If your close protection licence is coming up for renewal, the rules have changed. From 1 April 2026, the SIA requires CP operatives to complete the new refresher qualification before renewing. The award has been available since 1 October 2025, and a relevant first aid qualification is required alongside it. Content covers physical intervention, conducting searches, protecting vulnerable people and terror-threat awareness — the safety-critical skills the SIA says degrade without practice.
This replaces the old top-up arrangement, and unlike the top-up it is not a one-off: refresher training is now required at every renewal, mirroring what door supervisors and security guards have faced since April 2025. The six-month lead-in from October to April was deliberate, to give operatives time to plan and budget.
Budget being the operative word: the licence application fee rose to £204 on 1 April 2026. The SIA had been discounting the fee by £20 from historic reserves since 2020; that rebate has ended.
The bigger picture is the qualification review the SIA launched in November 2025 — an 18-month reset of licence-linked training across the sector. Draft specifications were slated for consultation in early spring, final specifications are due this summer, and new mandatory qualifications launch in spring 2027. Close protection content is under specific scrutiny, alongside physical intervention, searching, counter-terrorism content, English language testing and how first aid is assessed.
Practical advice: don't leave the refresher to the last minute. GOV.UK guidance confirms you can renew up to four months before expiry without losing licence time, and training capacity tends to tighten as deadlines bite. Holders of older CP qualifications should check whether a top-up is needed first. And watch for the summer specification release — anyone planning to enter the industry or add licence sectors may want to time training around the 2027 changeover.
