Keith,
Normally a driving ban means that you are not allowed to drive for a certain period of time which is equal to the ban term. In your case, you cannot drive for a period of 17 months from the date you received the ban. After the ban expires, you can start driving again but before you do that you will need to get your licence back from the DVLA.
Unless the offence was very severe or you have reached 12 points on your licence, then you would need to re-sit the driving test. You can check with the DVLA to see if you will need to do the test again after your ban term but chances are that you don't need to and your licence will be returned to you after you have served your driving ban.
