategory of the Open Category (based on their Mass) until 31 December 2025 if you hold an A2 CofC.
However, after which you are limited to the A3 Subcategory of the Open Category which means you have to stay 150m away from residential, industrial, commercial and recreational areas and no people who are uninvolved people with the flight area must be present.
If you want to continue operating Legacy Drones beyond 1st January 2026 within congested areas you will need an Operational Authorisation from the CAA – the GVC, otherwise you will have to operate far from people in the A3 subcategory – (Google CAP 2012)