The Security Industry Authority is close to the decisive stage of a full review of the qualifications that sit behind every SIA licence, and close protection is squarely inside it. The review, launched in November 2025, runs on an eighteen-month timetable: engagement and consultation through to January 2026, public consultation on draft specifications in the spring, publication of the final qualification specifications this summer, and a training-sector preparation window running from autumn 2026 into 2027.
The substance is a refresh of what an operative has to prove. The SIA is examining core content across the licensed sectors, physical intervention and searching techniques, stronger counter-terrorism content, and the handling of newer challenges such as so-called social media auditors and new technology. Specialist areas are named explicitly, close protection among them, alongside changes to how English language and first aid are assessed. The regulator is also tightening exam invigilation and the standards expected of trainers and training providers, with the stated aim of protecting the credibility of the licence itself.
For a close protection business the timing is the point. The current close protection specifications, including the refresher training added in 2025, remain the standard today, but the new specifications land this summer and the updated qualifications are set to become mandatory in spring 2027. That leaves a clear planning window: teams renewing or recruiting over the next eighteen months should map who will need the new content and when, rather than meeting the change at the deadline.
